POTA hunting from the roof

I’m not big on the hunter side of POTA, but it was a gorgeous day and I needed to stay close to home, so I figured I’d give it a try.

My fifth-floor condo isn’t ideal for antennas. My balcony overhangs a courtyard and faces another building, but I’ve made decent FT8 contacts there before. It works best for north/south paths, matching my clear sky view in those directions.

Today I tested the roof instead. It also let me try my spike-free antenna mount: a spare camera tripod paired with an M10-to-1/4"-20 adapter to thread the antenna base directly onto the quick-release plate.

One downside I expected was instability in wind with the antenna fully extended and legs splayed wide. A water weight bag over the center fixed that.

As I had hoped, up here I was getting much better East/West signals, particularly into Europe. 

Gear: Xiegu G90 + DE-19 + 20M quarter wave whip antenna + Talentcell 12V 6Ah LiFePO4 battery + camera tripod + M10 adapter screw