Backpackable V Dipole Hairpin Match: Perfect 6–40 Meter EmComm, Field Day, HOA, Portable Deployment

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:01]So, I'm backyard portable doing some final testing on the CFM 34 HD. And I thought while I'm doing that, why not go back to my V dipole? Remember, this was fantastic 20 through six. And I got it to work on 40, but I never got that dip on 40 as low as I want. So, I thought, why not try it again with the new mass?

[00:00:25]Not that it would make any difference.

[00:00:27]I've set this up on my uh my single extensions, two of them. I've set them up on a uh surveyor tripod. Like I said, was doing some testing here and I thought, why not put this on? I still can't get this where I want. I'll save this shot because you're not going to be able to see it here, but I have a dip.

[00:00:45]It's just nowhere near where I want it to be. So, I'm going to call customer service and uh see if we can get an answer to this problem.

[00:00:55]Yeah, technical support, please.

[00:00:59]Yeah, I'm here in uh the backyard. I'm I'm doing some work on the CFM 34HD. I have it on an insulator and I'm running my V dipole and I cannot get the dip on 40 meters where I want it.

[00:01:12]Hair pin. I I don't have enough hair for a hair pin. What do I need a hair?

[00:01:19]It does what?

[00:01:21]You just shipped it to me.

[00:01:26]Well, that was fast.

[00:01:30]Oh, an impedance matching circuit.

[00:01:35]So, I'll explain to you in a moment what a hairpin does. But for now, let's just take the connectors that come with this kit and we'll install them and I'll show you what it does to my 40 meter SWR and it gets me right where I want to be operating.

[00:01:53]So, all I'm doing now is adding my coax back in after this T.

[00:01:59]Then I'm going to put a BNC adapter on the end of this. And then I'm going to install my hair pin. Exactly how did we end up here? Well, I watch a lot of other operators to see what they're doing and hearing what they desire to deploy with.

[00:02:19]And this 20 m low to ground V dipole, while it didn't make sense to me, it seems to be pretty popular. Other manufacturers are out there assembling kits specific to this. I own a tactical delta loop, so I was pretty far along the way to already having everything that I needed. So, I set up on 20 m. You saw the video. If you didn't, go back and watch it. I'll link it in the description below. Matter of fact, I'll link the entire series because this V dipole antenna has turned into a series and hopefully this concludes it and you'll have everything that you need.

[00:02:54]Well, I wasn't happy with the resonance dip on 40 m. It's the only thing I was not successful at. And uh everything else worked just fantastic. Again, I couldn't believe how well 20 m worked.

[00:03:08]40 m worked fantastic also, but I had to touch it up with my tuner. And if we're going to take something like this out in the field, we don't want to be touching things up with a tuner. We we can, some of us take tuners, but if you really want to be a minimalist, we want to take this compact antenna kit, not soda compact, but compact backpackable, and we want to be able to operate without tuners. So, I struggled immensely on 40 m getting a dip that I didn't require a tuner with. And Chameleon Antenna said, "Bob, you need a hairpin match." Of course, I didn't know what a hairpin match was. And essentially, it's taking an antenna that has a impedance that is not matched to our 50 ohm cable, and it creates the match for us. So, this is the final video in the series. And this is the kit that Chameleon has created from everything that they already have in stock with the exception of the hair pin. And they have created this hair pin. This is a production sample. And by the time this video releases, this kit will be available to anyone with a tactical delta loop.

[00:04:25]Now, many of you understand Chameleon's uh philosophy. It's Lego block like creation of components. You may already own everything on here with the exception of the hairpin match and that would be all you need to get because Chameleon sells things alakart so that you don't have to buy a whole new kit.

[00:04:45]So other manufacturers other antennas I believe that I have discovered and checked into use a wire to get you on 40 meters. So you've got your two SS17s going out in a upward V and you're attaching a 30-ish long foot, two of them wire going opposite direction, so 60ish feet. And so you need the footprint to be able to do that. And then you have the, you know, the disassembly afterwards. And for me, uh, I wanted to go with the M coil so I didn't have to put out the wire, have a smaller footprint, have a faster deployment and a faster retrieval.

[00:05:23]And um so this kit gets us there. That's how we got here. And that's what the hairpin match is all about. Some massive storms came through today. I decided to jump on the band and fight through the static crashes. I joined the no SWR net.

[00:05:38]And just as it was my turn to call CQ, uh a DXer came on at full legal limit and just obliterated the net. And we were all joking and having fun with that because he couldn't hear us. Trying to let him know the frequency was in use.

[00:05:53]Nonetheless, when I call CQ, watch what happens.

[00:05:59]>> 59. Go ahead and do it again.

[00:06:01]>> All right. Thanks for that. This is Kilo Delta 4. Bravo Mike up for grabs.

[00:06:14]>> Let me turn this back on.

[00:06:16]Let me go do the sweep.

[00:06:19]All right, I'm doing a single sweep now.

[00:06:22]I'll take a screenshot of this and I'll put it up on the screen. I've got 1.18 at 707.

[00:06:29]So, you're not going to be able to see it here because of sunlight. I'll flash this on the screen. Let me save it real quick and then we'll come right back.

[00:06:41]So now I'm already collapsed about one length on each side and so it's symmetrical and I have my hair pin. Now I have a real dip. I'm down to 1.2. I'm going to put this in continuous sweep.

[00:06:55]I'm going to continue collapsing one side at a time and just see how close I get. Yes, I I'm within the distance of my antenna where it makes a difference, but I can see as I move away, my meter is not adjusting at all. So, if I touch it will be a different story. So, let's go ahead and just collapse a little bit further on this side. Barely have to reach. Let's just see if I've shifted.

[00:07:20]Yeah, I've shifted.

[00:07:22]So, if I just keep doing this, if I keep shifting, then I have the ability to get a really good dip where I want to operate. And this will be, I think, my third screenshot that I'll overlay here for you to get a look at. So, let me save this real quick and I'll be right back.

[00:07:41]I'm a broadband antenna guy. I sit here in the shack and I hop from 10 to 15 to 17 to 12 to 20 to 40. I hit the tune button. I'm happy. I give up a tiny bit of efficiency. I have an effective antenna. I've made thousands upon thousands of contacts that way. So, how did I end up spending so much time talking about a resonant V antenna, a V dipole?

[00:08:07]Well, when you think about backyard portable in an HOA or specifically portable operations, whether it's field day portable at the mother-in-law's house or POTA, and you're using a radio perhaps that doesn't have 100 watts or you don't have an amp with you, which most of us don't do when we travel and go portable, if you can ek out every bit of efficiency, you're going to be slightly better. I still use multiband antennas and sometimes uh nonressonant broadband antennas portable, but the reason I stuck with this series is because of how effective it really was.

[00:08:42]I didn't expect that for a dipole low to ground because you always hear a dipole must be erected at the proper height for it to work. Four, five, six feet off the ground like I've done with the three different setups. That's not high enough for a dipole. Is it because this is oriented with the ends up in the air and so the radiation pattern is making it more effective than if it were flat?

[00:09:05]Absolutely. There's that. I don't know the science as to why. I just know it does. It works fantastic on 20 m where I spent most of my time operating. And this is the second time that I've set it up for 40 m. You heard that pileup. You saw my screen. This is one of the best 40 meter antennas I own. Now I live in an HOA. If I could put up a full height 40 meter full length 40 meter dipole that would be the way to go. Most of us HOA or not don't have that capability and we certainly don't have it when we go portable. Maybe we do. Maybe we can set up an offc centerfed dipole portable. I'm rambling too much. The point is this thing works. And when you look at the footprint as to what this is to take with you portable in a backpack, this is the entire antenna right here, minus my radio, my coax, and my battery.

[00:09:58]This is the antenna.

[00:10:01]This can get us resonant on six through 40 m. You got to freaking be kidding me.

[00:10:07]So, the reason that this video turned into a series, this is the final one, was because I was blown away by the performance. It's small form factor.

[00:10:19]It's quick to set up. And you know what?

[00:10:21]Based on how well this performed, and let's be honest, I operate mostly 20 and 40. And so do you. That's where most people operate.

[00:10:30]If you set this up with the jumpers, matter of fact, I have my jumpers right here. You set this up one time, you go from 20 to 40 by plugging in two jumpers into these M coils. You want to talk about a very effective antenna on 20 and 40 meters? Here it is. and it's easily backpackable.

[00:10:49]So, that's why I've spent so much time here. And in addition to be uh being small form factor, easy to set up, backpackable, no radials, it's a dipole. And we're separating the dipole from the ground spike and these um rising tubes or um a tripod or whatever else you want to use.

[00:11:10]We're separating it with this insulator.

[00:11:13]So you really have a dipole that is completely just the top part of the V, no radials. And then as we band hop, if you want to get on 6, 10, 12, 15, and then all the way down to 40, you don't have to keep changing your radials around when you're going to the extremes of the bands.

[00:11:32]One final thing to note, on 20 m, this is very broadbanded across 20 m, meaning you can cover the entire span of the 20 m band with one setup. You could see with the 40 meter because I'm getting lower in band, I have a little bit more of a higher Q, meaning a more narrow bandwidth that's in the sweet spot of my resonance. So, you might have to adjust your coils to get to your sweet spot. Go back to your radio and operate to your heart's content.

[00:12:02]I am just blown away by this portable V Dipole 6 through40. That's why I've spent so much time on it and that's why it turned into a series and now it's complete because with the hairpin match I get fantastic resonance on 40 meters.

[00:12:18]I'm happy with this complete kit now.

[00:12:21]Hope you found this useful. You ought to give this a try regardless. I don't care what brand you own. Take this stinking V dipole. Get resonant on your band and your frequency and have a blast with this. This is a really good setup. Of course, premium gear here to get it done. Use what you have. Purchase what you need and go have a blast playing radio. Talk to you later, friend.