Perfect Antenna Strategy for Small Plots
Вставка
- Опубліковано 11 січ 2024
- The ultimate antenna design for the new Ham Radio operator with a small back yard / garden. Callum suggests going with a multi-band vertical, a Loop on Ground (dedicated receive antenna) and also a low-to-ground dipole for 40m. John suggests similar but with options for half-wave-end-far or maybe off-centre-fed dipole. What would you do..? Callum.
Loop on Ground
▶️ • Receive Antennas - Thi...
More videos:
▶️ • Antenna Modelling Antenna Modelling
▶️ • Tips and Tricks Tips and Tricks
▶️ • Antennas Antennas
▶️ • Live Streams Live Streams
▶️ • Commander World My Stuff
▶️ • Foundation Training Ham Radio Training
Just for interest sake. I have re-designed my DX Commander radials to fit in a 2m x 2m space with great success. SWR readings as follows: 40m (1.06); 30m (1.05); 20m (1.08); 17m (1.11); 15m (1.34); 12m (1.09 but still needs a bit of tuning); 10m (also still need to be tuned). Element wire = DX50. Radials = 15mm copper pipe spiderweb design. Test results = Rigexpert 650 Zoom. Furthest contact 12232km (South Africa to Canada Twice with 2 different contacts on 85W SSB) It just proofs that you do not need a massive area for radials for a DX Commander antenna. 73
So many sources of wire for experiments, even an old extension cable or lawnmower type cable can be stripped down for the individual wires. Although some of us old boys have a lot of money tied up with the hobby there is so much fun to be had with basic things. I certainly had great contacts and a lot of fun using a long length of wire down the garden fed from a homebrew tuner and an FT707 bought from a CBer....
This was the main reason for me initially getting a dx commander, the garden is only 20ft by 15ft. I hadn't thought about having a ground loop for the rx.
My loop on ground will be made from messenger wire split from RG-11 75 ohm Catv coax. Can't wait to try it next year!
Thank you Calum and John. Great chat guys.
I don't know how it will go. I can only fit four cars in our garden and a large quarter of that is the hot tub 😁
Thanks guys! - Lots of insight into practical antennas. - Cheers!
If you're doing a listen-only antenna, another great source of cheap or even free material is if a retail store is renovating their sound system. One of the companies that I work for does that as a contractor, and our largest client at the moment is a major retailer here in the States that's renovating all of their stores. The general rule is that we want enough speaker cable to get the job done, but a little extra for any unforeseen problems that may come up, and of course there are always the little scraps here and there that come with any installation job. If you can catch them at the time they're tossing all the scrap out -- because there's not enough of it to justify the cost of taking it to be recycled, so it just gets dumped -- then ask them if you can take the speaker wire off their hands.
Cal you are absolutely correct, having a DX Commander has spoiled me for anything else. I do intend to do a LOG hopefully this summer. I will run through an SDR. I will send the audio from it and my IC 7300 through a small mixer so I can have one in my left ear and the other in the right ear. Cheers from Moose Jaw. Tim VE5THF
If you got a wooden fence, you could put a long wire on it with electric fence insulaters
I have a very small yard with far too many antennas in it. I even have a Hexbeam. But starting out, I only managed the DX Commander and a 40m EFHW. Then, I added a loop on the ground. I added an 80m EFHW which goes from my back yard to across the trees in the front of my house. It is fed in the back yard so is not visible from the street in the front of the house. So if you can make use of both your front and back yard that way, it's a good alternative.
I use an 40-10 EFHW mounted around my fence top at 6’ above ground in conjunction with my DXC expedition and have had good success.
Good comparison thank you while I don’t own a Elecraft KX3 I have the Icom 7610 ( 2 years ) and 7300 ( 6+ years ) but I use the BHI DSP module with both and they both sound fantastic! Many HAMs will buy a radio to have better audio like a Yaesu for their DNR ( which I agree sounds great ) but many don’t know that they can add Noise reduction to their existing radio for far less money……plus I love the Icom’s user interface 73
After watching your videos and the movie "All The Light You Cannot See", I was inspired to brush up on my radio and attenna theory and then take my Canadian Advanced Amateur test. It is a great hobby, and even as an RF engineer by training, I am amazed at what creative hams come up with. Who would ever think a loop on the ground would be a good receive antenna! Thanks for putting out these videos. They are entertaining, inspirational AND educational! 73 VE3NAP
Thanks, this was fun to watch and gave me some good ideas.
Thanks guys. Got me thinking about planning and running more cable runs now now.🧐👍🍻
8 car size lot? You're measuring like an American now Callum! 😂 Enjoyed the video Boys, looking forward to what's next
My set up is DXC and a efhw for 40-10 and it works perfect for me having a very small back garden.
Another great video, I really enjoys these, I learn and learn...
for a small yard it would have to be a DX Commander!👍🍻