The fisher! from http://gm1sxx.blogspot.com/

 My latest project is a new Rybakov aerial.

I built it using a 7 metre Sotabeams tactical (very strong!) telescoping QRP pole with the segments epoxied together.  7.6metres of wire forms the radiator with 7M inside the pole and 60cms leading to my home made 4:1UN-UN at the base.  It's a superb match on 14.070Mhz which suits me just fine.   The Rybakov (Russian for Fisherman I think) is a deliberately non-resonant Italian inspired (IV3BSE)  aerial fed against ground by a 50-200R UN-UN at it's feed-point.

I think the name was a little play on words.  Fishing for signals with a fishing-pole.  When fed against a bunch of buried radials it works very well indeed.  They are also well suited to QRP  use using radials placed on the ground. 

My version uses a length of scaffy pole in a PVC sleeve cemented into the ground with a long buried grounding rod buried beside the fishing-pole as an anchor to attach my radials to.  The aerial is held up using inch thick slabs of HDPE plastic as insulating stand-offs with exhaust clamps to the pole and Stauff clamps supporting the fibreglass   It replaces my old  'tent-pole Rybakov that has served me well for yonks but was a bit ugly. 

A few pictures.

The matching transformer.

My transformer was built into a sealed  electrical box  The brown wires are connected to my radial system.   The coiled up black wire hanging down is surplus to requirements... The rolled up co-ax is the incoming RF feed line. My radial system is tied to the almost completely buried long grounding stake the brown wires converge onto. 

I fitted the base of the  the red connector was used.   It takes the radiating element to the matching transformer making a total length of 7.6M.  7M mast + 60Cms wire.

The bottom end of the assembly  The red plastic is 25mm HDPE.  A car exhaust clamp and a Stauff pipe clamp holds the base of the aerial.

The top bracket... like the bottom one but the scaffy pole also holds my Wireless weather station on 433Megs.

See!  It really is 'half-a-postage-stamp' or maybe a small pizza slice but I worked some proper DX from the pizza slice including Sri Lanka, South Africa and Asiatic Russia running  30W or less using my last Rybakov.  This one is a lot prettier than the previous model which was made from a pile of ally tent poles pop-riveted together.  

I'm seeing a near perfect match on 20 metres. I can't see any reflected power on my Daiwa cross-pointer meter.  I'm happy!

Until next time, 73!

Al.