Your vertical antenna is the only antenna that I have been able to propagate! I’ve been a ham for a year and your antenna that I mimicked gave me my first HF contact today! Great job my Canadian friend.
A fantastic presentation. Thanks for completely de-mistifying the antenna. As a newbie I was delighted that you didn't get too caught up in high tech stuff. I understood enough to be able to build one.
Great video! I've done essentially the same thing with a B&M 20 foot Black Widow telescoping fiberglass pole and a homebrew L-network tuner. Even operated pedestrian mobile holding the pole in my hand while I walked, rig hanging on a neck strap, and using a headset with boom mic. Great to see others discovering and expanding on ideas like this!
I'm guessing a carbon-fiber fishing-pole is absorbing a lot of the energy from the helically wound antenna and is dissipating a lot of the RF, giving you a good SWR reading the same way a long run of very lossy coax does, by dissipating any reflected power before it can get back to the rig. But hams don't really need much radiated power in order to work DX, just decent atmospheric conditions. It's a lovely hobby in that regard. My longwave antenna was blanketing hundreds of miles in every direction with horrible loss, (a 1 Watt transmitter, and about a 7 mW EIRP,) and it simply didn't matter.
I have been using a 20M and 40M vertical very similar in construction to yours with great success on Field Days and also for POTA activities. I heartily recommend this antenna design. I don't use the balun, merely coils of coax to act as an RF choke.
I built and tested this design today, 16-11-2019. I used pvc pipe in sections ( 4 ) to make 20' . I pre wrapped and secured 18G speaker wire to it. Mid way of the pole I cut and used automotive connectors for the splice so I can break it down. Call it 40' for the wrap and counterpoise. My QTH has a horrible noise base at S 5 to 7 on all bands. I went to my local State Park here in Delaware, Ohio and gave it a run. Using my Yeasu 450D at 90W it tuned 40, 20, 10 . The noise floor at the park is S 0 to 1 on 10, S 1 on 20 and S 1 to 2 on 40. On battery power I was able to QSO to Washington and Wyoming states, 1st time ever with voice to both, IL, VA and Ontario Canada with our current propagation. I heard Puerto Rico and Brazil, those pile ups were crazy. I just happened to have the exact same balun. It was given to me last summer ( Field Day ) by a ham who was never going to use it and I kept it. It works ! . Looks like more testing to come. I was listening and waiting for a QSO to finish between to hams, I knew the 1 was from Alaska but didn't know where the other was. I was totally surprised when he said Washington State. I asked him again to be sure. Thanks for the video ! AD8EC from Delaware, Ohio
A update, 23-11-2019, Today I added 4 radials making a total of 5 and had a QSO for the 1st time ever to Italy on 20M. 1st time ever over the pond doing voice. It has a tight tuning range but it works very well where you tune it. Talk about being tickled..... AD8EC
Hi Denis being a CW op only came across your video what a refreshing little project, I have a 12m spider mast for qrp portable that I normally use for end fed, so I just had to give it a go in comparison , the fact that you gave precise measurements which other hams don’t often do made it a piece of cake and what a revelation when I had it up and running 40m and the warc bands no problem 30m my favorite thank you for this regards Romano EI5EN
Because of the video I had to go and make one. I used the same pole as the one in the video, followed the wrapping method etc. Put my antenna analyzer on it and got a 1:1.0125 (the needle was just off of 1:1) through all of the 40 meter band. I was able to tune 10, 20, 40 meters with the auto tuners I have, I did not try other bands. Like in the video I had a 4:1 balun at the base of the pole.
@John, Homemade. I believe I used the info from the series of videos from th-cam.com/users/N7JFP starting with this video th-cam.com/video/IR-8T0QjUjM/w-d-xo.html.
Got the same fishing pole this evening from amazon. 33.9 feet for antenna and counterpoise. Made my first ever Hf contact on 40m with this antenna. I am in Toronto and the contact was in Littleton, North Carolina . This is amazing. Thanks de VA3KBM
Hi Bunty. Maybe you can help me on this point: The video says to use 33'9" of speaker wire. The presenter then says to split that length so antenna and counterpoise are about equal. Later, after wrapping the pole he says he has about 33' of counterpoise. So he would have more than 20' of wire on the pole, plus 33' of counterpoise, for a total length of more than 50 feet. So I'm confused about the math. Thanks for any help.
I'm a newly minted Canadian HAM VE3VCG, as is my wife Jan VA3EAC. We both enjoy learning new and creative ways of doing things, especially when they are both effective and less expensive. Being retired we are mindful of our budget so stretching a dollar is more than just a casual interest. Your video certainly demonstrates one way to be creative and save money at the same time. Making an antenna that is also light weight and man portable is an added bonus. Thanks for the video, we enjoyed it.
Nice antenna when on the road. I set this up on the second floor balcony of the hotel I was staying at and was able to get out 1,300 miles CW on a bad band night. Very happy with it and appreciate the concise instructions.
Thanks for this! I bought one of those poles about two weeks ago and am going to rig it up. I appreciate the tip of coiling it two finger widths apart!
And today I finally got around to setting it up and wow!!! I was delighted with the outcome. I checked into the same nets as always with lower power than before and better audio reports. I’m hooked!!
Hello Dennis. I use fiberglass squid poles, sometimes 2, sometimes 1. I don't use a balun. When out portable, not as much anymore, I used to set up EFHW and use manual endfed ATU. Most recently began using the LDG 817 with my FT817ND in the field. Don't hike as deep due problem with walking but auto tuner works great. Antennas are all 18 or 22 AWG wire. For balanced dipole I carry 41 feet rolled up 450 ohm window line. I have a binder post to BNC adaptor to attach to my auto turner or manual turner. Becoming more difficult to walk so finding a table near a parking lot works. Fishing swivel with clip is good for attaching the antenna to the pole tip.
I use the same fishing pole to make a 20 meter vertical which I can easily put up and take down. Try elevating that counterpoise off the ground if only a few inches. That will greatly reduce ground losses. I use only one elevated radial and have no problem making CW contacts with Europe with 5 watts.
Thanks for the vid, Dennis. A good, clear and straight-forward presentation on your antenna. I use a 1:1 balun on my 40m vertical (similar to yours) and that seems to work well and load up fine. Interesting what you say about the carbon fibre being conductive. I guess, unless you're using a QRP rig, then the absorption losses wouldn't matter. I did get stray RF on my antenna, so I added an extra earth to the vehicle from the radial clip. No problems now. Thanks again!
Thanks John, Are you getting a flat SWR on any particular band with the 1:1 balun? Mine is flat on the 40m band and is usable (loadable) on 80, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 and 6 meters using the internal tuner on my Kenwood TS-590SG. I have not notice any stray RF, I used the antenna a lot from my trailer where stray RF does bother a few things like the magic fan and the cheap sound system but I have never had any problems with this antenna. My OCD is a whole different story :)
Hi Dennis. I have just discovered your Amateur Radio vlog's? I like to see idea's for simple antenna's, tip's & trick's, & you have vlogged some really interesting article's. Many thank's. I have to totally operate from inside my apartment, with no garden or balcony, so it's a bit of a challenge these day's. My main antenna is an MFJ 1786x Mag Loop that sit's away in the kitchen. I have an understanding Wife, but obviously, I never transmit when she is in the kitchen. I also go static mobile using simple whip antenna's. Once again, many thank's for your very interesting vlog's. 73 de Pete GI0FZT.
Good presentation, good audio and video quality, and very clear. On a technical note, I think you have very good broadband match because the carbon fiber might be somewhat lossy. A 1/4 wave vertical should have an impedance of about 37 ohms at resonance, with the ground plane at the same potential as the shield of the coax cable. So I think the balun is not needed at all.
Very well presented & clear instruction!, thanks for uploading this.. I'm a bit screwed to get anything more than a vertical or a wire up for the time being so have been contemplating something like this. Thanks again, Andy MM6PMQ
Hi Dennis. Great work and a nice antenna. I use that exact same pole to support a linked dipole. The little eyelet on mine popped off so I simply tape the center of the dipole to the pole. Works great! Keep the videos coming! K2CJB
I bought a 1.00$ (American dollar) boomerang wrapped two one for 15 meters and the other for 40 meters with 14 gauge speaker wire and RG8X and had a 1:5:1 on the 15 meter one and 1:3:1 on the 40 meter band
Great video but think that i would avoid carbon fibre other than as a support for a wire of some sort. Too lossy (for my money) to use as a coil former.. Glass fibre would be my choice. Reckon that big old tree is a bit too close for RF comfort.
Great video. I got 5 of these from Le Barons before they went bankrupt. The swr is affected a bit by the wrapping of the wire around the fiberglass. These things get out better than a Hy Gain trapped vertical.
Great video. Twisting the wire around the mast is a great idea. For you, it made all of the wire fit on the mast. For me, the downward load is distributed equally on the mast. Now the top of the mast will not bend over and hang down so you loose some height. My application would require less turns per foot but your idea is great. Barry, KU3X
Great video Dennis, concise & to the point. I especially like the fact that you give measurements and construction details, - very informative. Thanks for putting the video up. G0EKH
I'm going to build one of these, to use with my Emcom. kit. If my other antenna's are storm damaged, this would get me on the air in about 30 mins (I'm guessing on the time.) Love the video! 8P6RC
Love this antenna for the ease of putting it together quickly. I have ran this antenna (slight different configuration) on 40 meters with no antenna tuner/balun and works great and low SWR. Since I was not running a balun or matching circuit, I actually slid the fiberglass pole onto another non-conductive pole so i could give the antenna enough elevation to have three ground radials as close to 45 degrees as possible that tapered down to the ground. My thought and understanding would be to achieve close to 50 ohms impedance so I could go right into the 50 ohm coax without any matching circuit. Having the ground radials off the ground I would think would make it more efficient and the angle would allow the pattern to be lower to the horizon. The ideas seemed to work as the SWR was under 1.2 and appeared to be no RFI traveling back through the coax whatsoever. I have also made mine where I can swap in/out a wire wound coil at the bottom and was able to work 80 meters, again no tuner and low SWR. Transmit/receive on 80 meters will obviously be much less efficient with the setup, but still fun to know that contacts can still be made. From Tennessee/US working contacts around the world with it on 100 watts on 40 meters and making contacts in U.S./Canada on 80 meters :) Pros: 1) portable, quick setup 2) easy and cheap to make 3) No tuner needed if using for a single band and have tuned it to Cons: Not as efficient as other antennas, but better than no antenna!
I have constructed the antenna as described in the video and was hoping to add a coil to use it on 80M just as you did. Would you mind describing the coil you built and how you installed it?
1/4 wave presents lowest possible impedance and it's extremely hard from ground/ counterweight perspective. Such antenna requires much more than one thin wire on the ground to work properly and efficient. I'd rather try to extend the length electrically by some inductance and attempt to have half wave end-feed dipole, which in turn presents high impedance and it's not very ground - demanding. You've said you use balun to separate HF from coax cable but SWR depends on coax shape. There's someting wrong. My first guess is that antenna's requirement for ground/counterweight is so strong that even common-mode dumping of the balun is not enough. Good automatic tuner (as allways) is masking all these problems and replaces curiosity how antenna works for more and more hams all over the world.
I am by no means an RF engineer but I can tell you that I experimenting and building antennas is one of my favourite parts of this hobby. All that said this is a compromise antenna that I built for portable work, it weights just over a kilo and it travels well both in a packpack or in airline luggage plus it was under $50. The antenna deploys in about 5 minutes, you can lean it up against a tree, tie it to a fence, stand it up in a bush, today I stood it up in a pile of rocks at the summit of my hike, heck I've even tied it to a railing of a ship at sea using a bungee cord. The rendition seen in the video is the best yet, at least for me, the antenna is resonate on the 40 meter band and I can use it from 7.0 to 7.3 Mhz without a tuner in fact the SWR does not go over 1.3 : 1 at the band edges, while using a 6 meter length of 50 ohm coax. I've cut wires for various bands and the do work but I always go back to the 40m pair because I can load the antenna up from 80 through 6 meters with my rigs internal tuner so that cuts down the weight I need to carry. I've made thousands of contact working portable from hundreds of locations and all I can say is it works. I'm sure that there are other designs out there and surely some will be better than mine, should you decide build an antenna such as you described, create a video on it I'd love to have a look at it, I'm always on the hunt for a better antenna. 73 Denis
Have you tried with two or more counterweights? According to my experience with end-feed stuff it improves a hell lot. By the rule of thumb I add counterweights until touching radio's ground does not impact SWR. Best 73s and see you on the air!
Take a look on this www.hamfesters.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Stealth-Antenna-Guide.pdf Such monopoles seems to need really masive grouding (32 counterweights in the ground) to work any close to efficient.
VE3BF, I have no reason to disbelieve that your dirt simple arial works 'wundaflee' just as you described but I can't understand why Mr Know-It-All is debunking your fully functional/lightweight/portable and packable arial! Are you also suposed to lug onto the aroplane a 15 lb role of counterpois wire, an 8 foot 10 lb copper clad steel ground rod and a 5 lb mini-sledge to bury the ground rod? Sorry for the rant but he should have been giving you 'AtaBoys' and patting you on the back for a Job Well Done. BTW: Job Well Done, Great Idea and an Excellent Video Presentation..... Also, what a beutiful campgroung! 73 Russ in NH KA1RUW
Denis, I really liked your video and have ordered today the Shakespeare Wonderpole. I have been looking at a lot of videos about portable antennas that I can use with my newly purchased Elecraft KX3 radio, and most verticals using a 33 ft wire tend to use a 9:1 balun. I don't know much about the subject, but I wondered if you had any thoughts about a 9:1 vs 4:1 that you ended up using. Thanks again for the great idea.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, I personally have never use a 9:1 balun on a vertical, I have tried a 4:1 unun, a very common match box on verticals, it worked okay but not as well as the 4:1 balun, I think it may have something to do with the coil effect over the conductive carbon fibre. The wire is insulated and all but I'm sure there is a transformer type effect going on there somewhere. All that said the antenna works well and I've hade some great results with it. Have fun with it and let me know how you make out. 73 Denis
Thanks Denis for the quick response. This is the antenna that I have talking about that uses the 9:1 UNUN that is offered by the Honolulu Emergency Amateur Radio Club (EARCHI.ORG). N0HYD uses one attached to a 31' extension Jackite Pole in his lunch video at th-cam.com/video/kVbipfGuhTc/w-d-xo.html. When I saw the video it reminded me so much of your fishing pole video because both uses approximately 30 feet of wire vertically. Check it out and let me know what you think. thanks Jerry
So what you are saying is that if you use an equal length counterpoise, then the 4:1 is the best match? Learning is fun. I appreciate your time and comments.
la pouce The impedance varies depending on the surroundings but you should see value around 30 ohms. As for the power handling the unun is rated for 200 watts. 73 de VE3BF
Would I be able to use a telescoping metal 16.5 ft. "Black Widow" fishing pole - or would I need to make some mods for it to work, and if so, which? Great video!
Great video, I have a fishing pole from mfj (it was a gift) and I used it at field day in June. After seeing your video, I got to thinking. I have a 9:1 unun that I could put at the base of the pole. and then run the coax into the shack. The only problem here is that I only have access to a tiny flower bed next to the apartment. There is no room for a counterpoise. Would that still work? Thanks for sharing your antenna setup, I really enjoyed the video. 73 de VE3QJ
Thanks for the kind words. Take a look at my long wire video, th-cam.com/video/3lO_h1bqmmY/w-d-xo.html You could try a 29"6" wire wrapped on the pole to a 9:1 un-un use 30 feet of coax as a counter poise. You will need a ground, a cold water pipe will do in a pinch or better yer a ground rod in the flower bed. the 29 1/2 foot wire should give you 40 through 6 meters using only a rigs built in tuner and you should get 80 if you have an external tuner. Have fun with it. 73 de VE3BF
Dennis, great video I am going to duplicate your setup as I go to some places that dont have trees handy. Looks like this will work from 40-10 meters. I have a 9:1 unun, so do you think this will work or is the 4:1 the ticket to make it work. Thanks Rich KG5IF
I wondered the same thing and have been thinking about a fibreglass stake the same length as the collapsed pole. You could then sink the stake into the ground and Velcro it to the antenna. How about that? Think that would work?
Yes they changed over to fibreglass since I purchased mine. Remember this video is a little over 2 years old. None the well it does not matter the pole is just a support for the wire. 73 VE3BF
would adding more ground radials help with making it more omni directional. I have that same 4to1 and a 12m spiderbeam mast this looks like it could be a good field antenna.
VE3BF Nubby question does the wire need to be terminated or can I just tape the cut end of the radiator to the pole Same with the counterpoise wires do the ends need to be terminated or can they just be stretched out. I will eventually but just want to get everything cut before to frequency first
@@VE3BF I USE A 7METER POLE THAT I BOUGHT FROM THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE TEAR DROP BANNERS .WHEN YOU BUY THE POLE YOU ALSO HAVE THE BASE ON WHICH YOU PUT IT TO HOLD IT UP.THE POLE SLIDES INTO ABOUT AN 8 INCH METAL TUBE IT SITS IN. Cheers Vk5fxam .
How is your signal propagation direction compare to your coax counterpoise direction. Off the end or side. I know it won't be Omni directional..just subscribed
The theory says that it will be directional and I'm sure it is to some degree, in all honesty I have not noticed much. I mostly use this antenna for run and gun short sessions but I was to set it up for more that a few hours I would probable at 3 more radial. 73 de VE3BF
crazy banjo The wire wrapped around the fishing pole is the live antenna, the centre conductor of the coax. The wire on the ground is a counterpose or a radial if want to call it that, it's hooked up to the brained part of the coax. The antenna is the same, electrically as a half wave dipole.
So any speaker wire will work as long as the actual wire is copper right ? Im trying to come up with a extremely light and extremely portable setup for QRP, to the point of possibly using this antenna with a HT both Analog & DMR. still learning about things, so just figuring things out because I want it to be very very portable and very very mobile. mostly on foot with a heavy duty hiking EmCOM Go Bag. My GO Bag will also have cloth foldable solar panel & Lithium 12-Ah battery with an around 3 HT's and the tiniest Mobile 50-Watt radio I can find. and of court guy rings and wires, tension clamps. again, extremely light and portable on foot setup. :)
For QRP you can go down to 20 or even 22 ga. not problem even thinner if you can find it. Just remember that the thinner the wire the more fragile it becomes. The exact length of the antenna does vary depending on the wire ga. and the insulation material. This antenna is designed for 40m so I'm not sure it would tune up 2m on 70cm.
A 9:1 may work at 33' of wire but the antenna become a 1/2 vertical for 20m. For 40m you would need somewhere around 66 feet of wire. the counter poise could possibly by replaced by a grounding rod. It would a cool project to play with. Let me know if you get it to work. 73 Denis
I had a 10' carbon fiber pole (unfortunately, not longer). Wrapped approx 20' of magnet wire around it. I had it attached to a piece of PVC to get it higher off the ground. I think the top of the 10' pole was approx 15 feet off the ground, maybe a bit more. Had about 13' left that wouldn't fit so I extended it across my patio to a mounting point in a sloped configuration. So, I had the vertical and a small portion of wire sloper. Total wire length about 33-34'. I ran it with 9:1 balun as an end fed configuration. With this, the coax becomes the counterpoise. The balun has a place for a counterpoise but when I attached separate counterpoise wires, I couldn't get the SWR below 1.8. So, I pulled all the counterpoises off and got it near flat on 20m and 40m. No contacts yet, had to go to work. The band is noisey, but heard a few stations. I hope to get some contacts on it soon. -- Steve....
Hi Ron, I mostly use this antenna at camgrounds the easiest thing is to lean it up to a tree or stand it up in a bush. I've used bungee cords to tie it tho a picnic table or a camping lot marker post. The antenna is so light with barely any wind load so I'm that you could hammer a surveyors wooden stake into the ground and tie it to that. I can bring it over to your place if you want to give it a try.
Thanks Denis. I have that fishing pole and will try the surveyor stake when the ground thaws. I'll follow up with you. Always learn a lot watching your vids.
HI RON. I GOT A 6FOOT STEAK N PUSH OR HAMER IN TO RGUND LEAVING 3 TO 4 FOOT STICKING UP. THEN PUT POLE ON TOP. ITS NOT GOING ANYWHERE... @@ronsmith7764
A silly question, but what is the gauge of the speaker wire? It looks pretty thick. Nice video instruction. I will be trying this antenna using the wrap method. Thank you. Mark. K0PIG
HI, THIS MIPT BE DAFT QUESTIAN, BUT ERE WE GO....IF THIS VIRTICL IS 33' 9'' FOR 40M. DOES THAT MEAN 67' 8'' WILL DO FOR 80M AND 16'10.5'' FOR 20M... IT PROBLEY IS WRONG BUT THOUGHT ID ASK. AS A NEWBEE, ASKING IS THE WAY TO LEARN. THANX FER UR TIME...73
Yep... should scale up and down like that. BUT you need a longer pole for 80M. The other bands could be on shorter pole and/or just run straight up the pole. Not sure how it might tune up. But you are on the right track.
I use whatever I can find hi hi. I use a bungie cord for the tie down, wood fences picnic table legs small bushes all work. you could also use a wooden surveyor's stack as long as it's not too windy. in the video the pole is simply leaned into a tree branch outside the frame. 73 Denis
VE3BF thanks for the reply! I actually have the 30’ pole arriving today. I’m wondering now, if I could wrap this longer pole for 80m with the added length. it will still be a compromised antenna. btw, did you ever put the analyzer on the 40m ??? I think you mention maybe doing so in the video but it’s been awhile.
@@richarde735 Hi Richard, sorry for the late reply , it seems I did not get a notification for this comment. the 30 foot pole sound pretty neat to experiment with. You could try a the same build using the dimensions for a dipole try this calculator for a starting length www.66pacific.com/calculators/dipole-antenna-length-calculator.aspx I't probably won't work on 40, 15 or 10 meters but it should load up on 20 and 6 meters. 73
I just watched this video and was wondering the same thing. I wish he would have answered your question and since he didn't I'm also wondering why he didn't.
And of course, if you use a compromise antenna, you always want to have an antenna tuner. Really, I would recommend using an antenna tuner with any antenna, just to be safe. 73 VE7NDE
They are insulated from each other but I'm sure there is an interaction going on there somewhere but that said it works, I, along with a few others, have had very good success with this antenna.
In the video I simply propped the pole up agaist a tree. I only use this antenna on portable ops so I fund the using a bungee cord works best. I've tied it to picnic tables wooden fences, campground lot markers. A simple 2 x 2 wooden steak 2 feet into the ground will work fine.
Did you ever get around to doing an analysis on this antenna? I'm going to try this with a fiberglass Wonderpole as this is what I could find. This looks like a great little rapid deployment antenna.
No I never did. I still use it, a lot on smaller campsites, I keep making contacts so it works. Fiberglass should work the same, the only reason I got carbon is because that's all I could get at the time. 73
Great video. Just wondering, would a 1:1 balun work as that's all I have. Also, how do you actually get that thing to stand up in the ground? What do you use to support it? I couldn't figure that out from the video
Hi, a 1:1 balun will work, 40 meters will not be a problem but the other bands will not match up as easily. If you are using an internal antenna tuner you most likely won't get all the bands. There are many plans on the internet for a 4:1 balun and they are easy to build, if you are not up for a build you can buy one for about $30 USD. The antenna is very light, I simply wrap a bungee cord on to a fence post or a tree limb, you can also pound in a surveyor stake and attach to that. 73
Your vertical antenna is the only antenna that I have been able to propagate! I’ve been a ham for a year and your antenna that I mimicked gave me my first HF contact today! Great job my Canadian friend.
A fantastic presentation. Thanks for completely de-mistifying the antenna. As a newbie I was delighted that you didn't get too caught up in high tech stuff. I understood enough to be able to build one.
Great video! I've done essentially the same thing with a B&M 20 foot Black Widow telescoping fiberglass pole and a homebrew L-network tuner. Even operated pedestrian mobile holding the pole in my hand while I walked, rig hanging on a neck strap, and using a headset with boom mic. Great to see others discovering and expanding on ideas like this!
I'm guessing a carbon-fiber fishing-pole is absorbing a lot of the energy from the helically wound antenna and is dissipating a lot of the RF, giving you a good SWR reading the same way a long run of very lossy coax does, by dissipating any reflected power before it can get back to the rig. But hams don't really need much radiated power in order to work DX, just decent atmospheric conditions. It's a lovely hobby in that regard. My longwave antenna was blanketing hundreds of miles in every direction with horrible loss, (a 1 Watt transmitter, and about a 7 mW EIRP,) and it simply didn't matter.
I have been using a 20M and 40M vertical very similar in construction to yours with great success on Field Days and also for POTA activities. I heartily recommend this antenna design. I don't use the balun, merely coils of coax to act as an RF choke.
I built and tested this design today, 16-11-2019. I used pvc pipe in sections ( 4 ) to make 20' . I pre wrapped and secured 18G speaker wire to it. Mid way of the pole I cut and used automotive connectors for the splice so I can break it down. Call it 40' for the wrap and counterpoise. My QTH has a horrible noise base at S 5 to 7 on all bands. I went to my local State Park here in Delaware, Ohio and gave it a run. Using my Yeasu 450D at 90W it tuned 40, 20, 10 . The noise floor at the park is S 0 to 1 on 10, S 1 on 20 and S 1 to 2 on 40. On battery power I was able to QSO to Washington and Wyoming states, 1st time ever with voice to both, IL, VA and Ontario Canada with our current propagation. I heard Puerto Rico and Brazil, those pile ups were crazy. I just happened to have the exact same balun. It was given to me last summer ( Field Day ) by a ham who was never going to use it and I kept it. It works ! . Looks like more testing to come. I was listening and waiting for a QSO to finish between to hams, I knew the 1 was from Alaska but didn't know where the other was. I was totally surprised when he said Washington State. I asked him again to be sure. Thanks for the video ! AD8EC from Delaware, Ohio
A update, 23-11-2019, Today I added 4 radials making a total of 5 and had a QSO for the 1st time ever to Italy on 20M. 1st time ever over the pond doing voice. It has a tight tuning range but it works very well where you tune it. Talk about being tickled..... AD8EC
jamie clifton were your additional radials also 33’9” long?
@@jamieclifton1997 looks like the Radials are critical, what size? 33 ft?
@@minnesotanature yes
Hi Denis being a CW op only came across your video what a refreshing little project, I have a 12m spider mast for qrp portable that I normally use for end fed, so I just had to give it a go in comparison , the fact that you gave precise measurements which other hams don’t often do made it a piece of cake and what a revelation when I had it up and running 40m and the warc bands no problem 30m my favorite thank you for this regards Romano EI5EN
Because of the video I had to go and make one. I used the same pole as the one in the video, followed the wrapping method etc. Put my antenna analyzer on it and got a 1:1.0125 (the needle was just off of 1:1) through all of the 40 meter band. I was able to tune 10, 20, 40 meters with the auto tuners I have, I did not try other bands. Like in the video I had a 4:1 balun at the base of the pole.
Awesome :) VE3BF
With auto tuner do you keep the 33' 9" wire or did you need to cut different lengths of wire for each band?
@@minnesotanature kept the wire the length in the video.
@Gary, would you have specifications on the 4:1 you used? Current or Voltage balun, Mfg name, part number, etc. Any information appreciated.
@John, Homemade. I believe I used the info from the series of videos from th-cam.com/users/N7JFP starting with this video th-cam.com/video/IR-8T0QjUjM/w-d-xo.html.
Got the same fishing pole this evening from amazon. 33.9 feet for antenna and counterpoise. Made my first ever Hf contact on 40m with this antenna. I am in Toronto and the contact was in Littleton, North Carolina . This is amazing. Thanks de VA3KBM
Hi Bunty. Maybe you can help me on this point: The video says to use 33'9" of speaker wire. The presenter then says to split that length so antenna and counterpoise are about equal. Later, after wrapping the pole he says he has about 33' of counterpoise. So he would have more than 20' of wire on the pole, plus 33' of counterpoise, for a total length of more than 50 feet. So I'm confused about the math. Thanks for any help.
I'm a newly minted Canadian HAM VE3VCG, as is my wife Jan VA3EAC. We both enjoy learning new and creative ways of doing things, especially when they are both effective and less expensive. Being retired we are mindful of our budget so stretching a dollar is more than just a casual interest. Your video certainly demonstrates one way to be creative and save money at the same time. Making an antenna that is also light weight and man portable is an added bonus. Thanks for the video, we enjoyed it.
Nice antenna when on the road. I set this up on the second floor balcony of the hotel I was staying at and was able to get out 1,300 miles CW on a bad band night. Very happy with it and appreciate the concise instructions.
Awesome I'm so glad it's working out for you. 73 de VE3BF
Thank you for the design, I have been using this antenna for about a year and am very happy with it.
I built and tested (on 40M) this as you described. SWR is flat, performed very well. Very impressive. Thank You for sharing.
Update. Works well on 20 meters also. Thanks KG5ZQ
Informative and an inspiration to attempt! I wish that more 'ham tubers' were this good. Thanks Dennis. 73---VE3GNU
Great! Now I need a $700 transceiver to go with the antenna😊👍 .
You should spend alittle more. lol
Thanks for this! I bought one of those poles about two weeks ago and am going to rig it up. I appreciate the tip of coiling it two finger widths apart!
And today I finally got around to setting it up and wow!!! I was delighted with the outcome. I checked into the same nets as always with lower power than before and better audio reports. I’m hooked!!
Awesome quick antenna that just works. It's working better than my wolf river coil and easier to deploy for sure. Thanks.
Hello Dennis. I use fiberglass squid poles, sometimes 2, sometimes 1. I don't use a balun. When out portable, not as much anymore, I used to set up EFHW and use manual endfed ATU. Most recently began using the LDG 817 with my FT817ND in the field. Don't hike as deep due problem with walking but auto tuner works great. Antennas are all 18 or 22 AWG wire. For balanced dipole I carry 41 feet rolled up 450 ohm window line. I have a binder post to BNC adaptor to attach to my auto turner or manual turner. Becoming more difficult to walk so finding a table near a parking lot works. Fishing swivel with clip is good for attaching the antenna to the pole tip.
Thanks for your comment Terry, i like the swivel clip idea. 73 Denis
I use the same fishing pole to make a 20 meter vertical which I can easily put up and take down. Try elevating that counterpoise off the ground if only a few inches. That will greatly reduce ground losses. I use only one elevated radial and have no problem making CW contacts with Europe with 5 watts.
Cool tip, I will try that.
Thanks
Denis
Thanks for the vid, Dennis. A good, clear and straight-forward presentation on your antenna. I use a 1:1 balun on my 40m vertical (similar to yours) and that seems to work well and load up fine. Interesting what you say about the carbon fibre being conductive. I guess, unless you're using a QRP rig, then the absorption losses wouldn't matter. I did get stray RF on my antenna, so I added an extra earth to the vehicle from the radial clip. No problems now. Thanks again!
Thanks John,
Are you getting a flat SWR on any particular band with the 1:1 balun? Mine is flat on the 40m band and is usable (loadable) on 80, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 and 6 meters using the internal tuner on my Kenwood TS-590SG. I have not notice any stray RF, I used the antenna a lot from my trailer where stray RF does bother a few things like the magic fan and the cheap sound system but I have never had any problems with this antenna. My OCD is a whole different story :)
Hi Dennis. I have just discovered your Amateur Radio vlog's? I like to see idea's for simple antenna's, tip's & trick's, & you have vlogged some really interesting article's. Many thank's.
I have to totally operate from inside my apartment, with no garden or balcony, so it's a bit of a challenge these day's. My main antenna is an MFJ 1786x Mag Loop that sit's away in the kitchen. I have an understanding Wife, but obviously, I never transmit when she is in the kitchen.
I also go static mobile using simple whip antenna's.
Once again, many thank's for your very interesting vlog's. 73 de Pete GI0FZT.
Good presentation, good audio and video quality, and very clear. On a technical note, I think you have very good broadband match because the carbon fiber might be somewhat lossy. A 1/4 wave vertical should have an impedance of about 37 ohms at resonance, with the ground plane at the same potential as the shield of the coax cable. So I think the balun is not needed at all.
Can't wait to try it! Love your videos. Ty lee
Very well presented & clear instruction!, thanks for uploading this..
I'm a bit screwed to get anything more than a vertical or a wire up for the time being so have been contemplating something like this.
Thanks again,
Andy MM6PMQ
As long as the band is somewhat open this little antenna performs well. I use it when I travel all the time. 73 Denis
Super interesting
Well explained
Thanks
Hi Dennis. Great work and a nice antenna. I use that exact same pole to support a linked dipole. The little eyelet on mine popped off so I simply tape the center of the dipole to the pole. Works great! Keep the videos coming! K2CJB
Very nice. This should work pretty well for shortwave listening.👍
Trustin Patey , Many hams forget that there are more listeners than hams. LOL Good show! de KQ2E
I bought a 1.00$ (American dollar) boomerang wrapped two one for 15 meters and the other for 40 meters with 14 gauge speaker wire and RG8X and had a 1:5:1 on the 15 meter one and 1:3:1 on the 40 meter band
Great video but think that i would avoid carbon fibre other than as a support for a wire of some sort.
Too lossy (for my money) to use as a coil former.. Glass fibre would be my choice.
Reckon that big old tree is a bit too close for RF comfort.
Great video. I got 5 of these from Le Barons before they went bankrupt. The swr is affected a bit by the wrapping of the wire around the fiberglass. These things get out better than a Hy Gain trapped vertical.
I thought you had a fishing pole that was 40m in LENGTH! LOL!
@Bence Bujdosó maybe this would even have been a better title, however, it is clear to hams that it is about the 40m band and not the pole.
Great video. Twisting the wire around the mast is a great idea. For you, it made all of the wire fit on the mast. For me, the downward load is distributed equally on the mast. Now the top of the mast will not bend over and hang down so you loose some height. My application would require less turns per foot but your idea is great.
Barry, KU3X
you gotta show some contacts or rx after showing a antenna! cool antenna.
Great video Dennis, concise & to the point. I especially like the fact that you give measurements and construction details, - very informative. Thanks for putting the video up. G0EKH
Dennis. Did you have to cut the eyelets off the pole? Thanks for a nice video.
These poles come with the eyelets not attached. Only the tip has a ferule. KB8AMZ
I'm going to build one of these, to use with my Emcom. kit. If my other antenna's are storm damaged, this would get me on the air in about 30 mins (I'm guessing on the time.) Love the video! 8P6RC
Love this antenna for the ease of putting it together quickly. I have ran this antenna (slight different configuration) on 40 meters with no antenna tuner/balun and works great and low SWR. Since I was not running a balun or matching circuit, I actually slid the fiberglass pole onto another non-conductive pole so i could give the antenna enough elevation to have three ground radials as close to 45 degrees as possible that tapered down to the ground. My thought and understanding would be to achieve close to 50 ohms impedance so I could go right into the 50 ohm coax without any matching circuit. Having the ground radials off the ground I would think would make it more efficient and the angle would allow the pattern to be lower to the horizon.
The ideas seemed to work as the SWR was under 1.2 and appeared to be no RFI traveling back through the coax whatsoever. I have also made mine where I can swap in/out a wire wound coil at the bottom and was able to work 80 meters, again no tuner and low SWR. Transmit/receive on 80 meters will obviously be much less efficient with the setup, but still fun to know that contacts can still be made. From Tennessee/US working contacts around the world with it on 100 watts on 40 meters and making contacts in U.S./Canada on 80 meters :)
Pros: 1) portable, quick setup 2) easy and cheap to make 3) No tuner needed if using for a single band and have tuned it to
Cons: Not as efficient as other antennas, but better than no antenna!
I have constructed the antenna as described in the video and was hoping to add a coil to use it on 80M just as you did. Would you mind describing the coil you built and how you installed it?
1/4 wave presents lowest possible impedance and it's extremely hard from ground/ counterweight perspective. Such antenna requires much more than one thin wire on the ground to work properly and efficient. I'd rather try to extend the length electrically by some inductance and attempt to have half wave end-feed dipole, which in turn presents high impedance and it's not very ground - demanding. You've said you use balun to separate HF from coax cable but SWR depends on coax shape. There's someting wrong. My first guess is that antenna's requirement for ground/counterweight is so strong that even common-mode dumping of the balun is not enough. Good automatic tuner (as allways) is masking all these problems and replaces curiosity how antenna works for more and more hams all over the world.
I am by no means an RF engineer but I can tell you that I experimenting and building antennas is one of my favourite parts of this hobby. All that said this is a compromise antenna that I built for portable work, it weights just over a kilo and it travels well both in a packpack or in airline luggage plus it was under $50. The antenna deploys in about 5 minutes, you can lean it up against a tree, tie it to a fence, stand it up in a bush, today I stood it up in a pile of rocks at the summit of my hike, heck I've even tied it to a railing of a ship at sea using a bungee cord. The rendition seen in the video is the best yet, at least for me, the antenna is resonate on the 40 meter band and I can use it from 7.0 to 7.3 Mhz without a tuner in fact the SWR does not go over 1.3 : 1 at the band edges, while using a 6 meter length of 50 ohm coax. I've cut wires for various bands and the do work but I always go back to the 40m pair because I can load the antenna up from 80 through 6 meters with my rigs internal tuner so that cuts down the weight I need to carry. I've made thousands of contact working portable from hundreds of locations and all I can say is it works. I'm sure that there are other designs out there and surely some will be better than mine, should you decide build an antenna such as you described, create a video on it I'd love to have a look at it, I'm always on the hunt for a better antenna. 73 Denis
Have you tried with two or more counterweights? According to my experience with end-feed stuff it improves a hell lot. By the rule of thumb I add counterweights until touching radio's ground does not impact SWR. Best 73s and see you on the air!
Take a look on this www.hamfesters.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Stealth-Antenna-Guide.pdf Such monopoles seems to need really masive grouding (32 counterweights in the ground) to work any close to efficient.
VE3BF, I have no reason to disbelieve that your dirt simple arial works 'wundaflee' just as you described but I can't understand why Mr Know-It-All is debunking your fully functional/lightweight/portable and packable arial!
Are you also suposed to lug onto the aroplane a 15 lb role of counterpois wire, an 8 foot 10 lb copper clad steel ground rod and a 5 lb mini-sledge to bury the ground rod?
Sorry for the rant but he should have been giving you 'AtaBoys' and patting you on the back for a Job Well Done.
BTW: Job Well Done, Great Idea and an Excellent Video Presentation.....
Also, what a beutiful campgroung!
73
Russ in NH
KA1RUW
@@MrocznyTechnik what's a counterweight
Great idea and impressive results
thanks, Denis fantastic presentation terrific 73 from kb2uew
Wow fantastic! Thank you for sharing.
i bought a carbon fiber pole and was told its conductive and its no good .yours works and yours is carbon fiber . so is carbon fiber ok to use .
BRIAN BROWN yes carbon fibre is conductive and yes it still works fine as long as the wire you use is insulated. VE3BF
So many tall trees available. A sling shot and fishing line to hoist up wire would also work
Try using gaffers tape rather than electrical tape. The gaffers tape will not leave and sticky stuff behind.
Denis, I really liked your video and have ordered today the Shakespeare Wonderpole. I have been looking at a lot of videos about portable antennas that I can use with my newly purchased Elecraft KX3 radio, and most verticals using a 33 ft wire tend to use a 9:1 balun. I don't know much about the subject, but I wondered if you had any thoughts about a 9:1 vs 4:1 that you ended up using. Thanks again for the great idea.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, I personally have never use a 9:1 balun on a vertical, I have tried a 4:1 unun, a very common match box on verticals, it worked okay but not as well as the 4:1 balun, I think it may have something to do with the coil effect over the conductive carbon fibre. The wire is insulated and all but I'm sure there is a transformer type effect going on there somewhere. All that said the antenna works well and I've hade some great results with it. Have fun with it and let me know how you make out. 73 Denis
Thanks Denis for the quick response. This is the antenna that I have talking about that uses the 9:1 UNUN that is offered by the Honolulu Emergency Amateur Radio Club (EARCHI.ORG). N0HYD uses one attached to a 31' extension Jackite Pole in his lunch video at th-cam.com/video/kVbipfGuhTc/w-d-xo.html. When I saw the video it reminded me so much of your fishing pole video because both uses approximately 30 feet of wire vertically. Check it out and let me know what you think. thanks Jerry
Thanks, yes that's an end fed antenna, no counterpoise, end feds typically use a 9:1 unun
So what you are saying is that if you use an equal length counterpoise, then the 4:1 is the best match? Learning is fun. I appreciate your time and comments.
yes sir, in my past experience equal lenghts have worked best for me.
Great video. Practical. No BS. Can you tell what is the impedance of the wire? Also what power can one load it to?
la pouce The impedance varies depending on the surroundings but you should see value around 30 ohms. As for the power handling the unun is rated for 200 watts. 73 de VE3BF
Ohhhh, 40m band, i thought 40m pole🤣 that would be nutty
208th subscriber here...Great video Denis
I need this for my townhome... I can install this right outside the front door
thanks Denis.... very informative .... cheers....
The Shakespeare fishing pole is fiberglass, not carbon fiber.
Would I be able to use a telescoping metal 16.5 ft. "Black Widow" fishing pole - or would I need to make some mods for it to work, and if so, which?
Great video!
I Had this idea today and i just google d it, ha ha . NIce antenna man,
Actually Shakespeare says that pole is fiberglass, not carbon fiber. CF is somewhat conductive and might not work as well.
That is correct this video is almost 5 years old now and Shakespeare no longer makes a carbon fibre pole. Carbon fibre is
Great video, I have a fishing pole from mfj (it was a gift) and I used it at field day in June. After seeing your video, I got to thinking. I have a 9:1 unun that I could put at the base of the pole. and then run the coax into the shack. The only problem here is that I only have access to a tiny flower bed next to the apartment. There is no room for a counterpoise. Would that still work?
Thanks for sharing your antenna setup, I really enjoyed the video. 73 de VE3QJ
Thanks for the kind words. Take a look at my long wire video, th-cam.com/video/3lO_h1bqmmY/w-d-xo.html
You could try a 29"6" wire wrapped on the pole to a 9:1 un-un use 30 feet of coax as a counter poise. You will need a ground, a cold water pipe will do in a pinch or better yer a ground rod in the flower bed. the 29 1/2 foot wire should give you 40 through 6 meters using only a rigs built in tuner and you should get 80 if you have an external tuner.
Have fun with it.
73 de VE3BF
@@VE3BF Thanks for that, i'm going to keep it where i can find it, (good info). I am also going to check out your link! Thanks again. 73.
Nice presentation.
Dennis, great video I am going to duplicate your setup as I go to some places that dont have trees handy. Looks like this will work from 40-10 meters. I have a 9:1 unun, so do you think this will work or is the 4:1 the ticket to make it work. Thanks Rich KG5IF
No a 9:1 will not match that impedance you need a 4:1 balun. VE3BF
Hmm a 4:1 balun isnt to prevent rf down the coax ( common mode current ) unless thats a current balun. Otherwise its not doing what you think...
dennis, at 3:50 your antenna pole is standing on its own... how are you supporting the pole? I am looking at a 32' carbon fiber pole for $29usd
I wondered the same thing and have been thinking about a fibreglass stake the same length as the collapsed pole. You could then sink the stake into the ground and Velcro it to the antenna. How about that? Think that would work?
Great video but now the pole is sold out. Don't see a carbon fiber one anywhere. I'm betting it's fiberglass made to look like carbon fiber.
Trevormi3 bcr what is the correct sizes of the pole the wire
Making one using a Slinky and a 9 to 1 unun .
What did you mount the fishing pole to? Thanks!
According to Shakespears website this pole is not carbon fiber. It is fiberglass. I would think if it's carbon fiber the cost would be alot higher.
Yes they changed over to fibreglass since I purchased mine. Remember this video is a little over 2 years old. None the well it does not matter the pole is just a support for the wire.
73 VE3BF
Thanks for the video!
How did yo stand it?? Good video
Good idea KE5TJ.
would adding more ground radials help with making it more omni directional. I have that same 4to1 and a 12m spiderbeam mast this looks like it could be a good field antenna.
Yes more radial will help make it more omni for sure. The only advantage to a single counterpoise is the speed of deployment.
VE3BF Nubby question does the wire need to be terminated or can I just tape the cut end of the radiator to the pole Same with the counterpoise wires do the ends need to be terminated or can they just be stretched out. I will eventually but just want to get everything cut before to frequency first
No worries Great idea.
ok silly question how did you get the pole to stay up i dont see any thing mounted to the ground
I simply leaned against a tree with a convenient branch to stop it from falling over.
@@VE3BF I USE A 7METER POLE THAT I BOUGHT FROM THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE TEAR DROP BANNERS .WHEN YOU BUY THE POLE YOU ALSO HAVE THE BASE ON WHICH YOU PUT IT TO HOLD IT UP.THE POLE SLIDES INTO ABOUT AN 8 INCH METAL TUBE IT SITS IN. Cheers Vk5fxam .
How is your signal propagation direction compare to your coax counterpoise direction. Off the end or side. I know it won't be Omni directional..just subscribed
The theory says that it will be directional and I'm sure it is to some degree, in all honesty I have not noticed much. I mostly use this antenna for run and gun short sessions but I was to set it up for more that a few hours I would probable at 3 more radial. 73 de VE3BF
Is it possible to TX on this antenna at 100W? If not, what would make it work: gauge of the wire? Thanks!
100 watts SSB and 60 watts CW is what I typically put out with this antenna the way it is built. 200 watts SSB or 120 watts CW should be no problem.
Thank you! Vy73 Vincent PE2V
Thank you.
hi.thanks for share,a question..a wire in the fishing pole and the other wire?...to the floor?sorry but im novice.73
crazy banjo The wire wrapped around the fishing pole is the live antenna, the centre conductor of the coax. The wire on the ground is a counterpose or a radial if want to call it that, it's hooked up to the brained part of the coax. The antenna is the same, electrically as a half wave dipole.
Denis Rule thx.73
@@DenisRule
Er...quarter wave monopole (On forty)
So any speaker wire will work as long as the actual wire is copper right ?
Im trying to come up with a extremely light and extremely portable setup for QRP, to the point of possibly using this antenna with a HT both Analog & DMR.
still learning about things, so just figuring things out because I want it to be very very portable and very very mobile. mostly on foot with a heavy duty hiking EmCOM Go Bag.
My GO Bag will also have cloth foldable solar panel & Lithium 12-Ah battery with an around 3 HT's and the tiniest Mobile 50-Watt radio I can find.
and of court guy rings and wires, tension clamps. again, extremely light and portable on foot setup. :)
For QRP you can go down to 20 or even 22 ga. not problem even thinner if you can find it. Just remember that the thinner the wire the more fragile it becomes. The exact length of the antenna does vary depending on the wire ga. and the insulation material. This antenna is designed for 40m so I'm not sure it would tune up 2m on 70cm.
Would a 9:1 balun work? I have a couple of those for end fed antennas.
A 9:1 may work at 33' of wire but the antenna become a 1/2 vertical for 20m. For 40m you would need somewhere around 66 feet of wire. the counter poise could possibly by replaced by a grounding rod. It would a cool project to play with.
Let me know if you get it to work.
73
Denis
I had a 10' carbon fiber pole (unfortunately, not longer). Wrapped approx 20' of magnet wire around it. I had it attached to a piece of PVC to get it higher off the ground. I think the top of the 10' pole was approx 15 feet off the ground, maybe a bit more. Had about 13' left that wouldn't fit so I extended it across my patio to a mounting point in a sloped configuration. So, I had the vertical and a small portion of wire sloper. Total wire length about 33-34'. I ran it with 9:1 balun as an end fed configuration. With this, the coax becomes the counterpoise. The balun has a place for a counterpoise but when I attached separate counterpoise wires, I couldn't get the SWR below 1.8. So, I pulled all the counterpoises off and got it near flat on 20m and 40m. No contacts yet, had to go to work. The band is noisey, but heard a few stations. I hope to get some contacts on it soon. -- Steve....
Does the pole have to be the wonder pole? Does it have to be carbon fibre? Prices have changed ($40+ now). Will a fibreglass pole work?
Sure the pole can be fibreglass or bamboo, anything rigid will do just fine but say away from metal.
Great video! Thanks.
Colin - VA7WWV
hiya denis may I ask where is a good place to buy the balum in Ontario? oh and what part of Ontario you in ? cheers
Vini kresky hi, I got the Balun at Radioworld in Toronto. I live in Ottawa.
Denis, great vid....how did you anchor the fishing pole at ground level?
Hi Ron, I mostly use this antenna at camgrounds the easiest thing is to lean it up to a tree or stand it up in a bush. I've used bungee cords to tie it tho a picnic table or a camping lot marker post. The antenna is so light with barely any wind load so I'm that you could hammer a surveyors wooden stake into the ground and tie it to that. I can bring it over to your place if you want to give it a try.
Thanks Denis. I have that fishing pole and will try the surveyor stake when the ground thaws. I'll follow up with you. Always learn a lot watching your vids.
HI RON. I GOT A 6FOOT STEAK N PUSH OR HAMER IN TO RGUND LEAVING 3 TO 4 FOOT STICKING UP. THEN PUT POLE ON TOP. ITS NOT GOING ANYWHERE...
@@ronsmith7764
@@ronsmith7764 I bought my 7meter pole from the people that make the Tear Drop banners and all banners for businesses.like you see the in car lots.
@@lyonrowe9527 Ribeye? Is a "hamer" a cousin to a "hammer"?
A silly question, but what is the gauge of the speaker wire? It looks pretty thick.
Nice video instruction. I will be trying this antenna using the wrap method. Thank you.
Mark. K0PIG
Hi Mark, it's 18 gauge speaker wire I picked up at a dollar store.
VE3BF Ham Radio
Sorry I missed that in the notes. Great little antenna. Thank you for the demonstration!
HI, THIS MIPT BE DAFT QUESTIAN, BUT ERE WE GO....IF THIS VIRTICL IS 33' 9'' FOR 40M. DOES THAT MEAN 67' 8'' WILL DO FOR 80M AND 16'10.5'' FOR 20M... IT PROBLEY IS WRONG BUT THOUGHT ID ASK. AS A NEWBEE, ASKING IS THE WAY TO LEARN. THANX FER UR TIME...73
Yep... should scale up and down like that. BUT you need a longer pole for 80M. The other bands could be on shorter pole and/or just run straight up the pole. Not sure how it might tune up. But you are on the right track.
CHEERS @@onecake34244 .. I WILL TRY THEM OUT IN THE NEW YR. WILL LET U KNOW THE RESULTS. 73 LYON M6OYU
Nice antenna! But the pole is now $65!!! Wow
Dennis, great antenna idea! how are you attaching the shakespeare pole to the ground?
I use whatever I can find hi hi. I use a bungie cord for the tie down, wood fences picnic table legs small bushes all work. you could also use a wooden surveyor's stack as long as it's not too windy. in the video the pole is simply leaned into a tree branch outside the frame. 73 Denis
VE3BF thanks for the reply! I actually have the 30’ pole arriving today. I’m wondering now, if I could wrap this longer pole for 80m with the added length. it will still be a compromised antenna.
btw, did you ever put the analyzer on the 40m ??? I think you mention maybe doing so in the video but it’s been awhile.
@@richarde735 Hi Richard, sorry for the late reply , it seems I did not get a notification for this comment. the 30 foot pole sound pretty neat to experiment with. You could try a the same build using the dimensions for a dipole try this calculator for a starting length www.66pacific.com/calculators/dipole-antenna-length-calculator.aspx I't probably won't work on 40, 15 or 10 meters but it should load up on 20 and 6 meters. 73
what size wire did you use and how many watts did you run?
Great video. May I ask is that 4:1 Balun a voltage or current Balun? Many thanks for a well explained video. 73
I just watched this video and was wondering the same thing. I wish he would have answered your question and since he didn't I'm also wondering why he didn't.
I don't know if you saw it or not but I read another reply and he left a link for the balun and it is a current balun.
whats the amazon link for the fishing pole, i cant find it
I got mine from Amazon.ca, it looks like the availability has changed. Try looking for a fibreglass one, that will work just as well.
This is the one I bought. It is fibreglass. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FFQOSW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
DO You Grounded Your Antenna?
What of you don't have an antenna tuner? Would it still work?
yes this antenna will work fine on 40 meters without a tuner, using diferent lenghts of wire will make this antenna resonant of othe bands.
And of course, if you use a compromise antenna, you always want to have an antenna tuner. Really, I would recommend using an antenna tuner with any antenna, just to be safe.
73 VE7NDE
Doesnt “carbon” fiber interfere with antenna copper wire??
They are insulated from each other but I'm sure there is an interaction going on there somewhere but that said it works, I, along with a few others, have had very good success with this antenna.
How did you mount this to the ground support? What is the ground support?
In the video I simply propped the pole up agaist a tree. I only use this antenna on portable ops so I fund the using a bungee cord works best. I've tied it to picnic tables wooden fences, campground lot markers. A simple 2 x 2 wooden steak 2 feet into the ground will work fine.
@@VE3BF that’s great!
I tried a carbon fiber pole, but went back to fiberglass. I was getting too much interference as carbon fiber is conductive.
I never experienced any problems with the carbon, it could have something to do with the wire insulation.
@@VE3BF I was using the carbon pole as a support for an end fed and not using it for a vertical wrap. That may be the difference.
1000 like
Did you ever get around to doing an analysis on this antenna? I'm going to try this with a fiberglass Wonderpole as this is what I could find. This looks like a great little rapid deployment antenna.
No I never did. I still use it, a lot on smaller campsites, I keep making contacts so it works. Fiberglass should work the same, the only reason I got carbon is because that's all I could get at the time. 73
Great video. Just wondering, would a 1:1 balun work as that's all I have. Also, how do you actually get that thing to stand up in the ground? What do you use to support it? I couldn't figure that out from the video
Hi, a 1:1 balun will work, 40 meters will not be a problem but the other bands will not match up as easily. If you are using an internal antenna tuner you most likely won't get all the bands. There are many plans on the internet for a 4:1 balun and they are easy to build, if you are not up for a build you can buy one for about $30 USD. The antenna is very light, I simply wrap a bungee cord on to a fence post or a tree limb, you can also pound in a surveyor stake and attach to that. 73
May have passed away - last response to commenter was two years ago.
What model ldg 4:1 balun did you use?
LDG only make one 4:1 balun, model number RBA-4:1. Here is the web link ldgelectronics.com/index.php/products/accessories/baluns/
73
One of the beauty pieces of the LDG baluns is the way they are all colour coded. I love that. “Bring me the grey one, not the green one!” ☺️
Took it oot...
👍💪👍 55! 73!