I’ve got a 29’ random wire in my attic in an inverted V with a 17’ counterpoise underneath it. It’s awesome! All bands 6m-40m. Surprisingly 40m works OK despite the length. 20m isn’t as good as an EFHW. The higher bands are great. I’ve worked from California to Norway with 5 watts.
Another update. The random wire antenna I already described really works! Holy Marconi! I even had a daytime QSO with a fellow OM in Brazil on 12 meters. I live on an island in the eastern Mediterranean. We were both using nominally 100w. He had a multi-element beam antenna. As some wags say, the best amplifier is a good antenna and a good location. My island is very small, and my shack is 150m above sea level, so I guess that helps. 10-40m seem to work okay on TX. My tuner can "match" 80 and 160 meters, but the wire is a wee bit short, I think. I have not yet tried these bands. I am considering building a linear loaded inverted "V" antenna that supposedly will work well on 80 and 160 meters. 73! David SV0SGS
Another great video Walt! That's a super compromise antenna and I use it all the time and have good luck with it when operating portable. I normally run it with no counterpoise, utilizing the coax shield as the counterpoise. You might try putting the choke at the transceiver end, giving you an additional radial. It would be interesting to see how that works for you. I hope your son's concert went well! Be well. be safe. 73, George K2WO
Interesting, I came at this from a slightly different direction. I had been thinking of building a Rybakov vertical, but the 26’ length looked like it might present a difficult match, I think on 17 Metres, so I went with 29’. The Rybakov uses a 4:1 unun, so this is what I built using a t200-2 core. I haven’t swept the impedance yet, but the tuner found a match on all bands 40 up. Obviously good band conditions help, but my first contact yesterday with 20W SSB on 12M was with Brazil, from a portable site in the Chiltern hills, southern England. I then checked into a US net on 10M. The surprise for me, like you was how well it performed on 40M. I joined the WAB, worked all Britain net and contacted everyone who was on it, with reasonable reports ranging from Devon in the West Country to Scotland. Single band antennas should offer better performance, but it is very convenient to just jump round the bands. As an aside I have found the audio from the G90 to be a little unrefined and a BHI NES Mk4 external speaker is easier on the ears, admittedly at extra cost. 73 Nick G0OQK
Another great video, Walt! Thank you!! I'm in San Jose, a few minutes from the southern end of the San Francisco Bay, including the historic Port of Alviso (now a Santa Clara County park) and Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge, K-0189. I'm strictly QRP portable, since my QTH, both by its design and its location in the city, is like living in a Faraday cage. I've been thinking for a while of building some verticals, since the only place I've found to run my 10-40 EFHW, without getting in other people's way, is the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, about 16 miles north (though I've only checked out the San Jose side of Don Edwards, on the west side of the Bay, and haven't yet gone to the Fremont side on the east side of the Bay). I'm using an Icom IC-705, 5W with the internal battery, 10W with my home-brewed LiFePO4 battery pack and solar charging system. I'm learning CW now, as I've found I don't really enjoy hauling my laptop into the field, but I've had a few contacts on FT8. Nothing on SSB yet. 73 de KN6NPZ, Daryl
I watched this video this morning and went right out to my ham/work shed and made this antenna. I've been looking for a wire antenna that would use the entire length of my 10 meter DX Commander but not be longer than it. I found out it works better here on land with 4 counterpoise/ground radials. It worked great, my LDG Z100A easily matched the antenna to my FT-891. Of course the G90 won't have any trouble either. LOL Thanks Walt.
Thanks for the inspiration, Walt! putting one of these together now. If this one works similar to yours, it'll take the place of multiple monopoles in the yard, and will make my wife very happy.. lol
EARCHI (emergency amateur radio club of Hawaii) makes the 9 to 1 and sends along 29 feet of wire for about $55. I think you can buy the kit also. Been using them for years but you definately need a choke in order to keep the neighbors happy.
In the video I see you put the choke side of your coax on the unun side, you should switch it to the transceiver side. I burned up a 49:1 unun doing that. Did some research and found out that with endfed antennas the choke goes near the transceiver. Good videos, Steve, k7ofg
Thanks Steve, the unun goes at the transceiver end of an end fed if you’re not using a counterpoise. In my situation by saltwater I do not want my coax being part of the counter and thus the choke is at the antenna end and I have a 17’ counterpoise doing the work.
Walt: I thought I commented on the 29 foot vertical wire, but don't see it in thd comments. Must be a Senior Moment here or something. Anyway, I use a shorter counterpoise with my 29 footer and support it on an MFJ 10 meter mast. Built a drive-on base and run the G90 or an FT-817nd. I have the EARCHI 9:1 as does my fellow portable op, John, KB2HSH. We have jointly activated POTA in and around the Buffalo/Niagara Falls region, plus I activate parks south of Buffalo with Anne, WB1GVL. Anne doesn't get on the air much, but rides along (and has for the last 48 years or so...) I don't do well with the cold anymore, so we will be back out in the spring! 73, Keith, WB2VUO
Hi Keith, I get others saying the same on comments and I promise i'm not deleting but I have senior moments too LOL. After spending the last two winters in Poland I'm over the cold too! 73, Walt
It’s a windy day. What is keeping the wind from blowing the vertical over? You are on public land there, right? Did you hammer a tube into the ground on public land? Looks like a workable setup. Did you need a permit?
I drive a pvc pipe into the ground and slide the pole over it. I show how it is done in this video: th-cam.com/video/EDU7b8ADBiA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MeHI0daS8voxN_ss No I don’t need a permit, it’s public property and I’m a taxpayer in this city.
I just built a cobwebb antenna, and am amazed at how quiet the recieve is compared to my end fed. Had New Zealand coming in , S2 signal, but still crystal clear. Switched to the end fed and he was lost in the static. VA3IRF
I really gotta give the 29' random wire a shot. I've been using a 35.5' for a while and it works great. But the 29' would fit a little easier on my 33' mast, which would be nice for POTA when I don't have a lot of space.
Hey Walt, I'm Greg that was onder the W0OAR call sign! Definitely my favorite TH-cam channel and I bought a G90 last week because of you LOL. We were operating under the club call sign at the Steamorama, a steam engine and antique tractor show in SW Missouri. Your contact and getting 6 kids on the air yesterday was the highlight of my day!! Thanks for the videos and hope to have a qso with you in the future. KF0LZX
What was the company that you got the coax from? I built this same antenna and used as a sloped on a similar setup. With my G-90 I worked all over the US and some DX. I have enjoyed your videos, you and a couple others got me interested in ham radio again and doing portable work.
Hi, Walt! I quickly put together a 10.82 meter antenna with a 9:1 unun and 5.18 meter counterpoise. The antenna is configured as an inverted "L" and hangs vertically about six meters on a telescopic pole and the rest horizontally. It has practically no usable swr on the bands. I have hooked up an mfj auto "tuner" at the base of the antenna and can match 50ohms on the bands 10 thru 160m. But what does that really mean practically? I don't know antenna theory. It just seems to me that, yes, I have a good match on 80m and 160m, but I think most of the energy caught up in the standing wave dissipates as heat and does not radiate. Besides, 10 meters is incredibly short for 160m and even 80m. A half wave dipole for 160m would be 80m long, about 240ft. For the 10 to 40m (maybe) bands this antenna length may be okay. I am very wary of antenna manufacturers who offer antennas that can operate from 6m to 160m. As a ham newbie I fell for one of these antennas that cost a lot of money. I don't think they work very well, especially compared in an A/B test with other, monoband, antennas. My main antenna at my QTH is an EFHW antenna for 10 to 40meters, with an additional coil loaded extension for 80m. No "tuner" is necessary. Additionally I use a monoband EFHW antenna for 20m and a home brew full size inverted "V" antenna for 40m. I have the space at home, so maybe soon I will cut a 135ft (41meters) piece of wire for 160m. That is at least a quarter wave. In any case I will try out the random wire antenna this weekend on 80 and 160 meters and see what the cat drags in. Good videos! Keep up the work! 73! SV0SGS
Thanks for commenting, I've found it very hard to get a good match with a random wire and a 9:1. The goal is to get it as close as possible and let the ATU or tuner do the final fine tuning. Your antenna sounds interesting. I've never done much on 80 and 160, I hope the cat drags in some good contacts! All the best and good DX! Walt
Great video Walt, going to give that a shot in the backyard. Recently picked up 40 ft of military mast. Need to tell your son to get you All Access Pass instead of lawn seat 😂
Great video Walt, my new G-90 made it to the house even though I’m still working overseas. Those sailboat mast behind you would make an excellent place for antennas. 73
Great video and experiment, Walt! Huge fan of the efrw for SOTA and POTA. I use an 84x17 QRP CW but have always wanted to try a shorter wire as a vertical. Thanks for sharing this with us. 73 de N4AAJ
I'm curious if I made a 29' ground mounted vertical and used several ground wires say like 12 to begin with. Would I need the UnUn? How long should the ground wires be?
Yes you would still need a 9:1 unun to get an impedance match at the feedpoint. There’s no way around that. Counterpoise lengths on the ground are not too important, I make mine about 17 feet long each.
I love this video and its informative content. This helped me solve what to put on my deck 10 ft above and overlooking my backyard. Is that the 10-meter Original Classic DX Commander pole that cost L59? There are so many variations of the DX Commander poles on their website. Thank you very much.
Good stuff. It's great to see 10 waking up again. I built an efhw for 40m to mess around with a while back. I've found that I really like 40. Way more than I expected. It's a bit more effort to string the efhw than my normal setup so I don't do it that often. I have a WRC sporty 40 arriving tomorrow which should fix that issue 👍
Great antenna have to try that one. Spent all weekend on 10m made lots of contacts on both coasts of the USA. Would of been great to hear you there. 73s Steve ZL1YX
He’s not real big on TH-cam but there is a automatically generated topic page for him: th-cam.com/channels/a12PSFMOFAOKtr9pbq3G8g.html?si=8bTVYkJxiVv38Feq All his stuff is on iTunes, Spotify, etc
Of all the random wire vertical lengths I've tinkered with, 29 is my go-to. Works great all around, is ideal for using with a spiderbeam pole and also works fine sloped or even just horizontal not far off the ground. Prefer using Nelson 1:9 matchers over the LDG's, but still use both. Great videos as always.
I see you mentioned the use of a ground screen made of aluminium window screen. Are you starting to changing your mind on the "magic Carpet", and if so do you plan to give it a try? VE3NLP
Hi Walt! Can this antenna be made with a 17 foot MFJ vertical mast, then 12+ feet wire attached horizontally to a tripod? This would then be an inverted-L. Would I use a 9:1 or a 4:1 unun???
Great stuff I use a 33ft vertical wire with 9:1 unan and a 16ft 6' radial. I have experimented with capcitive radials using old 75ohm tv coax . You short one end out by soldering the braid and core together this goes to the radial fixing point and the end of the wire you cut back 1/8 th wave remove the braid from the end seal with tape and works great. Keep safe de M0JFE
On my recent trip, I had hoped to operate from three POTA locations. Only one of the three gave me permission. The one in downtown Richmond needed more advanced notice (a city permit is required to operate on the sidewalk), and I left a message for the person in charge at the third location but never received a return phone call. I am going to try this setup for a future trip. Fort Monroe (K-0929) told me that I could operate, don't put wires in the trees, stay away from power lines, and do not put a spike in the ground. I need help with a new antenna idea that can be used with my QRP rig (20m/40m). I'd like it if all the components could be put in my carry-on bag. Walt, have you had trouble carrying wires, winders, and coax onto airplanes, or do you check those items? de David AE4LH
Great job Walt, W0OAR was a special event that our club was doing at the Ozarks Steam Engine Association Tractor Show. We were operating a 41' random endfed. I walked up right when you were signing off with Greg KF0LZX that was operating W0OAR at the moment.
Walt: It has been great weather recently in Hampton Roads for getting outside and doing antenna testing. I like that the 29 ft random wire fit easily on the 10M mast with room to spare. SWR on 10M was flat. Did you record SWR on other bands? Did I miss it?
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES ok thanks Walt , I was thinking of using (2) slinky's on op and (1)on the bottom with a 9:1 unun like you used with the ground or counterpoise terminal on it
No I didn't forget, that would be for a permanent installation. This as well as the other antenna you left this same comment on is a portable antenna for field use.
I was looking at that antenna you have at home, especially as they make a heavy duty version of it now. If it were longer it would be a Rybakov and would probably work better. The way to do it would be to replace two of the sections with longer tubes, but there might be stability issues, and getting the right wall thickness of tubes. Its a thought though. I guess they make it shorter to make it stronger.
I made this one and put it on a 10-meter fiberglass pole. Great results 10 to 40 meters. Tons of POTA contacts SSB and CW on 40, 20, and 10. SSB to Europe and FT8 from NY to Australia. A great economical and simple antenna that you can put up anywhere. Thanks for the video and ideas.
Hi Walt, Great video again. Seems we are walking the same path with different results. For me the 1/4 wave ground plain for 20 meters en the T2LT are the Top DXers. The random wires is in 17,5' or 29' don't get me outside Europa. Al dough for ease and the possibility of not getting out of the car in the rain changing antennas I use them quite often. For my conditions (in land, peaty soil, 10 cm high grass) The best results on the analyser I on a 29' antenna on a 9 meter carbon fiber fishing pole get with a 26' counter poise. Lowest SWR/MHz 10m: 1,5/29.1, 20 meter 1,8/13,8, 40 meter 2,6/7,3. the curves are quite flat so nothing the tuner can't handle. But still no contacts outside Europa. For me this is a radius of about 1200 miles from the Netherlands. Wonder how to improve this and al open for suggestions😊
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I did some google searching. My conclusion is that the conductivity of my carbon fiber mast might be the problem. For my 1/4 wave and T2LT I use a fiberglas pole for the end feds a carbon fiber pole because because they are longer. All longer fishing poles are of carbon fiber now a days be because of the weight. May I ask what jou are using for a pole?
Oh I see... Well I was looking for a solution from 40m - 10m ... I have a bulun 1:1 and also an unun 49:1 ... And plenty of wire ... But I can't play with vertical setups as I want to avoid thunders etc... bad weather. So I guess an horizontal setup would be more ideal
Thanks for your great help. Well I do have a mast of 6 meters . I guess a slopper would be like letter L .. never builded one . I had build an efhw differently (check my qrz) . Here at my home base I have limited space . So the unun would be on the floor, and then the wire would go up and come down ? ... Thanks again . Jimmy SY1DAL
I’ve got a 29’ random wire in my attic in an inverted V with a 17’ counterpoise underneath it. It’s awesome! All bands 6m-40m. Surprisingly 40m works OK despite the length. 20m isn’t as good as an EFHW. The higher bands are great. I’ve worked from California to Norway with 5 watts.
Anthother great video Walt. Thanks! 73, Mike M0MTJ
Another update. The random wire antenna I already described really works! Holy Marconi! I even had a daytime QSO with a fellow OM in Brazil on 12 meters. I live on an island in the eastern Mediterranean. We were both using nominally 100w. He had a multi-element beam antenna. As some wags say, the best amplifier is a good antenna and a good location. My island is very small, and my shack is 150m above sea level, so I guess that helps. 10-40m seem to work okay on TX. My tuner can "match" 80 and 160 meters, but the wire is a wee bit short, I think. I have not yet tried these bands. I am considering building a linear loaded inverted "V" antenna that supposedly will work well on 80 and 160 meters. 73! David SV0SGS
That’s awesome! 73, Walt
"Holy Marconi" made me laugh. I will steal it.
Another great video Walt! That's a super compromise antenna and I use it all the time and have good luck with it when operating portable. I normally run it with no counterpoise, utilizing the coax shield as the counterpoise. You might try putting the choke at the transceiver end, giving you an additional radial. It would be interesting to see how that works for you. I hope your son's concert went well! Be well. be safe. 73, George K2WO
Thanks George, I might have to give that a try.
Interesting, I came at this from a slightly different direction. I had been thinking of building a Rybakov vertical, but the 26’ length looked like it might present a difficult match, I think on 17 Metres, so I went with 29’. The Rybakov uses a 4:1 unun, so this is what I built using a t200-2 core. I haven’t swept the impedance yet, but the tuner found a match on all bands 40 up. Obviously good band conditions help, but my first contact yesterday with 20W SSB on 12M was with Brazil, from a portable site in the Chiltern hills, southern England. I then checked into a US net on 10M. The surprise for me, like you was how well it performed on 40M. I joined the WAB, worked all Britain net and contacted everyone who was on it, with reasonable reports ranging from Devon in the West Country to Scotland. Single band antennas should offer better performance, but it is very convenient to just jump round the bands.
As an aside I have found the audio from the G90 to be a little unrefined and a BHI NES Mk4 external speaker is easier on the ears, admittedly at extra cost.
73 Nick G0OQK
That’s awesome Nick, thanks for sharing! 73, Walt
Another great video, Walt! Thank you!!
I'm in San Jose, a few minutes from the southern end of the San Francisco Bay, including the historic Port of Alviso (now a Santa Clara County park) and Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge, K-0189. I'm strictly QRP portable, since my QTH, both by its design and its location in the city, is like living in a Faraday cage. I've been thinking for a while of building some verticals, since the only place I've found to run my 10-40 EFHW, without getting in other people's way, is the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, about 16 miles north (though I've only checked out the San Jose side of Don Edwards, on the west side of the Bay, and haven't yet gone to the Fremont side on the east side of the Bay).
I'm using an Icom IC-705, 5W with the internal battery, 10W with my home-brewed LiFePO4 battery pack and solar charging system. I'm learning CW now, as I've found I don't really enjoy hauling my laptop into the field, but I've had a few contacts on FT8. Nothing on SSB yet. 73 de KN6NPZ, Daryl
Thank you Daryl!
I watched this video this morning and went right out to my ham/work shed and made this antenna. I've been looking for a wire antenna that would use the entire length of my 10 meter DX Commander but not be longer than it. I found out it works better here on land with 4 counterpoise/ground radials. It worked great, my LDG Z100A easily matched the antenna to my FT-891. Of course the G90 won't have any trouble either. LOL Thanks Walt.
Thanks for watching! 73
What length counterpoise did you use?.
@@MrToymod About 17 feet each.
Thanks for the inspiration, Walt! putting one of these together now. If this one works similar to yours, it'll take the place of multiple monopoles in the yard, and will make my wife very happy.. lol
Outstanding Walt! beautiful day. Thanks for having me
Thank you!
Thanks Walt. Have made and used one of these with a homebrew 1:9 BALUN. It worked OK 80-10m.
Thank you!
EARCHI (emergency amateur radio club of Hawaii) makes the 9 to 1 and sends along 29 feet of wire for about $55. I think you can buy the kit also. Been using them for years but you definately need a choke in order to keep the neighbors happy.
In the video I see you put the choke side of your coax on the unun side, you should switch it to the transceiver side. I burned up a 49:1 unun doing that. Did some research and found out that with endfed antennas the choke goes near the transceiver.
Good videos,
Steve, k7ofg
Thanks Steve, the unun goes at the transceiver end of an end fed if you’re not using a counterpoise. In my situation by saltwater I do not want my coax being part of the counter and thus the choke is at the antenna end and I have a 17’ counterpoise doing the work.
Walt this vid is making me very curious about verticle polarization. I did bu.y a Tenkara rod so I may give one a try. Another fine video.
Thank you!
So far my Random Wire ( 17.6m) and G90 makes my life complete ;) End Fed antennas are blessings for ppl like me. 73 !
I love them! 73 my friend
Walt: I thought I commented on the 29 foot vertical wire, but don't see it in thd comments. Must be a Senior Moment here or something. Anyway, I use a shorter counterpoise with my 29 footer and support it on an MFJ 10 meter mast. Built a drive-on base and run the G90 or an FT-817nd. I have the EARCHI 9:1 as does my fellow portable op, John, KB2HSH. We have jointly activated POTA in and around the Buffalo/Niagara Falls region, plus I activate parks south of Buffalo with Anne, WB1GVL. Anne doesn't get on the air much, but rides along (and has for the last 48 years or so...)
I don't do well with the cold anymore, so we will be back out in the spring! 73, Keith, WB2VUO
Hi Keith, I get others saying the same on comments and I promise i'm not deleting but I have senior moments too LOL. After spending the last two winters in Poland I'm over the cold too! 73, Walt
Hopefully can workout with you walt. Nice video. Regards 9w2di
Thank you! 73
It’s a windy day. What is keeping the wind from blowing the vertical over? You are on public land there, right? Did you hammer a tube into the ground on public land? Looks like a workable setup. Did you need a permit?
I drive a pvc pipe into the ground and slide the pole over it. I show how it is done in this video:
th-cam.com/video/EDU7b8ADBiA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MeHI0daS8voxN_ss
No I don’t need a permit, it’s public property and I’m a taxpayer in this city.
I just built a cobwebb antenna, and am amazed at how quiet the recieve is compared to my end fed. Had New Zealand coming in , S2 signal, but still crystal clear. Switched to the end fed and he was lost in the static. VA3IRF
Doing the business Walt! 73
That was a fun one Tim.
Awesome walt, i love the help and contact.. 73s
Gonna try that with my pole, looks much nicer than Portsmouth “Pompey “ in the uk.
Good luck! Oh we have our bad parts here at our Portsmouth too.
Interesting video, Walt. I think I am motivated to play “antenna” today.
Thank you!
I really gotta give the 29' random wire a shot. I've been using a 35.5' for a while and it works great. But the 29' would fit a little easier on my 33' mast, which would be nice for POTA when I don't have a lot of space.
It worked great!
Hey Walt, I'm Greg that was onder the W0OAR call sign!
Definitely my favorite TH-cam channel and I bought a G90 last week because of you LOL.
We were operating under the club call sign at the Steamorama, a steam engine and antique tractor show in SW Missouri.
Your contact and getting 6 kids on the air yesterday was the highlight of my day!!
Thanks for the videos and hope to have a qso with you in the future. KF0LZX
Thank you so much Greg!!! It was great making contact with you my friend!!!
Hi, Walt, another excellent video. Don’t let HOA Karen see that antenna! 😄73, Mike K3CXG who dat.
hahahaha I won't! WHO DAT!!
What was the company that you got the coax from?
I built this same antenna and used as a sloped on a similar setup. With my G-90 I worked all over the US and some DX.
I have enjoyed your videos, you and a couple others got me interested in ham radio again and doing portable work.
Chameleon Antenna, here’s the link: chameleonantenna.com/shop-here/ols/products/cha-50-coax-with-integrated-rfi-choke
Amazing video Walt. Tks fer sharing your knowledge. 7351 Paulo.
Thanks Paulo!
Hi, Walt! I quickly put together a 10.82 meter antenna with a 9:1 unun and 5.18 meter counterpoise. The antenna is configured as an inverted "L" and hangs vertically about six meters on a telescopic pole and the rest horizontally. It has practically no usable swr on the bands. I have hooked up an mfj auto "tuner" at the base of the antenna and can match 50ohms on the bands 10 thru 160m.
But what does that really mean practically? I don't know antenna theory. It just seems to me that, yes, I have a good match on 80m and 160m, but I think most of the energy caught up in the standing wave dissipates as heat and does not radiate. Besides, 10 meters is incredibly short for 160m and even 80m. A half wave dipole for 160m would be 80m long, about 240ft. For the 10 to 40m (maybe) bands this antenna length may be okay.
I am very wary of antenna manufacturers who offer antennas that can operate from 6m to 160m. As a ham newbie I fell for one of these antennas that cost a lot of money. I don't think they work very well, especially compared in an A/B test with other, monoband, antennas.
My main antenna at my QTH is an EFHW antenna for 10 to 40meters, with an additional coil loaded extension for 80m. No "tuner" is necessary. Additionally I use a monoband EFHW antenna for 20m and a home brew full size inverted "V" antenna for 40m.
I have the space at home, so maybe soon I will cut a 135ft (41meters) piece of wire for 160m. That is at least a quarter wave.
In any case I will try out the random wire antenna this weekend on 80 and 160 meters and see what the cat drags in.
Good videos! Keep up the work! 73!
SV0SGS
Thanks for commenting, I've found it very hard to get a good match with a random wire and a 9:1. The goal is to get it as close as possible and let the ATU or tuner do the final fine tuning. Your antenna sounds interesting. I've never done much on 80 and 160, I hope the cat drags in some good contacts!
All the best and good DX!
Walt
Walt, .. What choke do you recommend to use with 100 Watts?
I use this one with my 100 watt setups: www.dxengineering.com/parts/ldg-ru-1-1
Great video Walt, going to give that a shot in the backyard. Recently picked up 40 ft of military mast. Need to tell your son to get you All Access Pass instead of lawn seat 😂
Thank you! hahaha I'll tell him that
Great Another terrific video 73 from kb2uew
Many thanks!
Hey Walt! Looks like I am going to cut another wire for the 9:1, lol. I built the choke into the box I made up and it seems to work well for me.
Good luck!!
Also works on 6m, will work on 80m.. secrets out of the bag
Awesome!
Great video Walt, my new G-90 made it to the house even though I’m still working overseas. Those sailboat mast behind you would make an excellent place for antennas. 73
Thanks! You’re going to love that G90!
I use the same for pota. Sometimes just ground to truck trailer hitch sometimes use radicals. Love it. K4VTE
Cool!
Oh that’s a good idea to ground to truck trailer hitch. When you use radial how long of a radial do you use?
Great video and experiment, Walt! Huge fan of the efrw for SOTA and POTA. I use an 84x17 QRP CW but have always wanted to try a shorter wire as a vertical. Thanks for sharing this with us. 73 de N4AAJ
Thank you!
Impressive results from that 29' vertical! Quick setup for portable ops is always a plus.
Thank you!
Walt, the contacts with France and Russia were astounding. 20W on a "random" wire. Huh. I have to try this.
I'm curious if I made a 29' ground mounted vertical and used several ground wires say like 12 to begin with. Would I need the UnUn? How long should the ground wires be?
Yes you would still need a 9:1 unun to get an impedance match at the feedpoint. There’s no way around that. Counterpoise lengths on the ground are not too important, I make mine about 17 feet long each.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES thanks Walt for the reply!
I use a Eagle One Antenna it's 31 feet with a 9:1 Unun with my Yeasu FT-891 I have made a lot of QSO on it SWR is Good. 73 KQ4AHR
I love this video and its informative content. This helped me solve what to put on my deck 10 ft above and overlooking my backyard. Is that the 10-meter Original Classic DX Commander pole that cost L59? There are so many variations of the DX Commander poles on their website. Thank you very much.
The saltwater linear really works. Great video!
Thank you!
@COASTALWAVESWIRES Have you tried that on 80m? Let us know of any results.
I haven’t used it in 80. I’m thinking it would struggle but next time I build this antenna I’ll give it a try.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Yay!
When you say 29 feet of wire, do you mean exactly that measurement? Or is there tuning / wire snipping involved?
Exactly that measurement. This antenna requires a tuner.
Good stuff. It's great to see 10 waking up again. I built an efhw for 40m to mess around with a while back. I've found that I really like 40. Way more than I expected. It's a bit more effort to string the efhw than my normal setup so I don't do it that often. I have a WRC sporty 40 arriving tomorrow which should fix that issue 👍
Yes 10 is coming alive!
I am new to ham must say I enjoy your videos lots of great information thanks keep up the good work
Thanks so much for watching!
You can make a wet string work! 😊
Hahaha thanks for the vote of confidence
It's your enthusiasm and vitality that keeps the hobby alive for many of us!!!! '73
Thank you so much!!!!
Why do you use your choke on the antenna side?
To keep common mode current out of the feed line and for the counterpoise to be the one on the water and not my coax
💯👌
Great antenna have to try that one. Spent all weekend on 10m made lots of contacts on both coasts of the USA. Would of been great to hear you there.
73s Steve ZL1YX
Thank Steve, hope to catch you soon! 73
How do you think this antenna would compare to a 1/4 wave ground plane for dx on 10m.
@eagle9800 a resonant 10 meter 1/4 wave would probably be slightly better than this.
Has your son got a channel?
He’s not real big on TH-cam but there is a automatically generated topic page for him:
th-cam.com/channels/a12PSFMOFAOKtr9pbq3G8g.html?si=8bTVYkJxiVv38Feq
All his stuff is on iTunes, Spotify, etc
another great video Walt! how was the show?
Of all the random wire vertical lengths I've tinkered with, 29 is my go-to. Works great all around, is ideal for using with a spiderbeam pole and also works fine sloped or even just horizontal not far off the ground. Prefer using Nelson 1:9 matchers over the LDG's, but still use both. Great videos as always.
Thank you! 73, Walt
I see you mentioned the use of a ground screen made of aluminium window screen. Are you starting to changing your mind on the "magic Carpet", and if so do you plan to give it a try?
VE3NLP
It might happen!
Hey Walt... I'll have to try these antennas soon. Just too comfortable with my ham sticks. 73!
73!
Hi Walt! Can this antenna be made with a 17 foot MFJ vertical mast, then 12+ feet wire attached horizontally to a tripod? This would then be an inverted-L. Would I use a 9:1 or a 4:1 unun???
I think that would work with a 9:1 for sure. Give it a try!
Hell ya! Nearly 5K miles!!!
Awesome!
Thank you! Cheers!
KA3JNU 07:12 didn't sound like a 57 their was too much QRM R3 at best, did you inflate that radio report? 😜😜
Who knows, that was 8 months ago. Call the ham police
Another good video Walt. Thanks.
Thank you!
love your videos great
Thank you so much!
Great stuff I use a 33ft vertical wire with 9:1 unan and a 16ft 6' radial.
I have experimented with capcitive radials using old 75ohm tv coax . You short one end out by soldering the braid and core together this goes to the radial fixing point and the end of the wire you cut back 1/8 th wave remove the braid from the end seal with tape and works great.
Keep safe de M0JFE
Thank you!
On my recent trip, I had hoped to operate from three POTA locations. Only one of the three gave me permission. The one in downtown Richmond needed more advanced notice (a city permit is required to operate on the sidewalk), and I left a message for the person in charge at the third location but never received a return phone call. I am going to try this setup for a future trip. Fort Monroe (K-0929) told me that I could operate, don't put wires in the trees, stay away from power lines, and do not put a spike in the ground. I need help with a new antenna idea that can be used with my QRP rig (20m/40m). I'd like it if all the components could be put in my carry-on bag. Walt, have you had trouble carrying wires, winders, and coax onto airplanes, or do you check those items? de David AE4LH
Hi David, I usually check that stuff and just carry the transceiver and battery on with me.
Great job Walt, W0OAR was a special event that our club was doing at the Ozarks Steam Engine Association Tractor Show. We were operating a 41' random endfed. I walked up right when you were signing off with Greg KF0LZX that was operating W0OAR at the moment.
Thanks! it was great to get you guys in the log!
Walt: It has been great weather recently in Hampton Roads for getting outside and doing antenna testing. I like that the 29 ft random wire fit easily on the 10M mast with room to spare. SWR on 10M was flat. Did you record SWR on other bands? Did I miss it?
Other bands were all under 2:1. 12 meters was actually 1.2:1, I wish the band would have had some activity on it.
Hi walt how do you think it would do as a receive only antenna for swling .thanks Tim
I think this would be an excellent antenna for SWL.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES thanks Walt, (Q) would it work in PVC tubing to protecting from the weather?
@@thewind-ne8rh I’m not sure, I would just let the wire stay out in the elements myself.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES ok thanks Walt , I was thinking of using (2) slinky's on op and (1)on the bottom with a 9:1 unun like you used with the ground or counterpoise terminal on it
Excellent Walt. I have a pole but still deciding on a HF radio.🍻🤠🇦🇺
Awesome! Thanks
Thank you Walt great video man. Informative as usual.Awsomme QSOs
Thank you!
Good video Walt! Rock on!
Thank you!
You seem to have forgotten to mention that all antenna installations need to follow the R56 Standard!
No I didn't forget, that would be for a permanent installation. This as well as the other antenna you left this same comment on is a portable antenna for field use.
I was looking at that antenna you have at home, especially as they make a heavy duty version of it now. If it were longer it would be a Rybakov and would probably work better. The way to do it would be to replace two of the sections with longer tubes, but there might be stability issues, and getting the right wall thickness of tubes. Its a thought though. I guess they make it shorter to make it stronger.
I might experiment with it when I'm away from the water one day.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Even a bit of wire on the top. The maths looked better than the original length.
I made this one and put it on a 10-meter fiberglass pole. Great results 10 to 40 meters. Tons of POTA contacts SSB and CW on 40, 20, and 10. SSB to Europe and FT8 from NY to Australia. A great economical and simple antenna that you can put up anywhere. Thanks for the video and ideas.
You think any of the boaters would mind if you commandeered their masts? 😆
LOL
Any tuning the lenght of the 29' wire?
Yes, this antenna requires a tuner.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I mean do I need to trim the wire like an efhw or cut 29' and its good
@@ronrico2620 cut 29’ and it’s good
Great video Walt.73, KZ5MLS
Thank you!
Oh, to have that salt water amp.😉 Seems a great choice for people with little to no real estate with which to work.
I'm very lucky to live here.
Always a pleasure Walt. I'm going to try that antenna. Cool music on your intro too
Thanks! my son is a musician and did that music for me.
Way to go Walt....I might have to try it....but without the salt water..
Thank you!
It worked well for you
Hi Walt, Great video again. Seems we are walking the same path with different results. For me the 1/4 wave ground plain for 20 meters en the T2LT are the Top DXers. The random wires is in 17,5' or 29' don't get me outside Europa. Al dough for ease and the possibility of not getting out of the car in the rain changing antennas I use them quite often. For my conditions (in land, peaty soil, 10 cm high grass) The best results on the analyser I on a 29' antenna on a 9 meter carbon fiber fishing pole get with a 26' counter poise. Lowest SWR/MHz 10m: 1,5/29.1, 20 meter 1,8/13,8, 40 meter 2,6/7,3. the curves are quite flat so nothing the tuner can't handle. But still no contacts outside Europa. For me this is a radius of about 1200 miles from the Netherlands. Wonder how to improve this and al open for suggestions😊
Thanks! wow I'm not sure what would help. Maybe experiment with different counterpoise setups.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I did some google searching. My conclusion is that the conductivity of my carbon fiber mast might be the problem. For my 1/4 wave and T2LT I use a fiberglas pole for the end feds a carbon fiber pole because because they are longer. All longer fishing poles are of carbon fiber now a days be because of the weight. May I ask what jou are using for a pole?
@@gerard6544 yes I use the DX Commander 10 meter expedition pole. I also have the DX Commander 7m pole. Both are great.
Hogwash!
Hey Walt, it’s always a blast to listen and watch your videos. Keep up the fantastic job man.
Kk7hi new orleans
@@binder098 thanks so much! 73 and a big WHO DAT from a former Metairie boy!
Great stuff as always, Walt!!
Thank you so much!
Great video & info!😃🇺🇸
Thank you!
What about a 49:1 unun ?
Would work with 33 feet as an end fed half wave for 20 meters but not for 29 feet.
Oh I see... Well I was looking for a solution from 40m - 10m ... I have a bulun 1:1 and also an unun 49:1 ... And plenty of wire ... But I can't play with vertical setups as I want to avoid thunders etc... bad weather. So I guess an horizontal setup would be more ideal
@@z3r0c00l2 sloping with 66 feet of wire is the classic EFHW with a 49:1. It’s an excellent antenna for 40 through 10.
Thanks for your great help. Well I do have a mast of 6 meters . I guess a slopper would be like letter L .. never builded one . I had build an efhw differently (check my qrz) . Here at my home base I have limited space . So the unun would be on the floor, and then the wire would go up and come down ? ... Thanks again . Jimmy SY1DAL
Good vid, Walt.
Thank you!
The antenna worked great
Yes it did!
Fun video Walt! Hope your wife is doing better! 73
Thank you so much!