This antenna is a fun & cheap build that I have been having excellent success with while QRP Portable doing SOTA. As a disclaimer, you should always check your antenna builds with an antenna analyzer to ensure your application is within the radio’s acceptable limits. As with any DIY projects, I can’t be responsible for any errors in your calculations or variances so please build this antenna at your own risk and CHECK IT WITH AN ANALYZER BEFORE CONNECTING IT TO YOUR RADIO AND USING IT. I think you’ll find great joy in the antenna making process so have fun.
I passed the exam last week. I'd purchased a IC-705 a few weeks ahead of the exam but didn't have an antenna. I've just built a speaker wire antenna based on this video. I've cut it roughly for 17m but I haven't yet put it on my NanoVNA. Many thanks, Jerry! 73, KN6NPZ San Jose, CA
Whole heartedly agree, I'm a new tech working on my general and i'm not mathematically minded nor am i an engineer and finding someone that simplifies antennas is damn near impossible. This video was a great help for me since i want to get into QRP, POTA and RaDAR, it'll really reduce my weight since 80% is from my Icom 718. Thank you for such a great helpful video, you are a fantastic man for making ham so simple, most guys act like ham is a big secret.
Thanks Michael and agreed, let’s simplify this as much as possible to help more people get involved. Let me know how it works for you and if you have any questions don’t be shy, ask away. I’m much faster on Twitter if we are connected there too btw.
@@W8MJL Two other guys on UA-cam that also have good and simple antenna videos are "Stan Gibilisco" and "VK3YE". Searching for either will get you their channels. Stan gets into the math behind his designs, but he's very good at explaining it in an understandable way. VK3YE (Peter) does mostly portable stuff and demonstrates his builds out in the real world. Both good resources.
Man I just made and tuned one of these antennas out of 18ga speaker wire and a tenkara fishing rod. I used it with a ft-891 on 20 meter ssb at 100w and was able to work Spain from the central US, and he gave me a 5/9, AMAZING. Thank you for the awesome build and motivation. For my first radio and first antenna build I couldn’t be happier.
Just built this antenna and mounted the fishing pole on the step/mirror of my freightliner. One leg is on the frame of the rear of the truck insulated with a zip tie and the other i have a string wrapped around a small concrete block. IT WORKS AWESOME!!! I have it connected to the antenna port of my fc50 tuner. First contact was South Florida from my qth in Princeton WV. I could hear Argentina like they were parked next to me. I love it!! Forget to mention it tuned on 6m-160m!!!
Late to this thread, I want to applaud Jerry’s method of his teaching. Easy to follow, explains as he goes, and an overall very informative and entertaining video. Thanks, Jerry. Randy, N5ilq
Jerry, I just finished building and tuning my speaker wire antenna. following your ideas it was a breeze . Made my first contacts in Texas and Alabama. Now i have to figure out how to direct it. Thanks, 73 George KB3WAQ
Have ran one for many years and been a part of my go-kit and due to its light weight and portability it has worked very well for me on many of my canoe trips and excursions where weight is crucial. Nice video and I have become a part of your UA-cam channel.Cheers Fred
Thanks Fred and it's an awesome little design that definitely allows portability for those of us who prefer ultra-lightweight setups. Thanks for the sub too! Much appreciated. 👍
Great channel! I came from the joint video that all you guys did on amradio 2.0. I will be back and thanks. Never realized that we do not have to use coax!.
Hey Rich thanks for checking out the channel. Lots of things to learn and do with ham radio for sure 👍🏻. Coax is a great item but for qrp and field work there are many other options
I made this antenna out of speaker wire. Measures I believe were 17.16 for each dipole, then 18' for the transmission line. Same wire done as per the video , except I used a piece of heat shrink instead of the electricians knot. Well, on 20 and 40 meters, I got frequencies on 1.04 SWR, which is great. Was able to make it form Central New York to London, Canada. Got a Xiegu G90 with just 20 W max. Used a banana plug for the center of the SO-239 then the other leg to the ground screw on the radio. This antenna is in stalled on a 14' height attic, but the highest peak at about 6' high, then the two legs spread left and right from the center on about 6 to 7' high. As it is, great for testing, and even one weak contact, but conditions were not that good either. The internal ATU helps a lot, once the built in analyzer finds the good frequencies, I auto tune on them, if within the range of frequencies on my license level. Great video, and the one you made with another operator in Florida on the same antenna.
So cool to hear how people find this useful and simple to make. There will always be haters but that’s expected. Thanks for sharing how it worked for you & congrats on the Dx
@@KG6HQDJerrySOTA Some people may look for the PH levels on the moisture content of the land installed if outdoor and the capacitance of the crepusculus square thermal radiation of the wiki thingy, but to me it works. I will then use the same model outdoors, set properly and with some tweak as per my environment. will do great. Thanks a lot. 73
I use a grey plastic wall plug and run a short piece of blind cord through the centre of the plug this plug fits nicely in the top section of my 8m fishing pole never had it come out in 150 plus SOTA activations.
Hey William - thanks for commenting. Trying to envision the wall plug; is it one of the things used to plug an electrical socket so a toddler doesn’t get zapped? This gave me an idea but is probably not at all what you are referring to so I’m wondering exactly what you use? Can you describe it a little more since UA-cam prevents photos in the comments. Thanks 👍🏻
Just passed my Technician license exam and waiting on my call sign and I need to make a 2 meter antenna for my Yaesu FT-4VR mono band 2 meter radio I got for passing the exam by the local Ham club. I'm already to take the General license exam as I've been studying for the next level. I love to make things so I will try this antenna build for 2 meter 'cause I'm on a very limited income but I've got a couple rolls of speaker zip cord. My antenna would be a vertical dipole.
Aloha, right now I don't transmit. Sometimes I pickup quite a few stations, I need to study more CW so I can understand more. I'm on the island of Molokai. I'll be on the mainland soon, I go to Bonneville every year for Speed Week. I have a few vids up on UA-cam of our rides across Nevada to the salt flats. Thanks, Doc
Fun stuff on the salt flats, and Molokai? Wow, I haven't met too many folks from there for obvious reasons but that's pretty cool man. Is there a reason you are focused on CW? Not that it's bad, but why not SSB, FM, DMR or DSTAR too? Do they have a VHF or UHF machine nearby with any of these? Be cool if you had your license and we could chat through DMR or DSTAR or whatever. I always enjoy when I get a KH station while out doing SOTA :)
For anyone following the tutorial: The page number given in the 22nd Edition of The Antenna Book is not valid for the 21st Edition. For the 21st Edition, it's page 15-3. Both chapters 14 and 15 have info about these types of antennas.
Nice build idea and good tips. I saw another UA-cam ham using this antenna and he mentioned getting the idea from your video. Had to come check it out. 73s - KC3MOP
Nice! There are haters, well just one person really but even he admits it’s a working antenna that is super cheap to MAKE that ice made contacts with literally worldwide and easily across the US and into Canada.
I think a series of videos like these would be very helpful for those learning. Especially those that are thinking about doing SOTA operations. I will have to make such antennas like these as I am being re located to the Netherlands and everything is so expensive and taxed and hard to get there. So things like this are a big help. 73’s abs thanks for your email reply a few weeks ago Jerry... KM6ODD
Hey Rafael good to hear from you again. I have quite a few video ideas on what I’m doing & how I’m doing it to help the group. If there’s ideas you’d like to see let me know & I’ll do my best to accommodate you, or completely make something up. Just kidding, I’ll get or find solutions to help out for sure so I can learn too. Netherlands huh? How long will you be there?
KG6HQD Jerry Hey Jerry I think it’s great that you are planning on doing more of these videos as you demeanor and voice work very well for video and being a teacher or person sharing knowledge. Also you style of simple straight forward no fuss or muss explanation of things is perfect for showing the antenna building. Tossing in the antenna building and deployment and use with the live results really will add to your channel and popularity on the tube. The fishing swivel and zip ties are great ideas for SOTA deployments and awesome ideas. As for the Netherlands sometimes those details of the mission plan are withheld for a while so I will keep you updated. Very happy to see you got to meet Tony in Florida. Tony is a very nice guy I think and fun radio operator so that was a win win. Keep up the great work and I will be mentioning you to my newest general ticket licensed scout in my troop KM6MCV Riley. Look him up 15 years old and earned his general after 2 months of being introduced to ham radio. He is outstanding scout and boy. If you happen to give him a shout out by his call sign and say Riley he love it. Thanks Jerry KM6ODD 73’s
Excellent video and thorough explanation, thanks! I'll have to try one of these; it's a nice, light setup. I don't tend to consider weight as much as I should for SOTA work.
Awesome! I try to look at everything within reason when heading out to activate for SOTA. Where I'm from we have some pretty steep hills to contend with and my back and knees appreciate my forward thinking :) Let us know how the antenna works for you.
Thanks, will do! Where I live (VT) the mountains are tamer, but there are still plenty of rock walls, cliffs, and steep terrain. And I've noticed I'm not getting any younger. ;-)
very nice and detailed video :) I have a similar antenna, made of speaker cable but the feeding line is a coax cable (RG 58), not as lightweight for portable use like yours, but very good for semi-permanent setup at home. Also 7 meters fishing rod to keep it up in the air, works like a charm!
KG6HQD Jerry with the coax is basically a standard dipole so I don’t have to use a tuner and the impedance matches perfectly. Either way the performance should be equal
Thanks for the tip, maybe I'll try that on the next build for fun. This was intended to be 1:1 on 20m since I used it with my 817ND sans a tuner and it is completely flat. Now that I have the KX2 with ATU I just tried seeing where it would tune up and it works great on 40-10m. Tony @K9ARV_Radio just put out a video yesterday using this design and was making contacts into Belgium and across the US on 20 despite band conditions so I'm stoked people are giving it a try. Best part of ham radio is trying new stuff and seeing what happens. Thanks for the comment and checking out my channel.
I made one for 20 meters and all I can say is if you really want to be impressed go with this. I have mine setup for 20m with 1.5swr and I run it into an antenna tuner and well let's just say it will tune up on not only 20, but 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10. I also got to playing with it and it will take about 100 watts full power with no problems and still has a constant swr. This is an awesome antenna idea and I'm glad I found it. Of your on a budget then this is it because 100ft roll of speaker wire cost me about $14 at your local Wally world. 73 de WD4OTR
Perfect! Let us know how it goes! Band conditions haven't been great but it hasn't stopped me from making contacts all across the US. Tony @K9ARV_Radio made one as well and got some DX into Belgium. Cheap, easy to make, light weight, and best of all it works really well.
KG6HQD Jerry negative. Put this on the back burner for this week, got some other projects to finish but will update as soon as I get it done. This seems pretty straight forward, can't wait to try it
Hey Jerry, I have a 14 AWG speaker cable, I was thinking to make a linked dipole, do you know how much TX can handle this cable? I hve my FT891 and I know it can provide 100W, I would like to know if this cable can handle this power or is better use only 50w. thanks in advance! TI2GBB - Greg Costa Rica
Can you send an Amazon link on that wire winder I can not seem to find one that size all I’m seeing is tiny kite string winders Great job and I love the antenna
I used copper clad, aluminum core speaker wire that I got from Lowes when I put together an antenna with zip cord. Thanks for the tip about the banana plug, I do have a question, where you show the antenna hooked up to your radio, one side goes to the middle of the SO-239 connector, but the other side is hooked to the radio's frame. I didn't realize that the outer side of the SO-239 was electrically connected to the frame. How many contacts were you able to make? DE NR1CH
Hey Peter... last weekend I made a 20m & 15m qso to New Zealand to two different stations and this is cut resonate for 20m so it works really well IMO. There’s people all over the world making it with great DX & local success so let me know how it works for you. Super simple and effective for what it is. I also recommend using an analyzer to verify SWR & resistance just to be safe but these calculations will get you in the lower part of the band by just a tad. Best of luck 👍🏻
KG6HQD Jerry Wow👌 Definitely have to try it. Too bad with my license I can't work 20m. Right now condx are shite on 10m. When I go portable I mainly operate 2m/70cm SSB. Your antenna is a good, lightweight antenna that I will test from my favourite portable spot. I also have a channel here on UA-cam where you can see it 😉
Hey Peter, I'll check out your antenna and despite conditions I'm still able to get across the US and I even hit New Zealand a couple weeks ago and Canada often. How long until you upgrade your license to work 20m?
I'm basically an electrician by trade, and I didn't know about this knot. Why? This is an interesting idea for an antenna. I may play with this design. You could do another electricians knot on the radio end to keep it from splitting, no? Does this need a tuner or is it set for a particular band(if you mentioned this and I missed it, I'm sorry). Good ingenuity here. I like it! Keep up the great videos!
It’s cut resonate for 20m. The measurements on the legs given in the video were my starting points then I trimmed. I discussed how much I trimmed and the effects of just wrapping excess along itself prior to trimming that caused higher impedance. Once it was down to length it’s a flat 1:1 on 20 at my desired freq but with the tuner in the KX2 it tunes up 40-10 no problem. Tony @k9arv_radio just made one and showed a 40m qso he had with excellent report despite band conditions. You are correct on a second electricians knot at Radio end to prevent spreading of the wires. Hope to see what you build and how it works for you too. Please video and tag so I can check it out.
In all truth I don’t like the one shown in this video. It was pitched as a winder for 550 paracord and has a narrow center causing issues. I’d look at SOTA beams website for ideas or just cut up a piece of stuff plastic or thin plexiglass type material then file the edges and customize it.
Hello Jerry - been watching all your videos....studying for my tech license and preparing to do some sota up in norcal. Would you be so kind to share your speaker wire build ? Thanks ! Will
Hey Will that’s great that your getting your license and already wanting to build your own antenna. I did a video which is on my channel on how to make the speaker wire antenna. Search my channel for “How to Build the HQD Speaker Wire Antenna” and it’ll come up. I am going to redo that video soon and find tune some measurements as I didn’t know how popular this antenna was going to be when I made the first one. If you’re on Twitter I’d ask you to connect with me there as I respond there much faster. Either way, when you get your license and make your antenna I hope you find me here or on Twitter and tell me/us all about it.
This is a great service to the ham community. I followed the video very closely, but things moved pretty quick let when talking about the connection to the radio. Did you connect one side to a coax connector and the remaining wire to the radio ground? Exactly how did you connect it to the pl 259? I realize that you are ready to move onto other things, but I would like to build one. Thank you for your time. N4KBM.
Hi Tommy, sorry for the delay. I love this antenna and no matter what some of the naysayers say about it, it works very well and is super cheap and very easy to build. When I built this on I just used banana plug on the hot lead and plugged it into the back of the UHF connector and an alligator clamp to ground and pinned that to the chassis of my 817ND. Now that I use a KX2 with a BNC connector, I just use a BNC to binding post connector and use just bare wire into that connector. Works like a champ and again, it's a super easy and CHEAP antenna that works so good. If you watch most of my videos you'll see how well this antenna has been working for me despite all the hi. hi om's telling me how lossy it is...just have fun and play radio man.
Jerry, thanks for the great videos. I built your speaker wire antenna for 40m an intend on turning it into a linked dipole for 20/40 later. Early testing of the 40m in the back yard was encouraging, SWR reading are great with many contacts. I have two questions, have you tried it with 24 ga. wire and have you found the feed line length has any effect, plus or minus. I have it up around 18 ft inverted V, feed line run straight down then a horizontal run of 20 to radio. The legs are nearly 6' off the ground. Thanks for all you do. Tom in Lincoln NE KE0JVS
Hi Tom - I haven't made one with 24 ga wire but others have and no issue there. Feed line should be some multiple of 1/2 wavelength using the VF of the wire. The ARRL 22nd Edition of the Antenna book (page 19-2) shows a table with the 22 gauge radio shack wire used in the example for a baseline. The book also shows a comparison of the speaker wire against RG-174 and RG-58 where the speaker wire itself attenuation factor falls between the two listed coax at 100'. Clearly I only used a much shorter portion of the 100' and therefore the attenuation factor is minimal at best IMO compared to weight, reliability, and durability for portable/SOTA operations. Another important factor is to keep the legs an equal distance from the TX line and somewhere between 6-8' off the ground. You will need to play with it to find where the sweet spot is but I would suggest making it a simple setup that's easy to remember and deploy easily and works the numbers from there. Sounds like you are on the right path and hopefully the VF and TX line lengths drop into place for you. If not, it's speaker wire and cheap stuff to make mistakes and experiment with and learn how to use your analyzer assuming you have one. Have fun and hope to chat soon. 73
Is there a way to make a multi band version antenna in this way? One that could cover 10 to 80 meters using a tuner? Thanks for this idea, I love the simplicity of it.
There’s a few guys who have experimented with that concept by making it a linked version. I believe the TX portion of the antenna will play a role in that so I’d do some experimenting or build one for a lower band, say 40m then tune it. No ideal of course but all antennas are a compromise of some sort.
Great step-by-step video and I'll be constructing one soon. Have been watching yours and some K8MRD vids re the speaker wire antenna. I notice he has his wire connected somehow to a PL-259 and just screws right into the back of the FT-891 while you only put one wire in the antenna port and the other wire alligator clipped to a ground on the radio. Just trying to figure out why the difference? Thanks.
Hey there thanks for checking out the channel. This was the first evolution of my speaker wire antenna and now that I connect it to my KX2 I use a BNC to binding post connector. Fun, cheap antenna build so hope you enjoy it. 🤙🏻🍻
Also, would it mess things up to use a barrel connector and say an 18' piece of coax to get further away from the antenna? Thanks in advance, John L (KB9HRS)
I wouldn’t say it’s overkill but a lot thicker than necessary if you’re going for the light weight aspect. Best thing is to have fun making an antenna and using it imo
Very cool Gabe! Remember that 490/f will make it a tad long so you have wiggle room for knots, insulators and cutting it to precise tuning on desires freq. when you build one be sure to show us some video or photos and let us know how it worked for ya
Why not use the Electricians knot on both ebds, then you wouldn't have to be concerned with splitting the bananna plug & Gator clip apart? TY, Dave KN4NSE
ive been researching wire antennas and found one guy that claims if you separate the entire length of wire including the feedline portion the performance increases, not sure if that is truth or not...I built one of these but didnt try separating the entire length, works great for listening on my new kx2
Yes, the conversion with 490/freq puts it into inches so all my measurements are in inches and feet. Thanks for checking out video and if you build one let me know how it works for ya
The diagram in this vid shows an 18 foot feed line. Some of your other vids look to be a longer feed line. What do you consider the optimum length? 73, KK6UG
So mine is about 18’ as I went with what I thought got me off the ground with a little to spare and it works great! Some recent reading suggests the 24.5’ length for 20m and of course can double that for 40m... I have some more testing and building to do to play with these numbers but hope that helps.
I was wondering if you have tried using this antenna as a sloper? I suppose if that is done you would want to take care that the feedline wires are away from the downward sloping limb. Anyway I was wondering since it would be really easy to hang it from one end like you would do with an endfed antenna. Also a sloper (like a vertical buddipole) has better angle radiation than a vee, but at the loss of more directionality. I am going to try making one tomorrow. Cheers KI6UJH
Hey Doug I have not tried that or the L shape either but sounds fun! If you get to it before me let us know how it worked, especially any directivity patterns you notice. Thanks 👍🏻
I'm struggling with SWR and would be grateful for any advice on how to adjust. I have it supported by a mast in the center in an inverted vee configuration. Angle of left/ right is between 90-110 degrees. Collapsible mast; so, I've tried it at approx 18' high and also approx 22' high. Ends are 17.25' long and feedline is approx. 32.5' long (I suspect this is where the issue is). I've tried rolling up the ends of the legs to shorten them. I'm measuring with a NanoVNA (with an adapter for SMA to BNC). Using a BNC connector for the speaker wire. 22 AWG speaker wire. So far I've tried full length legs (17.25'). I've shortened to 16.5', 16.75', even all the way down to 12'. I keep getting SWR readings around 3:1 or higher. There are two lower readings (around 13.7Mhz and another lower reading at around 17.3 Mhz) and they are persistent. If I lengthen or shorten the legs, I can get those low dips to move just a bit, but not enough to affect the 20M band. I.e., I cannot get the lower SWR readings to move to where they'd be useful for me on 20M regardless of whether I lengthen or shorten the legs (rolling/ unrolling at the ends). So, I went to The Antenna Book to read up more on this antenna and transmission lines. I see the formula in section 23.1.2 for calculating the velocity of propagation. For 1/2 wavelength, 491.8/frequency x VF (velocity factor of the wire). In section 19.1.1 the book indicates that 22 AWG wire has a VF of .7 for a frequency of 13.67 (close enough for 14Mhz), so that's what I used. Based on this formula and the description of this antenna in Chapter 19--where it indicates that the transmission line needs to be a factor of 1/2 the wavelength, I noticed that my "feedline" isn't the proper length at 32.5' long. So, I tried coiling up the end of the feedline at my antenna analyzer and that seemed to lower the overall SWR a bit, but still not below 2:1 anywhere on the scale, and not at 14-14.350 Mhz range where I need it. The only thing I haven't tried is lengthening my feedline, since that would require splicing in additional line or starting over with longer line overall. Any advice? I'm assuming I'm getting very different readings than you have, as you've used this in the field a lot.
Your SWR problem may be caused by coiling up the feedline part. In my understanding you cannot coil it up like you can with coax. Try cutting it instead. Let us know how you get on.
LONG! For a 1/4 wavelength the legs would be 30’ each for a total of 60’ dipole then you will want to get it up off the ground more as well so extend the feed line portion at least 30’ itself, for a 1/2 wavelength you need double that. That’s based on a center freq of 3.9 MHz ... lots of tools and calculators out there to help with these formulas to get you in ball park then you’ll need an analyzer to fine tune it into complete resonance ... 80m is such a long antenna and usually best during night so for SOTA it’s usually not practical. If setting something like this up at home with plenty of space then have fun doing so and on the cheap too 👍🏻
Not really on 130’ unless you’re opting for the 1/4 wavelength size because you will need to factor in the feed line length too. Are you looking to make the 1/4 wave length or 1/2?
+KG6HQD Jerry I've got a 120 foot speaker wire from above the house cutter on a TV antenna pole . going to the tree at the bottom of the garden then along the bottom of the garden. Have an amazing signal now on the 80m band.
Hi Noel, I’m sure there’s somebody much smarter than me to help answer that question but I’d guess 30-50 Watts. I honestly wasn’t too worried about power abilities because I only run QRP while portable and the design in my mind was for field use. I’d would say that if you ran 14ga speaker wire you should be able to get 100w out of it pretty easy. If you look at the rating of wire and base your design on your needs I think there’s some open possibilities. How much power were you looking to run?
I was thinking no more than 50W. I have 18awg wire which I think should be sufficient. I’ve been learning a lot about sota from your videos. Thanks for creating these videos, I can imagine how time consuming it can be. 73’s Noel W2MSA
aloha, i got a question. first I'm not a ham. i have a 1watt pixie qrp. i just listen in the late afternoons. guess in need to start to study CW. so I'm going to travel and want to set up a speaker antenna, now its tuned for 40m. i think you said yours is for 20m. but will work for 40M? just wondering if i can cut mine down. thanks, aloha docmott
Hi Doc - I believe it will trap more RF at 40 as it’s the transmitting side that matters more as the length can cause power to get back into the radio and damage it if wrong (bad swr & z). But, if you want to cut it down for portability reasons that’d make sense. Without personally testing that idea under similar conditions I couldn’t promise you anything but I do rx plenty of 40m stations on Summits with mine that’s cut for 20m if that helps. It’s experiments like these that make ham radio fun. Aloha back and which island?
Nope, just tie the electricians knot and run it. I run the speaker wire to a BNC to binding post connector and it’s ready to roll. You can also check out Mike’s video K8MRD Radio Stuff when he made his antenna from my video and he shows it on his meter. Same as when it’s on my meter 50 ohms and 1:1 to 1.3 across 20m band. It’s light, cheap, and works very well. You can see and hear the results on many of my SOTA videos. Love this antenna for sure and want to share with others who may benefit from its design. Thanks for checking out my video and channel John and for the comment. Hope to connect with ya on Twitter too if you’re there. 73
Looking to make this for my qth with ft450. What do suggest for max power? Also, in regards to the feedline running 90° out...how far does it have to run before it can be turned 90 again? Not being very articulate, the legs run parallel to my property so I need to hook the feedline to get it to my porch.
I’m sure there is a formula for confirming max power on whatever gauge wire you choose to run. I’d “guess” 50 Watts max with 22 gauge based on 14 gauge often having 100 Watts near it. This question has come up a coupe times and I ought to look into it and make an update for inquiring minds. TBH, I knew it wasn’t an issue for my QRP SOTA operations so I didn’t really consider that too much but I’m getting the impression that people are considering using this antenna for a base station which would make sense due to the stealth approach. As for the length of the feed line, I think the important part is the initial 90 degree from center to the ground then once on the ground under the mast you most likely can run it anyway you want to some degree. What I would do is get a length of wire and run it how you want where you want and look at it on an analyzer to see what it’s doing then trim and adjust accordingly. I do have plans to make a 40m version with some updates soon so watch for that video. Am I correct you are thinking about using this setup as a base antenna?
Well, I started with the MFJ-269C and ended up selling it. I now have the YouKits and love it but it does not do VHF/UHF. I figured that was ok with me since I don't build too many antennas in that band. Check out this link www.vibroplex.com/contents/en-us/d58.html
I made this antenna and love it but the feed line portion has become twisted like a candy cane stripe, lol.....is that a bad thing or will it still work?
Still works, though I do try to keep it straight. I wind it around my elbow and the palm of my hand like an electrical cord then kind of twist it into a figure 8 vs winding it on a winder but ymmv. Glad it’s working for you.
All of the qso’s in my last several videos were done with this very antenna. I was trying to keep the overall time down a bit so I didn’t bore the users. Having said that, check out the videos and you’ll hear the diversity in range I’ve covered with this antenna shown in the video.
I have Amazon Prime so it was quick for me. A month is a bit long so did you email Amazon about it? Hopefully not a porch thief. Either way Amazon is really good about fixing issue like that in my experience.
I have Prime too...but it said it mine was shipping from China so I left it at that and didn't think too much about it until yesterday. There are a few weird things going on with this order. Time to Scooby Doo on this seller. (I used the one in your store, that's why I asked).
N. Shane Martin that’s good for me to know if they are being problematic I’ll drop them & find another. I’ve had things take quite a while from China as well but maybe shoot them an email and ask for some type of tracking number. If they blow you off let Amazon know. Did Amazon show it as Prime or eligible for 2 day shipping or were they upfront on it coming from China and give estimated date at least?
I clicked the link from your Amazon store on your website. Amazon showed it as Prime so I placed the order and when I got my confirmation it was from a different seller and coming from China. It took me a while to find out how to track a China Post tracking number and it now says August 3rd for delivery. I went back to your website and clicked on the fishpole. It takes me to Amazon, shows me a Prime eligible item and says I've already ordered it. I added it to my cart and it says it will be here by Friday. I'll let you know when I find out something new.
Got a reply that they were having shipping issues due to the regional typhoons. Still haven't received a reply regarding it showing as prime from one seller and actually shipping from another seller without prime.
Some people get fine results without a balun. Also hes using the wire as a transmission line. He uses an antenna analyzer to measure SWR and then modifies it so it is resonant without a tuner.
I really would like to build a Santana! But, I am totally blind, and the way you showed us. The pictures really doesn’t help me at assuming that everybody is cited and you can see your pictures. Could you make me do a better job next time I’m describing it the speaker wire antenna. I would appreciate that. Don’t assume that we can see your your videos please!
Yes You can make a antenna feed out of speaker wire ! But ! The fact is that it is a poor feeder ! The loss is huge ! It might be something you might have to do in a emergency ! Or just to do a experiment ! If you could separate the wires even 1/4 inch ! You could go from really poor to really good ! The impedance would likely be better than 300 ohms at just a quarter inch spacing ! Considering the conductors are about 24 gauge ! It is a fact a poor feeder will work on HF ! Why settle for something that will just work , When you could have something that would work much better ??? I have long wondered why qrp ops especially just plain seem to love poor antennas ! They run wires at qrp that they could not run at higher levels and are perfectly happy doing so ! Then again there are many things I do not understand ! 73
Well Frank what I can tell you is it has been working great, in fact .1 watt from So Cal to Nebraska the other day and regularly 5 watts all across the US. You must feel really passionate about this or why else would you add so many ! ?? In your comment what I didn't see was what you run while working QRP portable in the field. Do you care to share with us your setup? Do you even work QRP portable? Your post implies you don't understand many things, maybe this is one of them? I'm all ears on what it is you offer the thread. KD5ALD de KG6HQD
These things are just something I do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! these !!!!!!!!!!!! I am a cricketeer of the Four State Qrp Club ! The rig is a cricket it makes about 1/2 watt out on 80 meters ! Most all I work is 40 or 80 mts lately ! The cricket is powered by a 9 volt battery ! I do operate qrp exclusively ! I think I do understand ! Yes you can make contacts all over the world running just a few milliwatts ! Even through a poor feedline ! If you read the article in the antenna book it says everything I say ! It can be used :) Just has very poor efficiency ! I will share my setup :) My main rig that I run is a Bayou Jumper it is a modern version of a pareset ! It is all on my QRZ ! Or the Four State QRP I have often thought of sandwiching speaker wire between layers of vinyl foam wetherseal ! the size is 3/8 x 3/16 that stuff is dirt cheap ! Anyway if speaker wire was spaced just a wee bit it would be really efficient ! To end it all :) I will say yes I have a bit of experience working at milliwatt levels ! And honestly you can tell no difference between 100 mW or 5 wts ! But I do believe you should strive towards efficiency ! Least I do ! I swear it say`s all I said in the antenna book ! agn 73
I did check out your QRZ info and I have no idea what that stuff is but if it works that’s all that really matters. For me, I like to have fun with ham radio and I know I’m not alone in not sweating the small stuff. The antenna idea I’m happy to share was to help others build maybe their first antenna, experiment, and do it for cheap so you can make mistake and side benefit is it works really good so it’s good enough for me. Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts as we all strive to do good things and ENCOURAGE one another to get out there and experiment while promoting the hobby. While it’s hard to fully grasp the tone via a text message, I’m going to assume you mean the best for the group despite a potential differing of opinion; besides, everybody has one of those. 73 OM and thanks for sharing. Still scratching my head on a cricket bayou antenna radio thing 🤔😉 but I digress. Hope you have a great Easter weekend.
Isn't that clip at the electrician's knot, and the top of your fiberglass pole, a fishing lure clip and swivel? I don't do the hard core hike to a location like you. For me, 200 feet from parked car is a considerable hike. The legs don't work so well these days and not only walking but carrying too much weight is not conducive to my well being. That said, my light weight antennas of choice are mono band fashioned from electric dog fence boundary and perimeter wire. Its light weight. Its solid core so one has to be careful not to kink it when erecting and taking down, and of course winding it. Those wire wrapping thingamabob's, I call them kite string winders, are great. A little bit expensive but buy one and several thin cutting boards from your local Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or whatever thrift store. Bring them home. Using the purchased kite winder, trace on the cutting boards, and with a jig saw or Dremel tool, cut out your kite winders for winding wire antennas. Labeling each winder with a permanent black magic marker pen to identify the band antenna wound on the form. I like your zip tie with holes drilled idea, but its too much extra work for me. Although your method is lower in cost I can buy multiple double clip caribiners from my local big box store, e.g. Home Depot or Lowe's. These are light weight and can be used for lightweight attaching. I would never use these for any load bearing application. This antenna is half the weight of Zip cord or speaker wire dipoles. For now my heaviest items are my battery and FT-817ND. I have 3D printed iambic paddle key now for outdoor use. No longer have to carry my favorite key, Kent Key, out into the elements (humidity is bad for my key). I have antennas cut for 40m CW, 20m CW, and 15m CW. If I have the urge to work phone I can use an manual ATU to tune to the phone portion of the band. I have no where near the height advantage that you have for a low above ground antenna. In Ohio, I might find locally a 100 to 150 foot rise. I carry a collapsible fiberglass pole that extends from a folded 5 foot to an extended 19 feet. My wire of choice is purchased from Amazon at less than a "Jackson" for a 500 foot reel of 20 gauge wire.
OKAY MR. NOT AN EXPERT. WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? THAT ANTENNA BOOK IS BIGGER THAN THE PHILADELPHIA PHONE DIRECTORY 😲🤔😢. How about women and men that are educated but not electrically inclined. I think 🤔 that you lost me at 45 up and down. Right left . Honestly for a minute I forgot what the hell I came to this site for. 🙏
This antenna is a fun & cheap build that I have been having excellent success with while QRP Portable doing SOTA. As a disclaimer, you should always check your antenna builds with an antenna analyzer to ensure your application is within the radio’s acceptable limits. As with any DIY projects, I can’t be responsible for any errors in your calculations or variances so please build this antenna at your own risk and CHECK IT WITH AN ANALYZER BEFORE CONNECTING IT TO YOUR RADIO AND USING IT. I think you’ll find great joy in the antenna making process so have fun.
When building the antenna do you not need a balun or unun because the antenna/speaker wire transmission line is matched at 50oms?
@@OnTerraFirma I do not use a balun with mine, and it tunes and analyzes very well.
RIP KING!!!! Watching Josh HRCC. Thank You.
My condolences to Jerry's family, RIP
I'm pointing everyone to this when they ask about QRP or SOTA. Great lightweight solution. Love that matching. Very impressive.
Thanks Josh! Looking forward to that collab with you.
I passed the exam last week. I'd purchased a IC-705 a few weeks ahead of the exam but didn't have an antenna. I've just built a speaker wire antenna based on this video. I've cut it roughly for 17m but I haven't yet put it on my NanoVNA. Many thanks, Jerry! 73, KN6NPZ San Jose, CA
Some people complicate the crap out of antenna design. Well done to you for keeping it simple and cheap! 👍
Thanks! Appreciate the feedback. I like the KISS rule .... Keep It Simple Stupid 🤣
Whole heartedly agree, I'm a new tech working on my general and i'm not mathematically minded nor am i an engineer and finding someone that simplifies antennas is damn near impossible. This video was a great help for me since i want to get into QRP, POTA and RaDAR, it'll really reduce my weight since 80% is from my Icom 718. Thank you for such a great helpful video, you are a fantastic man for making ham so simple, most guys act like ham is a big secret.
Thanks Michael and agreed, let’s simplify this as much as possible to help more people get involved. Let me know how it works for you and if you have any questions don’t be shy, ask away. I’m much faster on Twitter if we are connected there too btw.
@@W8MJL Two other guys on UA-cam that also have good and simple antenna videos are "Stan Gibilisco" and "VK3YE". Searching for either will get you their channels. Stan gets into the math behind his designs, but he's very good at explaining it in an understandable way. VK3YE (Peter) does mostly portable stuff and demonstrates his builds out in the real world. Both good resources.
Man I just made and tuned one of these antennas out of 18ga speaker wire and a tenkara fishing rod. I used it with a ft-891 on 20 meter ssb at 100w and was able to work Spain from the central US, and he gave me a 5/9, AMAZING. Thank you for the awesome build and motivation. For my first radio and first antenna build I couldn’t be happier.
Just built this antenna and mounted the fishing pole on the step/mirror of my freightliner. One leg is on the frame of the rear of the truck insulated with a zip tie and the other i have a string wrapped around a small concrete block. IT WORKS AWESOME!!! I have it connected to the antenna port of my fc50 tuner. First contact was South Florida from my qth in Princeton WV. I could hear Argentina like they were parked next to me. I love it!! Forget to mention it tuned on 6m-160m!!!
Late to this thread, I want to applaud Jerry’s method of his teaching. Easy to follow, explains as he goes, and an overall very informative and entertaining video. Thanks, Jerry.
Randy, N5ilq
Jerry,
I just finished building and tuning my speaker wire antenna. following your ideas it was a breeze . Made my first contacts in Texas and Alabama. Now i have to figure out how to direct it.
Thanks,
73 George KB3WAQ
Wow, that electrician's knot is so useful! I've used it to stop the ends on my CW key cable from splitting!
Right 👍🏻
Have ran one for many years and been a part of my go-kit and due to its light weight and portability it has worked very well for me on many of my canoe trips and excursions where weight is crucial. Nice video and I have become a part of your UA-cam channel.Cheers Fred
Thanks Fred and it's an awesome little design that definitely allows portability for those of us who prefer ultra-lightweight setups. Thanks for the sub too! Much appreciated. 👍
Great channel! I came from the joint video that all you guys did on amradio 2.0. I will be back and thanks. Never realized that we do not have to use coax!.
Hey Rich thanks for checking out the channel. Lots of things to learn and do with ham radio for sure 👍🏻. Coax is a great item but for qrp and field work there are many other options
Dude.... Thank you! Building this today! I'm still studying for my general, but I will be ready.
Awesome! Let us know how it worked for you.
Thanks for sharing 👍 Happy DX 👋
I made this antenna out of speaker wire. Measures I believe were 17.16 for each dipole, then 18' for the transmission line. Same wire done as per the video , except I used a piece of heat shrink instead of the electricians knot.
Well, on 20 and 40 meters, I got frequencies on 1.04 SWR, which is great. Was able to make it form Central New York to London, Canada. Got a Xiegu G90 with just 20 W max. Used a banana plug for the center of the SO-239 then the other leg to the ground screw on the radio.
This antenna is in stalled on a 14' height attic, but the highest peak at about 6' high, then the two legs spread left and right from the center on about 6 to 7' high. As it is, great for testing, and even one weak contact, but conditions were not that good either. The internal ATU helps a lot, once the built in analyzer finds the good frequencies, I auto tune on them, if within the range of frequencies on my license level.
Great video, and the one you made with another operator in Florida on the same antenna.
So cool to hear how people find this useful and simple to make. There will always be haters but that’s expected. Thanks for sharing how it worked for you & congrats on the Dx
@@KG6HQDJerrySOTA Some people may look for the PH levels on the moisture content of the land installed if outdoor and the capacitance of the crepusculus square thermal radiation of the wiki thingy, but to me it works. I will then use the same model outdoors, set properly and with some tweak as per my environment. will do great. Thanks a lot. 73
🤣couldn’t have said it better 🍻 cheer to you
I use a grey plastic wall plug and run a short piece of blind cord through the centre of the plug this plug fits nicely in the top section of my 8m fishing pole never had it come out in 150 plus SOTA activations.
Hey William - thanks for commenting. Trying to envision the wall plug; is it one of the things used to plug an electrical socket so a toddler doesn’t get zapped? This gave me an idea but is probably not at all what you are referring to so I’m wondering exactly what you use? Can you describe it a little more since UA-cam prevents photos in the comments. Thanks 👍🏻
Just passed my Technician license exam and waiting on my call sign and I need to make a 2 meter antenna for my Yaesu FT-4VR mono band 2 meter radio I got for passing the exam by the local Ham club. I'm already to take the General license exam as I've been studying for the next level. I love to make things so I will try this antenna build for 2 meter 'cause I'm on a very limited income but I've got a couple rolls of speaker zip cord. My antenna would be a vertical dipole.
Aloha, right now I don't transmit. Sometimes I pickup quite a few stations, I need to study more CW so I can understand more. I'm on the island of Molokai. I'll be on the mainland soon, I go to Bonneville every year for Speed Week. I have a few vids up on UA-cam of our rides across Nevada to the salt flats. Thanks, Doc
Fun stuff on the salt flats, and Molokai? Wow, I haven't met too many folks from there for obvious reasons but that's pretty cool man. Is there a reason you are focused on CW? Not that it's bad, but why not SSB, FM, DMR or DSTAR too? Do they have a VHF or UHF machine nearby with any of these? Be cool if you had your license and we could chat through DMR or DSTAR or whatever. I always enjoy when I get a KH station while out doing SOTA :)
For anyone following the tutorial: The page number given in the 22nd Edition of The Antenna Book is not valid for the 21st Edition. For the 21st Edition, it's page 15-3. Both chapters 14 and 15 have info about these types of antennas.
Nice build idea and good tips. I saw another UA-cam ham using this antenna and he mentioned getting the idea from your video. Had to come check it out.
73s - KC3MOP
Nice! There are haters, well just one person really but even he admits it’s a working antenna that is super cheap to MAKE that ice made contacts with literally worldwide and easily across the US and into Canada.
I think a series of videos like these would be very helpful for those learning. Especially those that are thinking about doing SOTA operations. I will have to make such antennas like these as I am being re located to the Netherlands and everything is so expensive and taxed and hard to get there. So things like this are a big help. 73’s abs thanks for your email reply a few weeks ago Jerry... KM6ODD
Hey Rafael good to hear from you again. I have quite a few video ideas on what I’m doing & how I’m doing it to help the group. If there’s ideas you’d like to see let me know & I’ll do my best to accommodate you, or completely make something up. Just kidding, I’ll get or find solutions to help out for sure so I can learn too. Netherlands huh? How long will you be there?
KG6HQD Jerry Hey Jerry I think it’s great that you are planning on doing more of these videos as you demeanor and voice work very well for video and being a teacher or person sharing knowledge. Also you style of simple straight forward no fuss or muss explanation of things is perfect for showing the antenna building. Tossing in the antenna building and deployment and use with the live results really will add to your channel and popularity on the tube. The fishing swivel and zip ties are great ideas for SOTA deployments and awesome ideas. As for the Netherlands sometimes those details of the mission plan are withheld for a while so I will keep you updated. Very happy to see you got to meet Tony in Florida. Tony is a very nice guy I think and fun radio operator so that was a win win. Keep up the great work and I will be mentioning you to my newest general ticket licensed scout in my troop KM6MCV Riley. Look him up 15 years old and earned his general after 2 months of being introduced to ham radio. He is outstanding scout and boy. If you happen to give him a shout out by his call sign and say Riley he love it. Thanks Jerry KM6ODD 73’s
Excellent video and thorough explanation, thanks! I'll have to try one of these; it's a nice, light setup. I don't tend to consider weight as much as I should for SOTA work.
Awesome! I try to look at everything within reason when heading out to activate for SOTA. Where I'm from we have some pretty steep hills to contend with and my back and knees appreciate my forward thinking :) Let us know how the antenna works for you.
Thanks, will do! Where I live (VT) the mountains are tamer, but there are still plenty of rock walls, cliffs, and steep terrain. And I've noticed I'm not getting any younger. ;-)
No kidding. My knees appreciated when I added trekking poles to my kit and losing a few lbs around the mid-section lol
I screenshot the knot and the schematic of the length and made me a cheat sheet to just do it, thanks Jerry 73
Awesome! Let me know how it works out for you. Plenty of people having great success and besides, it’s super CHEAP 👍🏻
@@KG6HQDJerrySOTA i will do, and im retaking the tech exam and will be taking the general exam the following next month
Jerry became a sk this year rip jerry kg6mn
Sorry to hear that, how sad.
very nice and detailed video :) I have a similar antenna, made of speaker cable but the feeding line is a coax cable (RG 58), not as lightweight for portable use like yours, but very good for semi-permanent setup at home. Also 7 meters fishing rod to keep it up in the air, works like a charm!
Crazy how simple and effective they can be! Why did you opt to run co-ax to it vs just use run of speaker wire for whole thing? Just curious
KG6HQD Jerry with the coax is basically a standard dipole so I don’t have to use a tuner and the impedance matches perfectly. Either way the performance should be equal
Try 22 feet per leg - same size as the Norcal Doublet - works really well on 20 and 40. Great video - thanks . 73 De M6JVI.
Thanks for the tip, maybe I'll try that on the next build for fun. This was intended to be 1:1 on 20m since I used it with my 817ND sans a tuner and it is completely flat. Now that I have the KX2 with ATU I just tried seeing where it would tune up and it works great on 40-10m. Tony @K9ARV_Radio just put out a video yesterday using this design and was making contacts into Belgium and across the US on 20 despite band conditions so I'm stoked people are giving it a try. Best part of ham radio is trying new stuff and seeing what happens. Thanks for the comment and checking out my channel.
RIP Jerry.
I made one for 20 meters and all I can say is if you really want to be impressed go with this. I have mine setup for 20m with 1.5swr and I run it into an antenna tuner and well let's just say it will tune up on not only 20, but 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10. I also got to playing with it and it will take about 100 watts full power with no problems and still has a constant swr. This is an awesome antenna idea and I'm glad I found it. Of your on a budget then this is it because 100ft roll of speaker wire cost me about $14 at your local Wally world. 73 de WD4OTR
Totally agree! It’s cheap, it’s light weight, portable, and WORKS! Thanks for sharing your experience with it.
Awesome video beautiful scenery
Thanks!
Very well done!!! Very simple and professional explanation..... !!
73's. KB1ICK
Hi Jerry!
Is there any reason that I cant just solder a PL259 with an rg58 adapter to the end of the fixed-line portion?
thanks Jerry this video help my alot thanks very much 73
Great! I enjoy hearing how so many people are building this antenna and learning the process allowing them to get on the air for super cheap.
Nice work, I have the equipment to try this out. Gonna try it out tomorrow :) Thanks for sharing
Perfect! Let us know how it goes! Band conditions haven't been great but it hasn't stopped me from making contacts all across the US. Tony @K9ARV_Radio made one as well and got some DX into Belgium. Cheap, easy to make, light weight, and best of all it works really well.
Wanted to check on ya and see how the antenna build went? Any feedback for us?
KG6HQD Jerry negative. Put this on the back burner for this week, got some other projects to finish but will update as soon as I get it done. This seems pretty straight forward, can't wait to try it
Totally understand that and look forward to hearing what happens when you get to it.
Hey Jerry, I have a 14 AWG speaker cable, I was thinking to make a linked dipole, do you know how much TX can handle this cable? I hve my FT891 and I know it can provide 100W, I would like to know if this cable can handle this power or is better use only 50w. thanks in advance! TI2GBB - Greg Costa Rica
Can you send an Amazon link on that wire winder I can not seem to find one that size all I’m seeing is tiny kite string winders Great job and I love the antenna
Just make one...................Why buy
Cool video thank you
Glad you enjoyed it 👍🏻
I used copper clad, aluminum core speaker wire that I got from Lowes when I put together an antenna with zip cord. Thanks for the tip about the banana plug, I do have a question, where you show the antenna hooked up to your radio, one side goes to the middle of the SO-239 connector, but the other side is hooked to the radio's frame. I didn't realize that the outer side of the SO-239 was electrically connected to the frame. How many contacts were you able to make? DE NR1CH
Great antenna! Thanks for the info.! ;)
No problem Al, hope to see how it works for you if you build one. Drop a link here if you do so we can see your results.
Really nice antenna. Gonna try this one for 10 and 15m.
Vy 73 de DO1PGR
Hey Peter... last weekend I made a 20m & 15m qso to New Zealand to two different stations and this is cut resonate for 20m so it works really well IMO. There’s people all over the world making it with great DX & local success so let me know how it works for you. Super simple and effective for what it is. I also recommend using an analyzer to verify SWR & resistance just to be safe but these calculations will get you in the lower part of the band by just a tad. Best of luck 👍🏻
KG6HQD Jerry Wow👌 Definitely have to try it. Too bad with my license I can't work 20m. Right now condx are shite on 10m. When I go portable I mainly operate 2m/70cm SSB. Your antenna is a good, lightweight antenna that I will test from my favourite portable spot. I also have a channel here on UA-cam where you can see it 😉
Hey Peter, I'll check out your antenna and despite conditions I'm still able to get across the US and I even hit New Zealand a couple weeks ago and Canada often. How long until you upgrade your license to work 20m?
great video
I'm basically an electrician by trade, and I didn't know about this knot. Why? This is an interesting idea for an antenna. I may play with this design. You could do another electricians knot on the radio end to keep it from splitting, no? Does this need a tuner or is it set for a particular band(if you mentioned this and I missed it, I'm sorry). Good ingenuity here. I like it! Keep up the great videos!
It’s cut resonate for 20m. The measurements on the legs given in the video were my starting points then I trimmed. I discussed how much I trimmed and the effects of just wrapping excess along itself prior to trimming that caused higher impedance. Once it was down to length it’s a flat 1:1 on 20 at my desired freq but with the tuner in the KX2 it tunes up 40-10 no problem. Tony @k9arv_radio just made one and showed a 40m qso he had with excellent report despite band conditions.
You are correct on a second electricians knot at Radio end to prevent spreading of the wires. Hope to see what you build and how it works for you too. Please video and tag so I can check it out.
Take a speed square with you...it could come in handy.
Can you post a link to the wire winder I have searched and can not find the thing on amazon. Keep up the great videos
In all truth I don’t like the one shown in this video. It was pitched as a winder for 550 paracord and has a narrow center causing issues. I’d look at SOTA beams website for ideas or just cut up a piece of stuff plastic or thin plexiglass type material then file the edges and customize it.
Hello Jerry - been watching all your videos....studying for my tech license and preparing to do some sota up in norcal. Would you be so kind to share your speaker wire build ? Thanks ! Will
Hey Will that’s great that your getting your license and already wanting to build your own antenna. I did a video which is on my channel on how to make the speaker wire antenna. Search my channel for “How to Build the HQD Speaker Wire Antenna” and it’ll come up. I am going to redo that video soon and find tune some measurements as I didn’t know how popular this antenna was going to be when I made the first one. If you’re on Twitter I’d ask you to connect with me there as I respond there much faster. Either way, when you get your license and make your antenna I hope you find me here or on Twitter and tell me/us all about it.
Informative
This is a great service to the ham community. I followed the video very closely, but things moved pretty quick let when talking about the connection to the radio. Did you connect one side to a coax connector and the remaining wire to the radio ground? Exactly how did you connect it to the pl 259? I realize that you are ready to move onto other things, but I would like to build one. Thank you for your time. N4KBM.
Hi Tommy, sorry for the delay. I love this antenna and no matter what some of the naysayers say about it, it works very well and is super cheap and very easy to build. When I built this on I just used banana plug on the hot lead and plugged it into the back of the UHF connector and an alligator clamp to ground and pinned that to the chassis of my 817ND. Now that I use a KX2 with a BNC connector, I just use a BNC to binding post connector and use just bare wire into that connector. Works like a champ and again, it's a super easy and CHEAP antenna that works so good. If you watch most of my videos you'll see how well this antenna has been working for me despite all the hi. hi om's telling me how lossy it is...just have fun and play radio man.
KG6HQD Jerry You are the man!
Have fun and let us know how well it worked for you.
Jerry, thanks for the great videos. I built your speaker wire antenna for 40m an intend on turning it into a linked dipole for 20/40 later. Early testing of the 40m in the back yard was encouraging, SWR reading are great with many contacts. I have two questions, have you tried it with 24 ga. wire and have you found the feed line length has any effect, plus or minus. I have it up around 18 ft inverted V, feed line run straight down then a horizontal run of 20 to radio. The legs are nearly 6' off the ground. Thanks for all you do. Tom in Lincoln NE KE0JVS
Hi Tom - I haven't made one with 24 ga wire but others have and no issue there. Feed line should be some multiple of 1/2 wavelength using the VF of the wire. The ARRL 22nd Edition of the Antenna book (page 19-2) shows a table with the 22 gauge radio shack wire used in the example for a baseline. The book also shows a comparison of the speaker wire against RG-174 and RG-58 where the speaker wire itself attenuation factor falls between the two listed coax at 100'. Clearly I only used a much shorter portion of the 100' and therefore the attenuation factor is minimal at best IMO compared to weight, reliability, and durability for portable/SOTA operations. Another important factor is to keep the legs an equal distance from the TX line and somewhere between 6-8' off the ground. You will need to play with it to find where the sweet spot is but I would suggest making it a simple setup that's easy to remember and deploy easily and works the numbers from there.
Sounds like you are on the right path and hopefully the VF and TX line lengths drop into place for you. If not, it's speaker wire and cheap stuff to make mistakes and experiment with and learn how to use your analyzer assuming you have one.
Have fun and hope to chat soon. 73
Is there a way to make a multi band version antenna in this way? One that could cover 10 to 80 meters using a tuner? Thanks for this idea, I love the simplicity of it.
There’s a few guys who have experimented with that concept by making it a linked version. I believe the TX portion of the antenna will play a role in that so I’d do some experimenting or build one for a lower band, say 40m then tune it. No ideal of course but all antennas are a compromise of some sort.
Great step-by-step video and I'll be constructing one soon. Have been watching yours and some K8MRD vids re the speaker wire antenna. I notice he has his wire connected somehow to a PL-259 and just screws right into the back of the FT-891 while you only put one wire in the antenna port and the other wire alligator clipped to a ground on the radio. Just trying to figure out why the difference? Thanks.
Hey there thanks for checking out the channel. This was the first evolution of my speaker wire antenna and now that I connect it to my KX2 I use a BNC to binding post connector. Fun, cheap antenna build so hope you enjoy it. 🤙🏻🍻
@@KG6HQDJerrySOTA Thx
I like your Hat !
Thanks!
Connect to a 1 to 1 Balun made to mach it to You 50 Ohms Cable the Twin Lead You Using is around 72 to 60 Ohms,
Also, would it mess things up to use a barrel connector and say an 18' piece of coax to get further away from the antenna?
Thanks in advance,
John L (KB9HRS)
Thanks for the video! Is 18 guage too thick you think? or, just over-kill? Will it weigh down that pole too much and make it bend over?
I wouldn’t say it’s overkill but a lot thicker than necessary if you’re going for the light weight aspect. Best thing is to have fun making an antenna and using it imo
Great video Jerry! Thanks de K0EAP
Thank you!
Thanks for the good detail.
You're welcome John. I've enjoyed your videos as well
Thank you Jerry.
Nice work.
73
Eric / N6HEG
You're welcome. Hope you build one and we make another contact. Have you been out at all lately?
Nice 👍! I will be building one. Thanks!,,
N1UFO/Gabe
73
Very cool Gabe! Remember that 490/f will make it a tad long so you have wiggle room for knots, insulators and cutting it to precise tuning on desires freq. when you build one be sure to show us some video or photos and let us know how it worked for ya
Why not use the Electricians knot on both ebds, then you wouldn't have to be concerned with splitting the bananna plug & Gator clip apart? TY, Dave KN4NSE
Haven’t had the need to do that but I suppose you could try it. I now just use a BNC go binding post connector for my KX2
ive been researching wire antennas and found one guy that claims if you separate the entire length of wire including the feedline portion the performance increases, not sure if that is truth or not...I built one of these but didnt try separating the entire length, works great for listening on my new kx2
So for the dipole setup or for a vertical? Can you add the link or cite the video title so I can check it out
Nice work
W6KLE
Thank OM... going to make one for SSTV next lol ... it’s a joke 😉
KG6HQD Jerry
Lol. copy
would a bnc type binding post work better at the transmitter? vs the plug and alligator clip
Excellent antenna, very light and efficient ... good idea.
The measurements are expressed in inch ??
Thanks Jerry and have fun.
Giuseppe iz0gzw qrp.
Yes, the conversion with 490/freq puts it into inches so all my measurements are in inches and feet. Thanks for checking out video and if you build one let me know how it works for ya
The diagram in this vid shows an 18 foot feed line. Some of your other vids look to be a longer feed line. What do you consider the optimum length? 73, KK6UG
Ooops, KK6CUG
So mine is about 18’ as I went with what I thought got me off the ground with a little to spare and it works great! Some recent reading suggests the 24.5’ length for 20m and of course can double that for 40m... I have some more testing and building to do to play with these numbers but hope that helps.
It doesn't matter because it's non radiating........................................
@@BennyCFD That has not been my experience.
I was wondering if you have tried using this antenna as a sloper? I suppose if that is done you would want to take care that the feedline wires are away from the downward sloping limb. Anyway I was wondering since it would be really easy to hang it from one end like you would do with an endfed antenna. Also a sloper (like a vertical buddipole) has better angle radiation than a vee, but at the loss of more directionality. I am going to try making one tomorrow. Cheers KI6UJH
Hey Doug I have not tried that or the L shape either but sounds fun! If you get to it before me let us know how it worked, especially any directivity patterns you notice. Thanks 👍🏻
I'm struggling with SWR and would be grateful for any advice on how to adjust.
I have it supported by a mast in the center in an inverted vee configuration.
Angle of left/ right is between 90-110 degrees.
Collapsible mast; so, I've tried it at approx 18' high and also approx 22' high.
Ends are 17.25' long and feedline is approx. 32.5' long (I suspect this is where the issue is).
I've tried rolling up the ends of the legs to shorten them. I'm measuring with a NanoVNA (with an adapter for SMA to BNC). Using a BNC connector for the speaker wire. 22 AWG speaker wire. So far I've tried full length legs (17.25'). I've shortened to 16.5', 16.75', even all the way down to 12'.
I keep getting SWR readings around 3:1 or higher. There are two lower readings (around 13.7Mhz and another lower reading at around 17.3 Mhz) and they are persistent. If I lengthen or shorten the legs, I can get those low dips to move just a bit, but not enough to affect the 20M band. I.e., I cannot get the lower SWR readings to move to where they'd be useful for me on 20M regardless of whether I lengthen or shorten the legs (rolling/ unrolling at the ends).
So, I went to The Antenna Book to read up more on this antenna and transmission lines. I see the formula in section 23.1.2 for calculating the velocity of propagation. For 1/2 wavelength, 491.8/frequency x VF (velocity factor of the wire). In section 19.1.1 the book indicates that 22 AWG wire has a VF of .7 for a frequency of 13.67 (close enough for 14Mhz), so that's what I used.
Based on this formula and the description of this antenna in Chapter 19--where it indicates that the transmission line needs to be a factor of 1/2 the wavelength, I noticed that my "feedline" isn't the proper length at 32.5' long.
So, I tried coiling up the end of the feedline at my antenna analyzer and that seemed to lower the overall SWR a bit, but still not below 2:1 anywhere on the scale, and not at 14-14.350 Mhz range where I need it. The only thing I haven't tried is lengthening my feedline, since that would require splicing in additional line or starting over with longer line overall.
Any advice? I'm assuming I'm getting very different readings than you have, as you've used this in the field a lot.
Your SWR problem may be caused by coiling up the feedline part. In my understanding you cannot coil it up like you can with coax. Try cutting it instead. Let us know how you get on.
What is the impedance of speaker wire. Not that it maters. Just curious.
Can u check for SWR with a coax with adapter SWR meter??
hi
Great video.
how long dose the wire need to be for 80m.
Tia
LONG! For a 1/4 wavelength the legs would be 30’ each for a total of 60’ dipole then you will want to get it up off the ground more as well so extend the feed line portion at least 30’ itself, for a 1/2 wavelength you need double that. That’s based on a center freq of 3.9 MHz ... lots of tools and calculators out there to help with these formulas to get you in ball park then you’ll need an analyzer to fine tune it into complete resonance ... 80m is such a long antenna and usually best during night so for SOTA it’s usually not practical. If setting something like this up at home with plenty of space then have fun doing so and on the cheap too 👍🏻
+KG6HQD Jerry Thank you.130 foot be long enough then. I'm all new to it as you can probably tell 😀
Not really on 130’ unless you’re opting for the 1/4 wavelength size because you will need to factor in the feed line length too. Are you looking to make the 1/4 wave length or 1/2?
+KG6HQD Jerry I've got a 120 foot speaker wire from above the house cutter on a TV antenna pole . going to the tree at the bottom of the garden then along the bottom of the garden. Have an amazing signal now on the 80m band.
+KG6HQD Jerry 130 foot in meant
Great Video Jerry. whats the max amount of power do you think it would handle?
Noel-W2MSA
Hi Noel, I’m sure there’s somebody much smarter than me to help answer that question but I’d guess 30-50 Watts. I honestly wasn’t too worried about power abilities because I only run QRP while portable and the design in my mind was for field use. I’d would say that if you ran 14ga speaker wire you should be able to get 100w out of it pretty easy. If you look at the rating of wire and base your design on your needs I think there’s some open possibilities. How much power were you looking to run?
I was thinking no more than 50W.
I have 18awg wire which I think should be sufficient.
I’ve been learning a lot about sota from your videos.
Thanks for creating these videos, I can imagine how time consuming it can be.
73’s
Noel
W2MSA
I would guess 50w would prob be good and glad the videos are helping give you some ideas 👍🏻
Where is the Balun? can i use a fishing line instead if i put a Balun on it?
de W6KLE
No balun necessary OM 🤣
aloha, i got a question. first I'm not a ham. i have a 1watt pixie qrp. i just listen in the late afternoons. guess in need to start to study CW. so I'm going to travel and want to set up a speaker antenna, now its tuned for 40m. i think you said yours is for 20m. but will work for 40M? just wondering if i can cut mine down. thanks, aloha docmott
Hi Doc - I believe it will trap more RF at 40 as it’s the transmitting side that matters more as the length can cause power to get back into the radio and damage it if wrong (bad swr & z). But, if you want to cut it down for portability reasons that’d make sense. Without personally testing that idea under similar conditions I couldn’t promise you anything but I do rx plenty of 40m stations on Summits with mine that’s cut for 20m if that helps. It’s experiments like these that make ham radio fun. Aloha back and which island?
Have you tried the Speaker Wire Antenna with an AM Radio ? tjl
I have not tried it, but imagine it would probably work the same.
I made several of these but use a Balun. Do you use a balun?
Nope, just tie the electricians knot and run it. I run the speaker wire to a BNC to binding post connector and it’s ready to roll. You can also check out Mike’s video K8MRD Radio Stuff when he made his antenna from my video and he shows it on his meter. Same as when it’s on my meter 50 ohms and 1:1 to 1.3 across 20m band. It’s light, cheap, and works very well. You can see and hear the results on many of my SOTA videos. Love this antenna for sure and want to share with others who may benefit from its design. Thanks for checking out my video and channel John and for the comment. Hope to connect with ya on Twitter too if you’re there. 73
What kinda SWR do ya get out of that antenna?
Looking to make this for my qth with ft450. What do suggest for max power? Also, in regards to the feedline running 90° out...how far does it have to run before it can be turned 90 again? Not being very articulate, the legs run parallel to my property so I need to hook the feedline to get it to my porch.
I’m sure there is a formula for confirming max power on whatever gauge wire you choose to run. I’d “guess” 50 Watts max with 22 gauge based on 14 gauge often having 100 Watts near it. This question has come up a coupe times and I ought to look into it and make an update for inquiring minds. TBH, I knew it wasn’t an issue for my QRP SOTA operations so I didn’t really consider that too much but I’m getting the impression that people are considering using this antenna for a base station which would make sense due to the stealth approach.
As for the length of the feed line, I think the important part is the initial 90 degree from center to the ground then once on the ground under the mast you most likely can run it anyway you want to some degree. What I would do is get a length of wire and run it how you want where you want and look at it on an analyzer to see what it’s doing then trim and adjust accordingly. I do have plans to make a 40m version with some updates soon so watch for that video.
Am I correct you are thinking about using this setup as a base antenna?
Jerry what is a good budget antenna analyzer?
Well, I started with the MFJ-269C and ended up selling it. I now have the YouKits and love it but it does not do VHF/UHF. I figured that was ok with me since I don't build too many antennas in that band. Check out this link www.vibroplex.com/contents/en-us/d58.html
I made this antenna and love it but the feed line portion has become twisted like a candy cane stripe, lol.....is that a bad thing or will it still work?
Still works, though I do try to keep it straight. I wind it around my elbow and the palm of my hand like an electrical cord then kind of twist it into a figure 8 vs winding it on a winder but ymmv. Glad it’s working for you.
@@KG6HQDJerrySOTA thank you for the quick reply. 73.
No problem Greg, keep us posted on how it works for you. Love hearing how people make it work and the contacts they make.
Did you see the deer in the background?
No qso?
All of the qso’s in my last several videos were done with this very antenna. I was trying to keep the overall time down a bit so I didn’t bore the users. Having said that, check out the videos and you’ll hear the diversity in range I’ve covered with this antenna shown in the video.
Hello there! Great Video and antenna. It is Monobander? It's for 20m? Tha ks de kk4nww
Hi Eduardo, I cut it for 20m but it tunes up from 40-10m on my KX2 really well. Thanks for checking out the video and channel. 👍
How long did it take for the fishpole to come in? I'm right at a month and I'm starting to get concerned.
I have Amazon Prime so it was quick for me. A month is a bit long so did you email Amazon about it? Hopefully not a porch thief. Either way Amazon is really good about fixing issue like that in my experience.
I have Prime too...but it said it mine was shipping from China so I left it at that and didn't think too much about it until yesterday. There are a few weird things going on with this order. Time to Scooby Doo on this seller. (I used the one in your store, that's why I asked).
N. Shane Martin that’s good for me to know if they are being problematic I’ll drop them & find another. I’ve had things take quite a while from China as well but maybe shoot them an email and ask for some type of tracking number. If they blow you off let Amazon know. Did Amazon show it as Prime or eligible for 2 day shipping or were they upfront on it coming from China and give estimated date at least?
I clicked the link from your Amazon store on your website. Amazon showed it as Prime so I placed the order and when I got my confirmation it was from a different seller and coming from China. It took me a while to find out how to track a China Post tracking number and it now says August 3rd for delivery.
I went back to your website and clicked on the fishpole. It takes me to Amazon, shows me a Prime eligible item and says I've already ordered it. I added it to my cart and it says it will be here by Friday.
I'll let you know when I find out something new.
Got a reply that they were having shipping issues due to the regional typhoons. Still haven't received a reply regarding it showing as prime from one seller and actually shipping from another seller without prime.
no balun? no coax?
could somebody explain this to me?
do you need a antenna tuner?
Some people get fine results without a balun. Also hes using the wire as a transmission line. He uses an antenna analyzer to measure SWR and then modifies it so it is resonant without a tuner.
I really would like to build a Santana! But, I am totally blind, and the way you showed us. The pictures really doesn’t help me at assuming that everybody is cited and you can see your pictures. Could you make me do a better job next time I’m describing it the speaker wire antenna. I would appreciate that. Don’t assume that we can see your your videos please!
34.32
Yes You can make a antenna feed out of speaker wire !
But !
The fact is that it is a poor feeder !
The loss is huge !
It might be something you might have to do in a emergency !
Or just to do a experiment !
If you could separate the wires even 1/4 inch !
You could go from really poor to really good !
The impedance would likely be better than 300 ohms at just a quarter inch spacing !
Considering the conductors are about 24 gauge !
It is a fact a poor feeder will work on HF !
Why settle for something that will just work , When you could have something that would work much better ???
I have long wondered why qrp ops especially just plain seem to love poor antennas !
They run wires at qrp that they could not run at higher levels and are perfectly happy doing so !
Then again there are many things I do not understand !
73
Well Frank what I can tell you is it has been working great, in fact .1 watt from So Cal to Nebraska the other day and regularly 5 watts all across the US. You must feel really passionate about this or why else would you add so many ! ?? In your comment what I didn't see was what you run while working QRP portable in the field. Do you care to share with us your setup? Do you even work QRP portable? Your post implies you don't understand many things, maybe this is one of them? I'm all ears on what it is you offer the thread. KD5ALD de KG6HQD
These things are just something I do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! these !!!!!!!!!!!!
I am a cricketeer of the Four State Qrp Club !
The rig is a cricket it makes about 1/2 watt out on 80 meters !
Most all I work is 40 or 80 mts lately !
The cricket is powered by a 9 volt battery !
I do operate qrp exclusively !
I think I do understand !
Yes you can make contacts all over the world running just a few milliwatts !
Even through a poor feedline !
If you read the article in the antenna book it says everything I say !
It can be used :) Just has very poor efficiency !
I will share my setup :)
My main rig that I run is a Bayou Jumper it is a modern version of a pareset !
It is all on my QRZ ! Or the Four State QRP
I have often thought of sandwiching speaker wire between layers of vinyl foam wetherseal !
the size is 3/8 x 3/16 that stuff is dirt cheap !
Anyway if speaker wire was spaced just a wee bit it would be really efficient !
To end it all :)
I will say yes I have a bit of experience working at milliwatt levels !
And honestly you can tell no difference between 100 mW or 5 wts !
But I do believe you should strive towards efficiency !
Least I do !
I swear it say`s all I said in the antenna book !
agn 73
I did check out your QRZ info and I have no idea what that stuff is but if it works that’s all that really matters. For me, I like to have fun with ham radio and I know I’m not alone in not sweating the small stuff. The antenna idea I’m happy to share was to help others build maybe their first antenna, experiment, and do it for cheap so you can make mistake and side benefit is it works really good so it’s good enough for me. Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts as we all strive to do good things and ENCOURAGE one another to get out there and experiment while promoting the hobby. While it’s hard to fully grasp the tone via a text message, I’m going to assume you mean the best for the group despite a potential differing of opinion; besides, everybody has one of those. 73 OM and thanks for sharing. Still scratching my head on a cricket bayou antenna radio thing 🤔😉 but I digress. Hope you have a great Easter weekend.
Isn't that clip at the electrician's knot, and the top of your fiberglass pole, a fishing lure clip and swivel? I don't do the hard core hike to a location like you. For me, 200 feet from parked car is a considerable hike. The legs don't work so well these days and not only walking but carrying too much weight is not conducive to my well being. That said, my light weight antennas of choice are mono band fashioned from electric dog fence boundary and perimeter wire. Its light weight. Its solid core so one has to be careful not to kink it when erecting and taking down, and of course winding it. Those wire wrapping thingamabob's, I call them kite string winders, are great. A little bit expensive but buy one and several thin cutting boards from your local Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or whatever thrift store. Bring them home. Using the purchased kite winder, trace on the cutting boards, and with a jig saw or Dremel tool, cut out your kite winders for winding wire antennas. Labeling each winder with a permanent black magic marker pen to identify the band antenna wound on the form. I like your zip tie with holes drilled idea, but its too much extra work for me. Although your method is lower in cost I can buy multiple double clip caribiners from my local big box store, e.g. Home Depot or Lowe's. These are light weight and can be used for lightweight attaching. I would never use these for any load bearing application. This antenna is half the weight of Zip cord or speaker wire dipoles. For now my heaviest items are my battery and FT-817ND. I have 3D printed iambic paddle key now for outdoor use. No longer have to carry my favorite key, Kent Key, out into the elements (humidity is bad for my key). I have antennas cut for 40m CW, 20m CW, and 15m CW. If I have the urge to work phone I can use an manual ATU to tune to the phone portion of the band. I have no where near the height advantage that you have for a low above ground antenna. In Ohio, I might find locally a 100 to 150 foot rise. I carry a collapsible fiberglass pole that extends from a folded 5 foot to an extended 19 feet. My wire of choice is purchased from Amazon at less than a "Jackson" for a 500 foot reel of 20 gauge wire.
Hey Terry thanks for the info & ideas. Hope to get my CW back soon & work you one of these days on our QRP stations.
Hi Terry. Do you happen to have a link to the Amazon reel of wire that you mentioned in your comment? Thanks in advance.
:)))
73s
OKAY MR. NOT AN EXPERT. WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? THAT ANTENNA BOOK IS BIGGER THAN THE PHILADELPHIA PHONE DIRECTORY 😲🤔😢. How about women and men that are educated but not electrically inclined. I think 🤔 that you lost me at 45 up and down. Right left . Honestly for a minute I forgot what the hell I came to this site for. 🙏
You didn't show us how it worked.................................
My whole channel does show how it works.
73 N5CDK