Looking forward to this. Home Depot used to sell those winders for electrical extension cords. I've had one in my Field Day box for years. Never thought to use it for POTA. Duh!
Picked up HyperFlex 5 in 17' and 35' lengths leading up to field day. Glad i held off on upgrading my generic 50' cable. I see some POTA Flex on my future! And an extra cable reel or two.
Thanks for the heads up Mike! I purchased this to use with my MPAS 2 from Chameleon while traveling in my motorhome. Works extremely well, noticeable improvement over Chameleon's already good quality feedline!
I’ve got 10m of this for my portable ops. It’s a fantastic bit of kit. The bag it comes in can carry the cable on the reel and also my super antenna MC-1. Makes life so much easier. Can’t recommend it enough.
Well color me extremely impressed. I thought it was cool M&P was coming out with their POTA-Flex line of coax just based on the thicker, flexible and brightly colored outer jacket was a great idea. Now beyond that, they beefed up the shielding to help hold up better with use. This really shows M&P are putting a lot of thought into their product and the quality really shows. Great video, Mike! Thanks for the info.
I passed my General in the spring and bought an FT891. Ive been putting off bying cable to build my POTA kit after seeing your earlier videis about this cable. Thanks for the uodate and great videos.
Supper happy for the new POTA flex coax. not only I want the POTA flex 7 in want that reel as well. Ham Radio 2.0 put power threw it. heated up the Baum . this is going to be great to go with my 2024 DX commander Expedition portable antenna for POTA ! maybe you can get Giga parts to put a K8MRD approved sticker on the reel. love how M & P came to us the ham radio people and ask what do we need. and they came threw for us. now the Pota masted is spending my money and I have a big smile ! 73's
Oh man that winder jogged my memory big time! I'm an Electrician by trade and I was wrapping up a job winding my extension cord with the same style winder, I must have had that thing going about mach 9 when the cord wrapped over the top of the winder and right to my balls! haha I stopped using that winder after that incident but it might be time to let the apprentice use it? Maybe you can talk Frank into seeing how fast he can wind up the coax next time you guys are together, sit back and enjoy!
Hopefully it holds up well. I just replaced my Airborne 10 with TMW LMR400UF after three months of use with 70cm satellites because of SWR issues likely caused due to how often it gets bent/coiled/etc. I have some M&P UF7 for POTA that seems good so far, but haven't used it enough yet to get a good read on it's durability.
Yeah Airborne 10 has a solid center conductor. Great cable but because of that solid center, repeated bending will eventually cause it (or any solid center coax) to fail. That's why guys with rotators will often use a solid core up to the rotator, then switch out a short length of a stranded center coax "UF meaning ultra flex" where the rotator is connected to prevent that.
You know what’s real disturbing is I just ordered through their web site and got the bundle for 163.00 and if you order from buy two way radio or gig a parts it’s a ridiculous price for only 20 ft
Hi Mike, I have a question please, in order to get the best out of the cable, does the entire cable need to be unwound or can some of it remain coiled up? Thank you!
Hay thanks for the video and information. Can you guide me to a coax for Qth use. I'm a LMR-400uf guy, but looking for better. It will be for Hf use only 40-20-10
Couple questions. I am going to get some pota cable from messi directly because I am in canada. Do you suggest the 6 or 7 and do you have any coupon codes I can use for my order. Ty. I watch all your videos and they are awesome. I had a friend tell me that the hyperflex 5 was better than pota flex. What do you think. Ty
You neglected to note that those Db losses are for a 100 ft coax cable, that POTA speed reel is a glorified extension cord reel available from lowes for $13 and up. Will I buy a roll of Pota-Flex, YES!
Except for when I said the Db was measured in 100' so I need to half the measurement for my results. But you're getting ripped off if you're paying $13 for the reel at Home Depot. Harbor Freight has them for $9.99 and that's exactly what I told Stefano Messi.
About as weather proof as you can get with that seal at the bottom and the nature of the Evolution PL-259 connectors they use. You'd still want to seal the top where it will screw into your antenna if it's going to be in the rain though.
So I take it you have had some time using this coax? I have been going POTA activations since April 2020. I have been using the same 50ft length of RG-58 and a orange winder, and luckily no problems to date. But this does look interesting for my backpack set-up. I use a IC-705 and keep a 25ft RG-58 coax that is hand wound. Which I have had a failure with this, only to be found after hiking 1.5 hours up a mountain. Thinking this might give me better reliability. DE AA4SS
Oh they know about it. Maybe not the customer service rep you spoke to. They haven’t received inventory of it yet though. You can order it direct from M&P right now. I assure you they have thousands of meters of it in stock.
That is pretty neat coax. I might have to invest in some for my ham radio demos. My coax might as well be used for tight rope walking since everyone tends to aim for it. 73 KD5YOU
Depends on the length but you can get it now at messi.it/en/catalogue/50-ohm-rf-coaxial-cables/full-list-coax.htm Make sure to use code K8MRD for 10% off if you decide to pick some up. It'll most likely be the last portable coax you ever need to purchase.
What amp per foot does-7 wire loose? How far can I run-7 without risking slow internet? I need to know the current code between using a splitter or a new junction box
Honestly, as a long time ham, this cable is not necessary and IMO, for everyday use, it's overpriced. This video seem to me is a paid advertisement for M&P. Save your money and make your own RG8X for HF using low loss coax.
Honestly - I’m not happy with this product at all, especially for the price. I have 100ft segment. I was expecting something more flexible and easier to use on the winder. It’s stiff, sharply kinks and frankly not all that great. It works, it’s just not as great as I imagined. Do your homework. I’ll suggest getting your hands on it before you decide.
Nice advertorial. It is hard to think that this isn’t somehow biased based upon some kind of commission scheme. Of course it is not a review , but a promo. Also 10% off. -of what? You have diminished the value of independent editorial review by not disclosing your possible financial interest …or not. That’s my opinion. I may be wrong.
@@hamradiotube I got that part. How could I have missed it? You mentioned it several times. I don’t have a problem with your technical advice to the manufacturer. But what you didn’t say is that you didn’t have a financial interest in it. The way I look at it, you can be a neutral evaluator or you can be a paid product shill. You can’t be both. As soon as you start to hawk something for money like a guy selling kitchen gadgets at the state fair, you impeach your impartiality. I would expect that a content creator like you earns plenty from UA-cam, and making a few bucks on a product endorsement at the expense of reputation would not be worth the tradeoff. Take the product on a few activations, camping trips and field days with this rather expensive coax before a fair and comprehensive test is done. Put a VNA on it and measure all the applicable specs including return loss, velocity factor and impedance. Compare a signal side by side with a less expensive cable. Compare it to the new unused coax. And anyway, $2-3 per foot is not in my budget. And oh, before you label me a sad ham, you should know that up to now I have been in your audience and happily consumed what I figured were impartial reviews without issue. With the exception of being provided the equipment to be reviewed, reviews should be impartial. I am really just disappointed in myself for buying those reviews without a more critical eye. AR
@@rjollis Nah, you're alright. I won't label you a sad ham. But, it is possible to be a neutral evaluator, at least for me. I really don't care what the manufactures think (or anyone for that matter). Just look at my Xiegu X6100 or X106 review videos. I totally bash them and they were sent to me on loan from Radioddity. Pretty sure I've burned that bridge showing the truth. I've also done videos where I show M&P coax NOT measuring up to what they specify in terms of losses with my NanoVNA. As far as the financial interest is concerned, the term "affiliate' is all over the place in the description of the video, and at the bottom per whatever legal stuff is required. To be fair, I did just add stars to the links for this one. At the bottom it says "links are affiliate where available". But that is not required by law. I've had a great relationship with M&P and have done many videos showing just how good their coax is. Including in this video where I show the losses on my NanoVNA don't quite match up to their claims. Especially on 70CM. Maybe you missed that part? This video is made to introduce a new coax to the portable ham radio world and I am very proud to know Stefano Messi and am honored that he would take my input to what the POTA operator wants. I also did several poles on my channel asking what hams want out of a portable coax and this is the result. As far as taking it on a few activations is concerned, I have had this coax LONG before this video. When it was a prototype. It's been on activations, camping trips to Huntsville Hamfest where I had it out for HF activations and I also ran it across the camp whilst hoisted up a tree connected to an Ed Fong Roll Up J-Pole to work Carlos, KD9OLN while he was doing Parachute Mobile. We worked him from my FT5D. I also posted pictures in this video showing people walking over it and how it was in a bed of rocks all day and it didn't take a lick. Trust me, I am HARD on my equipment and have said that many, many times. I talked with Stefano in great length what I liked, what I didn't like, how it should be made, what the shield should be, the color, all that and more...and this is the result. We didn't agree on everything of course, but I'm pretty sure he knows more about coax than me. For example, I told him I could get the "POTA-Speed" reel at Harbor Freight for $9.99 and sent him the link. But he did improve on that from what I've seen. The little tab thing the coax tucks under before winding up. I've not seen that in a $10 reel from HF or HD. I've not looked too hard either though. And I wish I earned plenty of money from UA-cam. But the sad reality is, having 30k subs puts you in the lowest tax bracket my friend. 73 de k8mrd
@@hamradiotube This is your 400lb ham who is glued to his ham shack chair throughout contest weekend, with necessary movement for bathroom and refrigerator breaks only!
Trolls always have an opinion and negativity! Yeah with POTA it requires you to get off your ass. Likely always angry and cause you don't like yourself you take things out on everyone else with your negativity.
"A BNC to BNC Version.." Shut up and take my money!
10% cool. I’ll be ordering some soon. Thanks Mike and M&P.
Looking forward to this. Home Depot used to sell those winders for electrical extension cords. I've had one in my Field Day box for years. Never thought to use it for POTA. Duh!
Excellent job Mike. I am not surprised, you are the POTA king. This will be great.
Thanks Mike I ordered the 50 ft POTA flex 7 bundle from Messi with your code. Can't wait to try it out!
Awesome! Thank you!
Such a good thing you have helped accomplish for us all!
Picked up HyperFlex 5 in 17' and 35' lengths leading up to field day. Glad i held off on upgrading my generic 50' cable. I see some POTA Flex on my future! And an extra cable reel or two.
Sounds great!
Thanks for the heads up Mike! I purchased this to use with my MPAS 2 from Chameleon while traveling in my motorhome. Works extremely well, noticeable improvement over Chameleon's already good quality feedline!
I’ve got 10m of this for my portable ops. It’s a fantastic bit of kit. The bag it comes in can carry the cable on the reel and also my super antenna MC-1. Makes life so much easier. Can’t recommend it enough.
Thanks for this video. I just ordered the POTA-Flex 7 Coaxial Cable and Subscribed to your Channel.
Awesome! Thank you!
Woods E-102 cable winder, $11.37 at Walmart. The same. The POTA bag is nice tho
Well color me extremely impressed.
I thought it was cool M&P was coming out with their POTA-Flex line of coax just based on the thicker, flexible and brightly colored outer jacket was a great idea. Now beyond that, they beefed up the shielding to help hold up better with use. This really shows M&P are putting a lot of thought into their product and the quality really shows. Great video, Mike! Thanks for the info.
I passed my General in the spring and bought an FT891. Ive been putting off bying cable to build my POTA kit after seeing your earlier videis about this cable. Thanks for the uodate and great videos.
I just ordered the POTA-FLEX 7 /BUNDLE
DELUXE 50ft today, directly from Messi & Paoloni using your Code. THANKS Mike!!!!!
Awesome!
Supper happy for the new POTA flex coax. not only I want the POTA flex 7 in want that reel as well. Ham Radio 2.0 put power threw it. heated up the Baum . this is going to be great to go with my 2024 DX commander Expedition portable antenna for POTA ! maybe you can get Giga parts to put a K8MRD approved sticker on the reel. love how M & P came to us the ham radio people and ask what do we need. and they came threw for us. now the Pota masted is spending my money and I have a big smile ! 73's
Yeah I saw Jasons video. That was the antenna heating up though. Had nothing to do with the coax.
@@hamradiotube making a 56:1 with 2 T240-43 cores . figure a 1Kw . Pota on !
@@robertmeyer4744 #hamharder
Oh man that winder jogged my memory big time! I'm an Electrician by trade and I was wrapping up a job winding my extension cord with the same style winder, I must have had that thing going about mach 9 when the cord wrapped over the top of the winder and right to my balls! haha I stopped using that winder after that incident but it might be time to let the apprentice use it? Maybe you can talk Frank into seeing how fast he can wind up the coax next time you guys are together, sit back and enjoy!
Oof, I'll have to be careful of that! And I like the Frank challenge too.
I've been waiting for this to come out!
Hopefully it holds up well. I just replaced my Airborne 10 with TMW LMR400UF after three months of use with 70cm satellites because of SWR issues likely caused due to how often it gets bent/coiled/etc. I have some M&P UF7 for POTA that seems good so far, but haven't used it enough yet to get a good read on it's durability.
Yeah Airborne 10 has a solid center conductor. Great cable but because of that solid center, repeated bending will eventually cause it (or any solid center coax) to fail. That's why guys with rotators will often use a solid core up to the rotator, then switch out a short length of a stranded center coax "UF meaning ultra flex" where the rotator is connected to prevent that.
I don't mind throwing some scratch at Mike since he went to Italy to do a review... Thanks Mike and Messi & Paolini for the discount.
the reel is bigger than my entire cookset PLUS radio kit PLUS antenna.
You know what’s real disturbing is I just ordered through their web site and got the bundle for 163.00 and if you order from buy two way radio or gig a parts it’s a ridiculous price for only 20 ft
I was waiting for the "But wait! There's more!" I hope our friends at ABR are paying attention. :)
Take my money!…and I will take a Beatles tshirt 😉 Another great video Mike 🎙
I feel I got that shirt at Target
Is this going to available on gigparts soon? Still not seeing it on the site. Edit. Went straight to Italy 🇮🇹 😂thanks for the code!
Hi Mike, I have a question please, in order to get the best out of the cable, does the entire cable need to be unwound or can some of it remain coiled up?
Thank you!
Hay thanks for the video and information. Can you guide me to a coax for Qth use. I'm a LMR-400uf guy, but looking for better. It will be for Hf use only 40-20-10
Putting in an order...
Paul K1YOU
Can you show us how it is reflective at night? Is it really reflective?
Couple questions. I am going to get some pota cable from messi directly because I am in canada. Do you suggest the 6 or 7 and do you have any coupon codes I can use for my order. Ty. I watch all your videos and they are awesome. I had a friend tell me that the hyperflex 5 was better than pota flex. What do you think. Ty
Thank you.
You neglected to note that those Db losses are for a 100 ft coax cable, that POTA speed reel is a glorified extension cord reel available from lowes for $13 and up. Will I buy a roll of Pota-Flex, YES!
Except for when I said the Db was measured in 100' so I need to half the measurement for my results. But you're getting ripped off if you're paying $13 for the reel at Home Depot. Harbor Freight has them for $9.99 and that's exactly what I told Stefano Messi.
Taking it in the BUNDLE costs even less than that, and the central handle is fairly more comfortable!
Oh, damn, this is coax, I thought it was an extension cord! Hehehe, looks like nice rugged cable.
well technically it does extend your radio to your antenna...
How weather proof is the connections?
Like to run this with my Ed Fong tri band as a portable setup
About as weather proof as you can get with that seal at the bottom and the nature of the Evolution PL-259 connectors they use. You'd still want to seal the top where it will screw into your antenna if it's going to be in the rain though.
Thoughts on the differences between Flex 7 or the Flex 6?
It looks like I'll be buying more cable. Don't tell my wife. Thank you for sharing with us.
Your secret is safe
So I take it you have had some time using this coax? I have been going POTA activations since April 2020. I have been using the same 50ft length of RG-58 and a orange winder, and luckily no problems to date. But this does look interesting for my backpack set-up. I use a IC-705 and keep a 25ft RG-58 coax that is hand wound. Which I have had a failure with this, only to be found after hiking 1.5 hours up a mountain. Thinking this might give me better reliability. DE AA4SS
Yep. M&P sent me this a few months ago. Some time before Huntsville Hamfest.
The POTA Flex 7 is not carried by Gigaparts. I emailed and called and they never heard of it. :(
Oh they know about it. Maybe not the customer service rep you spoke to. They haven’t received inventory of it yet though. You can order it direct from M&P right now. I assure you they have thousands of meters of it in stock.
You are awesome Mike! Well described. 73's VE3DAL.
Where did you get the reel/spool for your coax?
👍 Thank you of the update!) .
You bet!
That is pretty neat coax. I might have to invest in some for my ham radio demos. My coax might as well be used for tight rope walking since everyone tends to aim for it. 73 KD5YOU
Excellent Mike but can we get it in the UK iff we want to order it
Just order direct from M&P
I just checked out there website says they are out of stock
M&P is taking pre-orders I do believe. messi.it/en/catalogue/50-ohm-rf-coaxial-cables/full-list-coax.htm. Don't forget code k8mrd for 10% off!
Given the flexibility and bend/flex resistance, might this be a good option for mobile installations?
I don't see why not
It’s like $220 for 100’. Is coax really the problem for POTA? Nope.
How much ?
Depends on the length but you can get it now at messi.it/en/catalogue/50-ohm-rf-coaxial-cables/full-list-coax.htm Make sure to use code K8MRD for 10% off if you decide to pick some up. It'll most likely be the last portable coax you ever need to purchase.
I hate you (not really), but you're bad for my checking account. Just pre-order the 50' POTA-Flex 7. Thanks.
Heck yeah man that's great!
Very nice
1 amp per foot
I ask what does that translate to -7 1 amp per foot goes for 12 gage
Huh???
What amp per foot does-7 wire loose? How far can I run-7 without risking slow internet? I need to know the current code between using a splitter or a new junction box
Did you even watch this video??
What is the voltage drop
Honestly, as a long time ham, this cable is not necessary and IMO, for everyday use, it's overpriced. This video seem to me is a paid advertisement for M&P. Save your money and make your own RG8X for HF using low loss coax.
Honestly - I’m not happy with this product at all, especially for the price. I have 100ft segment. I was expecting something more flexible and easier to use on the winder. It’s stiff, sharply kinks and frankly not all that great. It works, it’s just not as great as I imagined. Do your homework. I’ll suggest getting your hands on it before you decide.
Nice advertorial. It is hard to think that this isn’t somehow biased based upon some kind of commission scheme. Of course it is not a review , but a promo. Also 10% off. -of what? You have diminished the value of independent editorial review by not disclosing your possible financial interest …or not. That’s my opinion. I may be wrong.
You left out the 2 parts where I mention I had input into the making of this coax.
@@hamradiotube I got that part. How could I have missed it? You mentioned it several times. I don’t have a problem with your technical advice to the manufacturer. But what you didn’t say is that you didn’t have a financial interest in it. The way I look at it, you can be a neutral evaluator or you can be a paid product shill. You can’t be both. As soon as you start to hawk something for money like a guy selling kitchen gadgets at the state fair, you impeach your impartiality. I would expect that a content creator like you earns plenty from UA-cam, and making a few bucks on a product endorsement at the expense of reputation would not be worth the tradeoff.
Take the product on a few activations, camping trips and field days with this rather expensive coax before a fair and comprehensive test is done. Put a VNA on it and measure all the applicable specs including return loss, velocity factor and impedance. Compare a signal side by side with a less expensive cable. Compare it to the new unused coax. And anyway, $2-3 per foot is not in my budget.
And oh, before you label me a sad ham, you should know that up to now I have been in your audience and happily consumed what I figured were impartial reviews without issue. With the exception of being provided the equipment to be reviewed, reviews should be impartial. I am really just disappointed in myself for buying those reviews without a more critical eye. AR
@@rjollis Nah, you're alright. I won't label you a sad ham. But, it is possible to be a neutral evaluator, at least for me. I really don't care what the manufactures think (or anyone for that matter). Just look at my Xiegu X6100 or X106 review videos. I totally bash them and they were sent to me on loan from Radioddity. Pretty sure I've burned that bridge showing the truth. I've also done videos where I show M&P coax NOT measuring up to what they specify in terms of losses with my NanoVNA. As far as the financial interest is concerned, the term "affiliate' is all over the place in the description of the video, and at the bottom per whatever legal stuff is required. To be fair, I did just add stars to the links for this one. At the bottom it says "links are affiliate where available". But that is not required by law. I've had a great relationship with M&P and have done many videos showing just how good their coax is. Including in this video where I show the losses on my NanoVNA don't quite match up to their claims. Especially on 70CM. Maybe you missed that part? This video is made to introduce a new coax to the portable ham radio world and I am very proud to know Stefano Messi and am honored that he would take my input to what the POTA operator wants. I also did several poles on my channel asking what hams want out of a portable coax and this is the result. As far as taking it on a few activations is concerned, I have had this coax LONG before this video. When it was a prototype. It's been on activations, camping trips to Huntsville Hamfest where I had it out for HF activations and I also ran it across the camp whilst hoisted up a tree connected to an Ed Fong Roll Up J-Pole to work Carlos, KD9OLN while he was doing Parachute Mobile. We worked him from my FT5D. I also posted pictures in this video showing people walking over it and how it was in a bed of rocks all day and it didn't take a lick. Trust me, I am HARD on my equipment and have said that many, many times. I talked with Stefano in great length what I liked, what I didn't like, how it should be made, what the shield should be, the color, all that and more...and this is the result. We didn't agree on everything of course, but I'm pretty sure he knows more about coax than me. For example, I told him I could get the "POTA-Speed" reel at Harbor Freight for $9.99 and sent him the link. But he did improve on that from what I've seen. The little tab thing the coax tucks under before winding up. I've not seen that in a $10 reel from HF or HD. I've not looked too hard either though. And I wish I earned plenty of money from UA-cam. But the sad reality is, having 30k subs puts you in the lowest tax bracket my friend. 73 de k8mrd
Sorry but POTA is the silliest concept in ham radio, next to FT8.
And this comment has been marked for the next sad ham video. Thanks for the content!!
@@hamradiotube This is your 400lb ham who is glued to his ham shack chair throughout contest weekend, with necessary movement for bathroom and refrigerator breaks only!
Trolls always have an opinion and negativity! Yeah with POTA it requires you to get off your ass. Likely always angry and cause you don't like yourself you take things out on everyone else with your negativity.
Thanks, Mike! I'm placing an order. 73 de KN6NPZ