This is a seriously underrated video that deserves many more views. Great job, Linas. Always nice to go back to antenna basics and use the techniques that have worked for over 100 years.
Thanks! Absolutely, we could use CAD modeling but it would be very difficult to invent something new in the antennas area. But the heritage of 100 years is so huge, that we only need to adopt to modern needs what's been invented long before us! 73! Linas LY2H
What a big piece of ham radio spirit !...when theory meets practice ...DIY meets commercial workmanship ...and you keeps it simple ! I've thumbed up...and suscribed...Thank you for sharing your tips. Best 73 Eric
Magnificent! I am planning to purchase thee 705 this year and was undecided about the Ax-1 as a viable antenna. You have convinced me. Thanks for this terrific demonstration of an easy and inexpensive antenna mod!
@@Linas_LY2H thank you, Linas. I love your videos. Always practical, simple, and very useful. Keep up the great work. Would love to work you on the air one day, but you'd have to QRS for me! :) Be well, OM. Thomas K4SWL
Great experiment Linas! Wayne of Elecraft mentioned that the AX1 resonance varies quite a bit depending on various environmental factors as well as counterpoise length, it is intended for use with the KX2 and KX3 equipped with built in antenna tuner for convenient rapid operation. Elecraft has a new AX2 antenna just about to come out that has a user adjustable toroidal coil in the smaller base for even more portability and speed in deployment. More than one base can be carried and optimized for the desired frequencies and counterpoises. In any case the capacity hat should increase efficiency a bit and that never hurts. 73 de w6akb
Thanks for the comment Alan, and thanks for the info on AX2! Could be another interesting product from Elecraft :) And you are right, the cap hat improves radiation efficiency of any super-short antenna, even if in resonance already. 73! Linas Ly2H
Excellent video. I deployed on a SOTA adventure today with the AX1 for the first time and also used a capacity hat, SUCCESS! I did not expect the great results as propagation was not good. Thank you Sir.
What an informative channel. Addictive in a nutshell. I listened to you on QSO today, subscribed. Your other video showed up in my feed , you sent me here. I am now drooling over the paper clip morse key. 73 VU2TUM.
Hey Linas, great video and amazing information as always. DIY and modifying what you have is always the best :D 5/3 and still audible, good stuff! I would think you could squeeze (if not already done) some more effective power out of the 5W by limiting your TX bandwidth. And cranking up your TX-treble a little bit could give you a bit more audible "gain" as well maybe?
Thanks for watching and commenting Olli! I work mostly CW on QRP, so I haven’t tried yet all the possibillities the IC-705 offers for in SSB mode but I have the TX-trebble cranked-up a few points. It would be very interesting to try “medium” and “narrow” TX bandwith settings for my future experiments! I’ve also increased the Compression up to 5 to give a bit more punch for my signal :). Thanks for the tips again! 73! Linas LY2H
False... I'm in humanities , social science and media :) But I hope, this imperfection could be counterbalanced by my last few decades as an Extra ( European equivalent of that) Ham Radio operator and related practices with that. :) Thanks for watching! 73! Linas LY2H
Correct. The bigger the hat, the bigger the capacity. I'm sure, it is possible to calculate the hat's dimensions with some antenna modelling software etc., but it's for the big antennas. The "cut'n'try" method in this particular case of pocket-sized whip is faster and more fun, IMHO. 73! Linas LY2H
Hi Linas, Excellent video and very interesting, especially when you use the nanovna to explain why the AX1 isn't on resonant frequency, One question for you.... do you have a link to the "trusted" seller who supplied the nanovna-f to you....??????... thank you Linas... excellent thought provoking video as usual... thank you....Yoki...
Thanks Yoki! I'm glad the video was useful for you. As it comes to the NanoVNA-F, it is kind of a broad agreement among the community that the Deepelec ( at deepelec.com) product is considered as trusted. That's the one I use. They offer real customer support and the firmware upgrades. For the smaller, 2,8" screen nanovnas , the Nano VNA-H by edy555 probably is the best, but I don't have it myself. In Europe, It is sold by the Eleshop.eu who is also an authorized dealer for the original TinySA spectrum analyzer. Hope, this helps. 73! Linas LY2H
Yes, the close-up picture and the wire dimensions are in the video , at ~7:00 min. The make is very simple: 2 wires are crossed and soldered up to the back of croco-clip. Have fun! 73! HNY! Linas LY2H
@@secretsquirrel7788 The size is not that critical, actually, but of course, it takes some experimenting. If you make the hat bigger in diameter (using longer wires) it will bring the resonance of your antenna lower. As you can see from my video , the capacity hat makes the resonance quite wide-band so, there is lot's of room for experimenting. You may make the hat of more spikes of the same length, for example, or ad a rounded border around connecting the spikes together and so on, and see what suits you best! 73! Linas LY2H
Thanks! No, unfortunately I do not possess this coil (yet :)). Theoretically, there is no reason why the hat couldn't work on 40, in the event that natural resonance with this coil would be higher than the ham band frequencies. Please let me know if you try this out! 73! Merry Christmas! Linas LY2H
Very interesting and useful. Thanks for the valuable information. I will try it on my antennas with my Yaesu FT-817. How can the dimensions of the capacitive cap be calculated? 73 IU5KHP ~ Nicola
Thanks, Nicola! Probably, the most precise way to calculate the capacity hat would be the NEC program or similar :). But I don’t have one… Instead, the way of trial-and-error is more fun and easier :) To help in this cutting and measuring process, there are some rules of thumb. It’s just an approximate estimation. One rule of thumb reads that the capacity hat electrically lengthens the antenna 2 or 3 times its diameter. It’s like, the hat 10cm in diameter should lengthen the electrical length of the antenna by 20-30 cm. In my case, I needed to electrically lengthen my whip for 40 “electrical” centimeters ( from resonance at ~15.3 Mhz , calcualted electrical length of 1/4 quarter wavelength ~ 466cm, to the wanted resonance at 14.1 MhZ, calc 1/4 wl ~ 506 cm. 506-466=40.). So I chose the diameter of the cap ~20cm, which turned to be pretty much in tact. But again, the size/geometry of the hat is not critical, it gives a big room for experimenting. Hope, this helps. 73! Linas LY2H
Linus, I recently purchased a AX1 for my KX2. I opted to use a tripod mount. What field deployments do you recommend? Should the antenna be elevated, with elevated radials, or on the ground, using the wire as a counterpoise and a small tripod? de W7UDT Rand
Hi Rand, congrats on your new purchase! You've got a good question which has no single answer to :) Effectiveness of an antenna depends of so many things with location being the Nr 1. Secondly, it's our expectations, or how realistic they are :). So, to my understanding, the AX1 has been designed by the Elecraft as a fun add-on to the KX2 in order to make this radio even more attractive giving it a way to be used as a "walkie-talkie" on HF. The main criteria of the design, thus, was the compact pocket size for easy carrying and being short and lightweight enough not to put too much of stress on the BNC connector and your arm when keeping the radio in one hand. This resulted in a base-loaded ultra-portable 46 inch whip which used with the short counterpoise makes a compact set-up which is very effective because my expectations for it is to make any contact at all by walking on the beach, or even on the street, or standing on the top of the hill. If in the good location and the right propagation, really DX contacts are possible. To add even more fun to this ultra-light style, the Elecraft guys offered few accessories allowing for mounting the AX1 on a lightweight tripod. I like this way too, but frankly, I couldn't tell much difference in performance running it with one semi- elevated radial and a short coax cable at the hight of a tripod of abt 5 ft. It's more like a question of the operating comfort then the efficiency, I think. As it comes to the radials, to me, one elevated radial is always better then 3 lying on the ground when running vertical whips , especially short ones. The design of the AX1 is based on the usage of the built-in ATU in the KX2 ( it's mentionned in the manual) which makes the precise length of the neither elevated radial nor the whip itself not that important, because the resonance of such a set-up changes with the change of operating location. There are many reports from guys using the AX1 or its DIY clones without a radial at all. Well, this is also possible and fun, because in this case, you yourself becoming " a radial" and a part of the antenna system through the stray capacitance and the resistance of your body. Actually, standing barefoot in the water might make a difference, eh? Why not try?! It's all about fun! 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H Thanks Linas…. I’ve always have better luck with elevated radials as well… frq/185=length in inches… And pointing it directionally with gain and low take off angles should get me further out… I know from reading the manual, it takes some practice to make use of the small form factor. I like it’s size, easily tucked in the case… it makes it highly portable.
This is a seriously underrated video that deserves many more views. Great job, Linas. Always nice to go back to antenna basics and use the techniques that have worked for over 100 years.
Thanks! Absolutely, we could use CAD modeling but it would be very difficult to invent something new in the antennas area. But the heritage of 100 years is so huge, that we only need to adopt to modern needs what's been invented long before us! 73! Linas LY2H
Beautiful how you Test SWR by keying over an active conversation (Even though you weren't resonant).
Wow that is super cool! Amazing what 4 wires and a croc clip can do!
What a big piece of ham radio spirit !...when theory meets practice ...DIY meets commercial workmanship ...and you keeps it simple ! I've thumbed up...and suscribed...Thank you for sharing your tips. Best 73 Eric
Merci bcp Eric! I appreciate your subs so much! 73! Linas LY2H
Magnificent! I am planning to purchase thee 705 this year and was undecided about the Ax-1 as a viable antenna. You have convinced me. Thanks for this terrific demonstration of an easy and inexpensive antenna mod!
Thanks Bob! I’m sure you’ll enjoy your IC-705 as I enjoy mine! 73! Linas LY2H
This is a brilliant, simple solution, Linas! I plan to make one of these to make my AX1 work with the TX-500! Cheers & 73, Thomas K4SWL
Thanks Thomas! Good luck in experimenting! It will be fun to watch your another unedited video! 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H thank you, Linas. I love your videos. Always practical, simple, and very useful. Keep up the great work. Would love to work you on the air one day, but you'd have to QRS for me! :) Be well, OM. Thomas K4SWL
@@ThomasK4SWL Propagation's improving, let's get ready for DX! CU! Linas LY2H
Great experiment Linas! Wayne of Elecraft mentioned that the AX1 resonance varies quite a bit depending on various environmental factors as well as counterpoise length, it is intended for use with the KX2 and KX3 equipped with built in antenna tuner for convenient rapid operation. Elecraft has a new AX2 antenna just about to come out that has a user adjustable toroidal coil in the smaller base for even more portability and speed in deployment. More than one base can be carried and optimized for the desired frequencies and counterpoises. In any case the capacity hat should increase efficiency a bit and that never hurts. 73 de w6akb
Thanks for the comment Alan, and thanks for the info on AX2! Could be another interesting product from Elecraft :) And you are right, the cap hat improves radiation efficiency of any super-short antenna, even if in resonance already. 73! Linas Ly2H
Excellent video. I deployed on a SOTA adventure today with the AX1 for the first time and also used a capacity hat, SUCCESS! I did not expect the great results as propagation was not good. Thank you Sir.
I'm really glad it worked for you too! Good DX! 73! Linas LY2H
Thanks for pointing me to this video. Very informative and interesting
Fabulous suggestion! Perfect explanation and demo. THANKS Linas.
vous faites les meilleures vidéos pour les radioamateurs de Qrp
très bien argumentées
et votre expérience est communicative
Merci bcp Alain, Vous êtes très gentil! Bonne Paque! 73! Linas LY2H
What an informative channel. Addictive in a nutshell. I listened to you on QSO today, subscribed. Your other video showed up in my feed , you sent me here. I am now drooling over the paper clip morse key.
73 VU2TUM.
Good thinking you know all the tricks. Well done.
Thanks. Found your channel from K4SWL. Now I can use the AX-1 with my 20M QCX Mini and Classic.
Very glad to hear that! Wush you many DX! 73! Linas LY2H
Excellent job. Very clear on all your points.
Very informative. Thank you.
Interesting diy paddle, any videos on the construction?
Thanks! The Paddle video is coming in some foreseeable future :). 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H Something to look forward to!
Merry Christmas and 73!
@@stewpot3971 Merry Xmas too!
Danke für das tolle Video.73,von Jozef.Wien.😊😊😊
Simply Outstanding !!! 👍
Hey Linas, great video and amazing information as always. DIY and modifying what you have is always the best :D
5/3 and still audible, good stuff!
I would think you could squeeze (if not already done) some more effective power out of the 5W by limiting your TX bandwidth. And cranking up your TX-treble a little bit could give you a bit more audible "gain" as well maybe?
Thanks for watching and commenting Olli! I work mostly CW on QRP, so I haven’t tried yet all the possibillities the IC-705 offers for in SSB mode but I have the TX-trebble cranked-up a few points. It would be very interesting to try “medium” and “narrow” TX bandwith settings for my future experiments! I’ve also increased the Compression up to 5 to give a bit more punch for my signal :). Thanks for the tips again! 73! Linas LY2H
Love your experiments! Great trick with the clip-on capacity hat. You appear to be an engineer by trade....is this true? Cheers!
False... I'm in humanities , social science and media :) But I hope, this imperfection could be counterbalanced by my last few decades as an Extra ( European equivalent of that) Ham Radio operator and related practices with that. :) Thanks for watching! 73! Linas LY2H
ha! thank you, i guess i should read directions ... i didnt know how that featured worked on my radio
I love the diy key as well.😎 any video on it's construction?
Sure, it’s coming! Thanks for watching!
I'm guessing the size of the capacity hat is not critical. Is that correct?
Correct. The bigger the hat, the bigger the capacity. I'm sure, it is possible to calculate the hat's dimensions with some antenna modelling software etc., but it's for the big antennas. The "cut'n'try" method in this particular case of pocket-sized whip is faster and more fun, IMHO. 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H Thanks for your reply. 73
Thanks so much ~ building one soon!
Very nice I like it thank you, 73, happy DX, Pieter
Hi Linas, Excellent video and very interesting, especially when you use the nanovna to explain why the AX1 isn't on resonant frequency, One question for you.... do you have a link to the "trusted" seller who supplied the nanovna-f to you....??????... thank you Linas... excellent thought provoking video as usual... thank you....Yoki...
Thanks Yoki! I'm glad the video was useful for you. As it comes to the NanoVNA-F, it is kind of a broad agreement among the community that the Deepelec ( at deepelec.com) product is considered as trusted. That's the one I use. They offer real customer support and the firmware upgrades. For the smaller, 2,8" screen nanovnas , the Nano VNA-H by edy555 probably is the best, but I don't have it myself. In Europe, It is sold by the Eleshop.eu who is also an authorized dealer for the original TinySA spectrum analyzer. Hope, this helps. 73! Linas LY2H
Do have a diagram to make this capacity hat ie wire length
Yes, the close-up picture and the wire dimensions are in the video , at ~7:00 min. The make is very simple: 2 wires are crossed and soldered up to the back of croco-clip. Have fun! 73! HNY! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H will it make a difference if they are slightly longer
@@secretsquirrel7788 The size is not that critical, actually, but of course, it takes some experimenting. If you make the hat bigger in diameter (using longer wires) it will bring the resonance of your antenna lower. As you can see from my video , the capacity hat makes the resonance quite wide-band so, there is lot's of room for experimenting. You may make the hat of more spikes of the same length, for example, or ad a rounded border around connecting the spikes together and so on, and see what suits you best! 73! Linas LY2H
Do you have a video how you made your keyer please. vk5cz ..
It’s coming, please watch this space! 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H Thanks Mate be interested in making one myself. vk5cz..
Great video, have you tried the hat with the ax1 using the 40m coil addition to work the 40m band?
Thanks! No, unfortunately I do not possess this coil (yet :)). Theoretically, there is no reason why the hat couldn't work on 40, in the event that natural resonance with this coil would be higher than the ham band frequencies. Please let me know if you try this out! 73! Merry Christmas! Linas LY2H
Good video thanks. I have subscribed so that I can see your future video of the paper clip keyer...and other interesting videos
Thanks!!
Outstanding!! De K2SCH
👍👍👍👍👍
Very interesting and useful. Thanks for the valuable information. I will try it on my antennas with my Yaesu FT-817. How can the dimensions of the capacitive cap be calculated?
73 IU5KHP ~ Nicola
Thanks, Nicola! Probably, the most precise way to calculate the capacity hat would be the NEC program or similar :). But I don’t have one… Instead, the way of trial-and-error is more fun and easier :) To help in this cutting and measuring process, there are some rules of thumb. It’s just an approximate estimation. One rule of thumb reads that the capacity hat electrically lengthens the antenna 2 or 3 times its diameter. It’s like, the hat 10cm in diameter should lengthen the electrical length of the antenna by 20-30 cm. In my case, I needed to electrically lengthen my whip for 40 “electrical” centimeters ( from resonance at ~15.3 Mhz , calcualted electrical length of 1/4 quarter wavelength ~ 466cm, to the wanted resonance at 14.1 MhZ, calc 1/4 wl ~ 506 cm. 506-466=40.). So I chose the diameter of the cap ~20cm, which turned to be pretty much in tact. But again, the size/geometry of the hat is not critical, it gives a big room for experimenting. Hope, this helps. 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H Thanks again for your help
👍🏾👌🏾🙂
Thanks again for a very informative and helpful video. Simple fix for that antenna.
Do you have a video on your home brew cw key?
73
wd4dda
Thanks for watching! The video on my Paper Clip Special paddle is coming some time in the forseeable future! Watch this space! 73! Linas LY2H
Linus, I recently purchased a AX1 for my KX2. I opted to use a tripod mount. What field deployments do you recommend? Should the antenna be elevated, with elevated radials, or on the ground, using the wire as a counterpoise and a small tripod? de W7UDT Rand
Hi Rand, congrats on your new purchase! You've got a good question which has no single answer to :) Effectiveness of an antenna depends of so many things with location being the Nr 1. Secondly, it's our expectations, or how realistic they are :). So, to my understanding, the AX1 has been designed by the Elecraft as a fun add-on to the KX2 in order to make this radio even more attractive giving it a way to be used as a "walkie-talkie" on HF. The main criteria of the design, thus, was the compact pocket size for easy carrying and being short and lightweight enough not to put too much of stress on the BNC connector and your arm when keeping the radio in one hand. This resulted in a base-loaded ultra-portable 46 inch whip which used with the short counterpoise makes a compact set-up which is very effective because my expectations for it is to make any contact at all by walking on the beach, or even on the street, or standing on the top of the hill. If in the good location and the right propagation, really DX contacts are possible. To add even more fun to this ultra-light style, the Elecraft guys offered few accessories allowing for mounting the AX1 on a lightweight tripod. I like this way too, but frankly, I couldn't tell much difference in performance running it with one semi- elevated radial and a short coax cable at the hight of a tripod of abt 5 ft. It's more like a question of the operating comfort then the efficiency, I think. As it comes to the radials, to me, one elevated radial is always better then 3 lying on the ground when running vertical whips , especially short ones. The design of the AX1 is based on the usage of the built-in ATU in the KX2 ( it's mentionned in the manual) which makes the precise length of the neither elevated radial nor the whip itself not that important, because the resonance of such a set-up changes with the change of operating location. There are many reports from guys using the AX1 or its DIY clones without a radial at all. Well, this is also possible and fun, because in this case, you yourself becoming " a radial" and a part of the antenna system through the stray capacitance and the resistance of your body. Actually, standing barefoot in the water might make a difference, eh? Why not try?! It's all about fun! 73! Linas LY2H
@@Linas_LY2H Thanks Linas…. I’ve always have better luck with elevated radials as well… frq/185=length in inches… And pointing it directionally with gain and low take off angles should get me further out… I know from reading the manual, it takes some practice to make use of the small form factor. I like it’s size, easily tucked in the case… it makes it highly portable.
👍👍👍