Jn1980, a group of hams decided to look into contesting. We were: I4JMY, I4ZNU, I4OUT, I4YSS, and I4KDJ. After a few tries, it was evident that none of our home QTHs had all the required features to become a good contest station. As our aim was competitive participation, it was a “must” to move from our home stations to another on the occasion of a contest. Often a location that seemed good didn’t reward us with positive results following the hard work of installing radios and antennas in the wildness and cold of a mountain peak. It was like a DXpedition. Moving from one place to another to participate in a contest was a very big effort, without the expedition’s inherent benefits in scoring and propagation.

 

Fungo Dreams :

A couple of years later, during the 1973 40-meter contest, we built and erected a 2-eiement full-size quad in the middle of a country field. After the contest, while dismantling the station, we noticed a big concrete tower shaped like a mushroom (“fungo” in Italian) a few hundred meters away (Photo A). The story of our fungo dream is too long to tell here, but something attractive started to grow in our minds.

Incredibly, what was only a dream became a real opportunity within few weeks. With the help of a local ham, I4UKI, we were able to get in touch with the “right” people and obtain the appropriate permissions. Then, owing to some good luck (a private FM radio station gave up the location as a repeater), it was possible to access the tower of our dreams.

Of course the tower itself wasn’t everything; it was only the beginning.

Fungo’s height (the structure itself, without antennas) is exactly 67 meters (220 feet); the hat, whose shape is similar to an upside down cone, has a diameter of about 26 meters (85 feet). It’s placed 10 meters (33 feet) down from the effective top. We found a room for the shack just on the top. It isn’t very big because there’s a circular corridor with an outer diameter of 6 meters (19.5 feet) and an inner one of 4.5 meters (14.5 feet). In the inside of the smaller “circle,” there’s an elevator.

We don’t know for sure, but we think we are the only ones o have 80 and 160 meter antennas “under” our shack ! As I mentioned before, there’s an elevator we can use, but it takes minutes to reach top and isn’t suitable for carrying materials. There are stairs, too; but if you come to visit us, and you decide not to use the elevator, it’s best that you arrive here in good physical shape!

 

Apart from the fungo jokes, this tall structure wasn’t built for erecting an efficient antenna system on all the HF bands. Basically, the edge of the “cone” isn’t strong enough to withstand more than small towers (poles), and the antenna is already 10 meters down from the Fungo’s top. The top of the tower is “solid”, but not strong enough to support a 100-ft tower on which we would stack 40, 20, 15, and 1O-meter Yagis properly.

We considered tons of solutions, but finally decided to try Delta-Loops and a single

“Brute force” manual rotator.

We spent a lot of evenings and weekends planning the antennas on paper. Next we built, installed, tuned, and optimized them. The final array was a 3 element for 20 meters, a 3 element for 15 meters, and a 3 element for 10 meters (Photo C) on a common towered boom. On 40 meters, we created a phased square array of 4 vertical dipoles (tubing up and wires down) around Fungo’s hat’s edge.

Then, on 80 meters, we installed 3 triangular wire loops, which we soon changed to an array similar to the 40-meter one. We had no antennas on 160 meters, as 160 wasn’t allowed in Italy at that time. With this configuration, and a “glorious” Drake C line, it was possible to be first in Europe and 3rd in the world as a multi-single in 1983 CQ WPX SSB. Our call was IZ4ARI, our score was 7,598,490, and the ops included - I4JMY, I4KDJ, I4ZNU, I4YSS, I4YNO, I4USC, I4EAT, and I4JBJ.

 

It wasn’t long before Italian hams got permission to operate on the 160-meter band. The question was: What antenna to place at Fungo ? After taking a panoramic view, and considering that a “certain” height (nearly an half wave) from ground already existed, we decided to try 160 with a fixed 2-eleinent full-size wire Yagi. This was easy to say and a little bit less easy to realize. We bought two huge 700- meter coils of special (and expensive) synthetic rope and placed it between the tower’s top and out buildings (250-400 meters on each side) to create the support structure of an horizontal 2-elernent Yagi, covering the east/west direction.

I4JMY calculated the antenna. The idea was to tune the passive element remotely with a variable capacitor conveniently placed in the shack, at the end of a TV-type 300-ohm twin lead (of the proper length). This design not only made it possible to quickly reverse direction, but it gave us the chance to optimize the antenna each time—depending on the actual frequency used. Sometimes we could take advantage of the situation by varying the antenna pattern’s nulls.

I4JMY made the first Italy-Australia SSB contact (probably the first or one of the first absolute HAM EU-VK SSB QSO) on the top band with VK6HD,justfew days after the antenna was installed, using the Drake line alone (less than 80 watts) with no sked or side help. It was truly by chance.

Due to poor propagation (no sunspots), Fungo was active in 1984-86 only on 160 meters with few, but very impressive results. The sad reality of no sun-spots, produced a change in Fungo’s team. Some gave up, someone else carne for a period and left, but finally our stabile team became I4JMY, Mauri; I4UFH, Fabio; I4YSS, Vic; and IK4IEE, Joe.

Sometimes a number of friends, mainly from call area 2, join us as guest operators in the big contests. The most “faith-full” are I2VXJ, IK2QEI, IK4MED, IK2SGC, and IK2OHG.

 

Times changed rapidly, and the good diamond array on 40 wasn’t competitive enough with the arrival on the contest scene of big multi-element Yagis. What could we do? Easy, build another 2-element Delta Loop, but for40 meters. Where could we put it? On the top; on the same antenna boom. Believe it or not, we put up a self-supporting 2 element rotating Delta loop on 40 meters. It’s not an easy structure to make; but after some unsuccessful tries, with the use of large amounts of some composite material, we finally produced the antenna. After the 40-meter installation, when looking at Fungo from far away, it was difficult to find the 10- meter antenna. It had nearly disappeared like a 2-meter structure behind the new 40-meter Delta (Photo E)—that’s how big the 40-meter tubing loops are! The length is more than 15 meters (50 feet). The 40-rneter antenna was and is fantastically efficient.

A few months later, during a storm, the towered boom, having been dimensioned for supporting only the 10, 15, and 20-meter elements, couldn’t manage the additional forces of the 40-meter antenna. It crashed, getting totally twisted onto itself. Everything from 10 to 40 meters had to be rebuilt and sized to safety withstand the addition of the 40-meter elements. When we rebuilt it, the boom was stronger and longer, so 15 meters got an extra element, while 20 meters was performing better with wider and optimal element spacing.

 

 

We planned to have a 5-eiement Delta loop on that “prolonged” new boom, but some unwanted coupling prevented the 10-meter Delta from working correctly. It’s probable the 40-meter elements were resonating on 10 meters or, somehow, that the 10-meter antenna found itself in some sort of a “Faraday cage.” This little disaster led us to install a separate 10- meter antenna, a Yagi, on the tower’s hat edge.

The tuning and spacing of a long-boom 10-meter Yagi was one of the most challenging and difficult efforts for the team. The antennas we made (measurements taken from the antenna “bibles”) were working, but none was able to out perform a reference 4-element commercial Yagi, temporarily installed for making real comparisons.

After weeks, and thousands of tries, there emerged an antenna whose shape didn’t fit at all with any Yagi project in any antenna bible of the times; but, most important, it was working very nicely.

Its gain and clear pattern, together with a significant 7 wavelength height from ground, gave ns a sequence of out standing results during the ARRL 1O-meter contests.

Now, looking at the antenna with computer modelling (not available during those times), it is evident that the “unusual” spacing is dose to the best possible— at least for our purposes. With a good 10-meter antenna, the system was finally ready and stable for some years, and we could spend more of unr efforts on con testing than on constructing the station.

 

As I noted earlier, the use of composite materials for the antennas offered light weight and strength to the big structures; but the price you pay is the aging of the material due partially to the weather, but principally to the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. In fact, after years of “no problems,” the 40-meter Delta loop broke several times within a short period of time at a certain point. Initially, we believed that the first break was due to an extreme wind, while the succeeding crash was due an error in the junction method used between the aluminium and the fiber-glass poles.

We dismantled and modified everything. After just few months, the fiber-glass pole broke again (in the middle of a CQWW WPX) at the usual point. We now felt that the problem resulted from too rigid a structure ahead of the fiber-glass. We dismantled and modified everything, again. After awhile, the fiber-glass broke again. It was very frustrating to work so hard before each contest, but all we could do was replace the broken parts. Changing and changing fiber-glass poles, we arrived at the point where we had used all the spare parts, and no more fiber-glass was available.

Nothing was left. The man who had made the tubes had retired. After a “panic” period, it became evident that the only realistic solution was to replace everything and buy all composite materials from a new and bigger dealer. The first one we tried was in Germany. Contacted during an exhibition, he claimed to be a fiber-glass pole producer of the best quality. “My poles are the poles used by S. Bubka,” (pole vaulting world record-man) he said. With such a presentation, we couldn’t help but order the required material from him.

After months and months, and a number of solicitations from our end, the tubes finally arrived, but with the wrong diameters. It was impossible to fit one pole into the next. Special adapters were produced (here in Italy) to join the elements; but even like this, it was clear that the poles were, yes strong, but too heavy to be used as an antenna structure.

We decided the pole dealer had to be closer, precise, and the materials specific! We contacted a very specialized factory, and they asked to view the antennas and analyze the previous materials. After a few weeks, a new set of poles (which were warranted to be stronger and more stable than the previous poles) were ready to be installed. Happily, the antenna was rebuilt for the nth time—with the hope it was the final time. The antenna’s appearance was good; i.e., it Iooked strong, and everyone was now more optimistic about the new fiber-glass quality.

 

The first test came after a few weeks. Under a strong wind storm, the fiber-glass tubing resisted perfectly—but what didn’t resist was the aluminium tubing ahead of the fiber-glass! After different attempts with various dismantle-mount operations, it became clear that the aluminium, at least in the types we could find, wasn’t strong enough to withstand the forces transferred by a stronger fiber-glass pole. A combination of aluminium and stainless steel turned out to be our practical solution, and the antenna didn’t break any more! The rotating pole was now subjugated to a force it hadn’t suffered any time before, and in a big summer storm, did get a permanent inclination of some 1Ox.

 

Now the pole is very, very strong because everyone agreed to oversize it as much as possible. As the result of that change, the structure is strong and reliable, and our time can be focused on contesting again.

However, maybe because of the time spent trying to solve our antenna problems (years), we found ourselves late in the computerization of our station. A little bit sadly, pens and paper were pensioned and the computer got the Iogging duty. Our PC is a very strict and severe controller, giving real-time statistics and indicating “operational” mistakes, It’s good for “soliciting” an increase in pileup rate, or in the multiplier search. Our thought is that it’s impossible to contest without a PC after testing its benefits. At Fungo, in our shack just under or over the antennas, it’s difficult to keep the shack “cold” in terms of RF.

This RF energy, in fact, was “running” everywhere along the computer cables. The PC picked it up and stopped working when it was most needed. A massive study on shielding techniques and a lot of time spent, generally winding coils, was the price we paid for reducing the RF mixed with computer’s data, voice keyer, or computer-radiated noise!

In addition to dealing with problems, we were contesting.

Some of the results could have been better; but experience, a prime factor in contesting success, is something impossible to be born with or buy in a shop. Like everyone else, we had, and have always had, a lot to learn. Most of the devices we use are totally homemade. The fun and the challenge to make things takes time; but, doing things your self often pays in terms of reliability and knowledge. Apart from the rig (an IC-781) and PCs, the rest is home made—sometimes built from “raw” materials. Not only for the above, but also to keep efficiency high, each Ham of the Fungo team, spends (and has spent) thousand of hours, and something else ……..

This station isn’t only used for contesting. When requested, we activate our station, with good success, for social and emergency events. Our equipment and antenna efficiency, and Likewise our operator’s skills, have been appreciated more than once by local people and authorities—the military included. We think this helps all the world radio amateurs’ community to be more respected. We hope now, when IR4T “sounds” in your headphones during a contest, you’ll remember all the guys with the shack “over the mushroom tower.”