MFJ-2012 POWER-LITE OCFD, 40/20/10/6M 1.5KW Ham Radio Antenna
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- Опубліковано 29 лип 2024
- Swapping out my old fan dipole and installing the new antenna at home. Also a look at the SWR on the analyzer and the IC-7300.
www.mfjenterprises.com/Product...
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Love that Liquid Tape. Have red and black. Been using the same bottles for over 10 years. Keep adding lacquer thinner to it and invert the bottles every so often to mix it up. Works great for antennas and any other electrical connections that need protection.
Hi Mike, Another great video! I've had this antenna for a little over a year now and I love it. I use it mostly on 40 and 20 meters. With my RigExpert at 7.150 the swr is 1.34:1 (minimum swr is at 7.048 at 1.28:1) . At 14.175 the swr is 1.12:1 (minimum swr is at 14.081 at 1.03:1). No adjustments were necessary. I guess I just got lucky!. I have it up in the trees about 40ft. Also use the 7300 with this antenna and in just over a year have 94 countries worked with 89 confirmed. The next 11 are going to be tough!
Thanks for the video. Aside from zip ties in a Michigan winter (as already pointed out below) don’t forget if you trim the OCFD it’s proportional not equal on the ends. Cheers, F4WCM
I've had the lower power MFJ-2010 version of this antenna up for over three years, set up as a sloper with the feed point on the peak of my house (28 feet). Possibly the best 70 bucks I've ever spent on an antenna. How I envy you guys with trees on your property! Thanks for the review, Mike, both the 2010 and 2012 are great multiband antennas.
I'm really surprised at how well this antenna has been working for me through this Michigan winter. I have had absolutely zero issues with SWR in rain, sleet, or snow. I was worried about how well the feed point would perform, hence the liquid tape, but it hasn't skipped a beat. I actually loaded it up with my tuner a couple weeks ago during the 160M AM contest and made a couple contacts with it!! I was absolutely amazed. Thanks for the comment, 73.
Just studying for my technician, great vid and we’re not that far apart. I’m in NW Ohio.
I have the MFJ-2012. when closer to the ground you need to shorten it a bit. buy on a off set center you trim the longer end 2/3 and the short end 1/3 . I used RTV blue silicone to seal it. worked great. I am in Boston NY our winters our routh hear. the only trouble I had was the copper corroded after 2 years. had to replace. still have it. ran a sloper in a park. short end with clothesline to park bench which was wood. outher long end up to fiberglass pole into a tree. tune was close. IC 7300 tuner tuned it . every time I set it up in a different place the tune changed a tad but the IC 7300 tuned it just fine. has like a 5 or 6 to 1 matching transformers then a 1:1 . I still have it and going to use DX commander DX 50 green wire. when I first put it up had 1:1 match on CB 11 meters. had to shorten. I ran 1Kw into it. SWR stays down. this is my best performing dipole antenna. they still have it. I have the MFJ end fed dipole one. 40 meters 800 watt . hard to tune . changes more place to place. had to add counterpoise sometimes. had RF getting into mic. no longer have that problem. went to RG 400 coax and a t 240-43 at radio. I am stuck with Ht for now. waiting for new wire. DX commander Shipps pretty fast . getting DX 10 wire as well. placing order soon,I hope. girlfriend comes first. but I have been good. LOL 73's
Kick ass video! That is a great antenna. Considering the bands it covers and the price it is hard to pass up! Keep up the great work.
Thank you! It is only about $35 more than the fan dipole I made. Plus, it was nice to just put up an antenna and not have to mess with it.
This is the first upload of yours I've watched. It's excellent.
Oh wow, thanks John! Welcome to the channel. I hope you find my other content helpful as well. 73
@@hamradiotube You're welcome. Subbed.
looking forward to seeing how it holds up for you....looks like a decent antenna for the price.
We'll find out in the spring. I'm sure the wire won't be all shiny and pretty anymore thats for sure.
Mike I really like your videos....good technical content, I also love the portable aspect of what you do. I enjoy your videos a lot.
I appreciate that!
Somebody is a Ronnie the Limo Driver fan :P Nice straight forward video, Thanks ! I'm using 2 of these now and they work GREAT ! I did use the suggested liquid tape as well. '73' W1BBW
Looks like a good antenna. I look forward to see how well it operates.
Me too. Not much activity on the bands these last few weeks which is a bummer.
@@hamradiotube I have noticed that. I keep checking for POTA stations.
I mean I use plastic wrap with my speaker wire dipole and it survived Upstate NY's winter (real Upstate NY, not like 5 counties from NYC lol).
I was only wondering yesterday that I hadn't seen a video from Mike lately and there you are. Nice looking antenna. I was given an OCFD balun some time ago and made the wires up but it's not yet been in the air. I'm working on a 6 band cobweb at the minute for the QTH. Just got to adjust the 6m wires and it will be ready for mast building. BTW I passed my full license 4 weeks ago and managed to get a short G callsign allocated so I'm now G1AW. I'm still contesting as my old call 2E0UAW until the year is out though. POTA is growing steadily over here now we had a press release in the RSGB (our ARRL) monthly magazine and that's sparked a lot of interest all over England. Good to see you again buddy 73.
Well a 6 band cobweb makes my fan dipole I didn't feel like messing with seem like a piece of cake! Congrats on your full license, thats awesome. Good to hear POTA is taking off in England. Hopefully I'll start to see some stations spotted soon, though I never seem to hear England. I think I have 1 contact in your country.
@@hamradiotube Yeah the sky waves aren't being kind right now. I've got into the East coasts of North America and Canada with FT-8, but FT-8 bores me. Hopefully the cobweb will be higher than the horizontal loop I have up right now (essentially a cloud warmer), is not good and I live in a hollow which means I get poor reception anyway.
@@AndyWragg thats gotta be tough being in a hole. Especially when the bands have been as poor as they have been these last few weeks.
@@hamradiotube that's why I do so much portable radio.
Hi Mike,
Great video. Would like to see the video when you get to operate with the antenna. Just bought some telescoping aluminum tubing from DXE to put up a 1/4 wave 40m vertical. 73 WB3BJU
Yeah I could do a video calling cq from home. It's just honestly not as fun as when I'm in a park. Good luck on the vertical. New antennas are always exciting!
For $90 and considering that it's obviously going outside why wouldn't they seal it?
With a touch of fine tuning you will have that antenna working perfect. 73 de John G0WXU
Yeah I'm a little spoiled with my fan dipole. I had that thing tuned in perfect. No big deal though. Just takes a little time. It's also not up quite high enough so I bet that has a little to do with it.
Great video. And, I get the 'treaks reference...
Oh great! I was hoping someone would.
You did not check the OCF on 2 meters. My OCF40, made by Hy Power Antenna Co. works on 2 meters as well as 6, 10, 20 and 40 meters.
Barry, KU3X
The wind gust prediction number keeps climbing. 60mph. Hope our 2012’s survive.
Mike, great video as always, as for me I live in a condo so no antennas outside. I am using a 33foot dipole in the attic with my 891 and seems to do good for what it is. K8MGB
Thanks Mike. Any antenna is better than no antenna. I think if I were in that type of situation I would still try to hide something outside. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission I always say;). Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching. 73
K8MRD RADIO STUFF Mike, I can’t hide any style because my xyl is on the board lol so I use what I got and have made many a contacts with it.
@@mikek8mgb Oh man that's strikes 2 and 3 right there!
LoL on the zip ties all you need is 1 bad ice storm...but sometime we got to use what we have. But good video as always love to see what your able to pick up and chat too.
Well I think we have a couple months at least before I find that out. Not hard to replace so no big deal if it does. I just wanted to get it up quick.
@@hamradiotube just giving you a hard time...lol but i know how bad the storms are last here we had 3 ice storms in 3 weeks. it was back to back to back
Thanks for all you do Mike! You've been a huge inspiration. 73! KD9NBF
Thanks Scott, that means a lot. 73
@@hamradiotube ..and props for rockin The Goonies shirt!
@@bennettsjb Got to keep it old school man!
Studying for my General, I have a Yaesu FT-991A and i'm looking at this antenna, it would serve my needs. I'm just concerned about the space needed for my backyard. I do have two trees to span across :)
Good luck on your general. The antenna is prob 55-60' long. It pretty much goes from back to front of my yard.
Did you ground this before bringing it in your shack or run it straight in. I'm wanting to put up an end fed but I'm finding so many mixed reviews on how best to ground it. Some people say it needs to be grounded to the house utility before entering the shack. Yet others claim that doing so creates a potential and should not be ground before connecting to the radio. Curious what your thoughts are on this.
I don't have anything grounded in my shack so I'm prob not the best person to answer this question. I would say follow whatever the manufacture suggests. I can't see grounding as ever being a bad thing however.
Wow nice T shirt Mike..😁
One of the greats!
Just a big shame that MFJ don't go to the trouble of properly sealing the Balun. I don't know why they would sell a product with that much care lacking in the production. Still a nice vid and thanks for posting 73.
Yeah I hear ya on that. It's so easy to put a bead of silicone or epoxy or something around it too. Oh well. It only took a few minutes so not a deal breaker. Just something to know.
How does it tune on WARC bands?
73s
Hey Now, Ronnie 69 would be proud. Good video 73s from VE2 BRN
Hey glad somebody got that! Sixty Niiiinnnee!!!
What are you going to use to take the strain of the coax weight off of the PL259 connector at the center of your dipole?
Nothing at all. It just hangs there.
I see the dipole is up horizontal. that gives you 160 degrees of communications. what do you do for 90 degrees off the sides ? erect a second dipole ? wouldn't it be better to put up the dipole vertcaly for 360 degrees of radiation ?
You could I suppose. A dipole radiates in a figure 8 pattern off the sides with the ends being pretty weak. Setting up in an inverted V makes it a bit more omnidirectional and would be an easy way to do that. The ends of my antenna are facing North and South, giving me very broad east/west coverage (which is what I want). I don't hear quite as well in the southern countries but I still work South America all the time so its not like it doesn't work. The best solution would be to have 2 antennas so you can really cover all directions but then there is also the space that would take up. A vertical dipole would also get to be quite a bit of a challenge when you start getting into the lower frequencies like 40, 80, 160 meters as they start to get really long. An 80 meter dipole is about 126 feet long and would require quite a tower!
The better solution is simply a ground mounted 1/4 wave vertical (like the DX Commander antenna). That literally is a vertical dipole, where the radiating element is the center, and your counterpoise is the shield. The more counterpoise wires laid out, the better your antenna is going to perform. I could talk antennas for hours but hopefully this answers your question.
Store the bottle of liquid tape (and rubber cement) upside down. It'll make it last MUCH longer! I was a sceptic, but it works! Make sure the cap is tight first! Lol
Just turned it over. Thanks for the tip. My last bottle hardened up on me so I had to buy another.
don’t the brush bristles harden up when it’s upside down?
Nope. They stay nice and pliable. I know... it doesn't make sense.
@@gilbreathca actually it does : upside down the liquid tape does not allow the compound to dry nor does it allow the brush to harden (it's not drying either).
Awesome tip btw.
@@forgetyourlife I would doubt it. Theres so much solvent in there it could choke a horse. I suppose I'll find out though.
Will this antenna handle 11 meter? I did nt see it in the link.
Also is it better than the one you made?
Thanks!
Not sure about 11 meters. I don't own a CB. Its too early to tell if it's better than my home brew. I had that up for 2 years and I've only had this up for 3 days. I would imagine they are pretty similar. It's up the same height and about the same length of wire. just 1 different band is all. The bands haven't been that great lately either so its def too early to say.
Nicely done. How do you like the ic7300? Just about to add that to the mix. Replacing some dipoles in the back yard too. I have been taking my 891 and batt with a mpas2 ant out on trails and parks. Just registered with pota. Hope to get that down asap. Thanks for the inspiration. 73 de kc1fig
How do I like the ic7300? Well, don't ever touch one unless you plan to buy it, because you will. I absolutely love mine. Been taking it portable too. I got spoiled with that waterfall. If you have the means, just get it. You won't regret it.
@@hamradiotube thanks, it will be my first icom. It looks great. 73 man.
Has anyone try to load up on 30 meters with a built in antenna tuner of rig?
The analizer does'nt put the same power /current into the antenna as doing it with real rf from a radio it will only be a guide. I would snip it a bit to get it better where you want it on 40m be proportional cutting it as one end is longer than the other. But you would know that anyhow here's me preaching to the converted. good antenna.
That makes sense about the current. Didn't even think about that.
@@hamradiotube So, by "proportional cutting" referring to cutting the same off both ends or is it referring to say if you cut off 12" off the long end to only cut 6" off the short end?
You guys get easy winters down there. Up here in West Branch we get real winter. 🤣
You're like 2 hours north come on:) My brother has a place in West Branch. I love it up there.
K8MRD RADIO STUFF Nice place to live except the winters are long. 73 my friend.
interesting antenna. for the price ..... not too bad.
He’s a bowline guy!
How’d your antenna survive the winds last night?
It's still up.
If a dipole is low above the ground it lowers its resonance ; has to be raised.
And if thats not an option, it has to be shortened. I've build plenty of dipoles and got them resonant. I just have to tweak this one. Not worried.
73 QRO 👍. ..
I don't own ham radios, but he is funny 😅
You should get a ham radio. You're watching the video, you must have some interest, no?
Hi there,
Nice to have the big trees to tie off to.
Speaking of tie off's; zip-ties? Really?
They WILL break! The Sun will eat those alive and you will find it on the ground from the weight of the snow.
A better idea would be to use some of that small diameter good Dacron poly rope through the holes in the loops like the zip ties.
Possible to add 15m with a different split point - not that MFJ would know that.
So did you trim the antenna?
No I haven't had time yet. It's on my list of things to do though. I'll keep everyone posted though.
K8MRD RADIO STUFF ok thx. But you are using it and it’s working.
Ted Mac oh yeah. It’s not that out of wack it’s just not perfectly tuned.
K8MRD RADIO STUFF Ok thx. I’m gonna order one thru your link.
@@hamradiotube fyi i just picked up two bottles of the liquid elect tape for less than $10 at walmart
I will buy this antenna
Nice
@@hamradiotube haha I actually responding to the hypnosis meme
@@burungbaguette Ah yes. Had to rewatch the video. Forgot about that lol!
@@hamradiotube nice stuff you got there, mike.. your videos helps me a lot. I hope I saved enough to get my HF by Christmas.
Thanks for your effort, Mike.. Salute from YB Land. 73 DE YD1RRK
Sip...? Mr antena horizontal yes
i never use liquid electrical tape i use the blood of my enemies...
That would also be acceptable.
Nice, thanks.
Curt WA2JSG
welcome
Wrap it in a condom I’m dying.
Watch out for ultra violet degradation of the zip ties. JMHO
I just took it down a couple weeks ago because I moved and the zip ties were fine. Not sure what kind they are but they came from harbor freight. Worked just fine for me.
I am appalled at your foul language and wit. Just kidding. Great vid.
Thank you