I suspect that, for HF, the max inductance of the coil may not be enough to compensate for the extremely compromised length of the whip, thus much better results with wire up the pole. And the taps may be a bit wide to do better on best SWR. There are probably frequencies where the match could be pretty good, but not necessarily in the ham bands. Lots of the old manual tuners had roller inductors for a more continuous tune, though even they had a second variable capacitor at both ends of the inductor. The good but cheaper manual tuners have a tapped inductor and switch, but also had both capacitors, and the effect of the second capacitor was not parallel to that of the first, so you could still find a good match. (Matching is a two dimensional problem.) One capacitor and one inductor are theoretically enough, though the desire to avoid high Q, and thus high circulating current, leading to higher losses, makes the pi network design useful anyway. The other trick is to be able to connect the capacitor at either end of the inductor, a trick used by nearly all auto tuners today. (Somewhere in my basement I think that I have a Collins military aircraft radio auto tuner that has a roller inductor and a vacuum variable capacitor, each driven by a DC motor and gear train. I don't remember, off hand, whether or not it has a relay to switch which end of the coil gets the capacitor.) You maybe could add a switch, or a pair of banana jacks to let you choose where the capacitor connects on your unit.
Thank you for your well thought out reply. Everything in ham radio is a compromise - including this antenna. But... is it the compromise you can live with?
With those telescopic antennas, you can buy one of those short wave wire antennas that reel up, I usually have an alligator clip on the end, which you can clip to the end of your telescopic antenna to basically lengthen it.
Great video. Reminds me of the Miracle Whip antenna that was commonly used with FT-817/818 from Miracle Antenna. Wonderfully simple antenna tuner that, just like this one, needs to have a few radials. Without them, it would be a miracle that it works at all.
Hi Steve, bought this antenna from Aliexpress for 34 euro's. On 40 to 10 Meters I got this close to 1.1:1. This was not always whit the highest noise (switch). Worked Norway on 40M from my upstairs room with 5 watt on a Xiegu G106. Nice little antenna to play with. A wire from 7 meters and some ground worked much better. Would like to see it on a Antenna analyzer. Keep them coming those videos.
Do you think I could use this as a tuner for a 45ft doublet (GR5V style) antenna? Also, I've seen 5.28m telescopic whips and I'm wondering if that could be used instead of the supplied whip, in a portable situation? Any experienced opinions appreciated 🙏
true, bought and it works very well ros 1:1 from 10 to 40 meters but what I noticed is that when I get the ros almost to 0 the noise or station signal is lowered to make the Smeter go up I have to adjust the variable slightly but it goes up the ROS. Don't forget to put a counterweight wire about 5 meters. I would like to understand this problem. ROS good low signal, ROS slightly high towards 1.5 the station signal rises
Comprei uma antena dessa, não vale nada, ela é tipo uma antena fantasma com um resistor de 50R, zera a estacionaria mas não transmite para lugar nenhum sem cantar com a recepção que não recebe nada nem mesmo estações comerciais de alta potência, a recepção não recebe absolutamente nada , essa antena na recepção é surda, completamente surda.
Just received one from Banggood. 7.122 is a SWR of 1.03; 14.060 is SWR of 1.02; and 21.060 is 1.25. It will be great for SOTA or POTA. No radials and great power (all over 5W).
just received one - unable to receive anything! strangely enough, while the knobs have an effect on an swr plot in antenna analyzer, disconnected the antenna from this tuner and the same plots almost not changed! as if it acts as a dummy load
@@temporarilyofflinelooks pretty much the same as yours, only opposite wire colors. However i suspect either wrong ferrite type used, or the capacitor value is way off. i have experimented with a signal generator near the antenna, and while i'm able to tune it to receive, its somewhat worse than using the antenna directly without the tuning box. Reminding me why i told myself not to buy chinese ****.
Hi TO. Thanks for this. I was looking at those a while back. Maybe you could add a test of this with the x6100's internal scan & tune to your round 2-it queue.
@@temporarilyoffline I’ve been out with it once, it works better than any of the other similar concept antennas I’ve tired. I mounted it on mini tripod instead of directly to the radio. I used two 11 foot radials. I’ve made up a set of five 20 foot radials that I’ll try on my next outing.
hello, what is the optimal thread length to use in high bands? you've tried? I have one of these units and using it with a telescopic is practically impossible, where the swr is good there is no good rx.
I don't have an answer for that - it's interesting that you have good SWR and no RX. I didn't have great results with it either (as you saw in the video)... neat idea, but ultimately not a great performer.
I am using this antenna for listening to shortwave radio only because I don't have a license. SWR is not much of interest for me while listening but after reading this comment I took my antenna and went to a ham radio friend. We got the same problem with the telescopic whip. It was a littlebit better after we replaced the telescopic whip with 5 meter of wire. The antenna was connected to a Xiegu G90, the wire was hooked up from the table to the lamp at the ceiling then to the window, 2nd floor in a house made of stone. For ground we used the copper pipe from the heater at the wall. We got heared (FT8 PSK reporter) in almost all countries in europe on almost all bands. No reception for 10m and 15m. Anyway ... The "Manual" says: The knob above is the band switch of each frequency. The knob below is for fine adjustment of frequency and vibration point. The upper outer ring 11 and inner ring 50 represent the common position of 11 - 50MHz. 8 and FM represent 8MHz and FM bands can use this position. And so on. Then select the knob below to fine tune to find the best standing wave suggestion link talent to check the vibration point. Well, in fact the "Manual" was the Ebay page from the seller and this instructions don't work. At least for my antenna. We only got it tuned in position 4.5, 5 and 5.5 on all bands. So my guess is - and this is only a guess that I have to verify - that the toroid inside is mounted wrong. I don't have a clue if flipping the toroid around will help with this problem but it's worth a try. Greetings from Germany Holger
I would hope the maker has tested the antenna and found its limits. If you set it higher, it might be ok or it might cause some problems. Open it up and take a look, see if you feel comfortable making the repairs that might be needed and test away... That's what ham is all about. (Comfortable could mean just buying another one after "the cost of education" too)
Thanks for the video, I was thinking about trying one of these. Try elevating the counterpoise wire, I bet that will help. What is the length of the couterpoise, if it is a multiple of a wavelength, I may affect tuning, try 17ft. Thanks again!
Elevated radials (counterpoise) need to be resonant, radials on the ground should be many and can be cut to resonance or not. Either way, whatever gets the job done in the situation your in is the most important part.
For table top antennas on the higher bands (30m to 10m), I usually go for a STL "mag-loop". It takes more space on the table top but you don't need all the radials. Therefore, arguably the overall footprint is smaller than these mini-whips with lengths of wire attached. I suspect this device is more useful as an efficient QRP antenna match. Because it is connected directly to the antenna, there is no lossy feeder with a high VSWR between the match and the antenna.
I made it from a ring terminal, a piece of wire and an anderson power pole connector. From there I have a few sets of radials/counterpoise wires that I can choose from depending on what vertical I'm running. I also can swap this between other antenna mounts and radios. Its a pretty versatile setup.
I have the same device and I have still been unable to use it... I just am not able to understand how to make it work with the MCHF RS-918 QRP Transceiver! Any help would be really apprciated...
Does the mchf have a scope or an swr meter? Do you have an antenna analyzer? Check out this vid for an example of how to tune it up: ua-cam.com/video/KCsn5eGmC6Y/v-deo.html. (Different antenna, but same concepts)
My goto for GROUND radials is 4x10m radials - but the rule of thumb is 1/4wave on the lowest band of interest and then you'll be able to work your way up from there. For the radiator, I'd use the same logic as a "random wire" - or I'd go with something specifically tuned for the band of interest and get all higher bands by adjusting the matching network or the length of the radiator by folding back.
@@temporarilyoffline - thanks for your info and for your video. I played with my Gig Antenna today and I found the whip antenna does little but by adding the radial wire to the tuning control, I can begin to hear stations on all the regular bands - 40 and 20 meters. The tuning control is the good bit, whether connecting to a radial or to an antenna wire. Even though I hear stations, I've yet to make a QSO. I'm connected to one of those small USDX radios. I'm still experimenting.
You can also put out a steady tone for tuning by switching mode to RTTY and just keying the mic. Much easier than fumbling with switching CW to straight key.
99% of successful tunings on my antenna analyzer were with the inductor set between 6 and 9 o'clock. Tuner is also good with a small loop, Can't justify a quicky antenna like this with 9 miles of radials...Low efficiency but it works!
The fact that you couldn't get below 2:1 concerns me about getting this. I've seen a design that has a loading coil with banana plug taps that has interested me (I saw it at Ham radio outlet when I bought my ic705) but I've refrained from getting it because I know it will be less effective and I already spent way more money than I want. Plus my K6ARK EFHW is already extremely portable. (his balun plus 26 awg polystealth and his winder design make for something that fits in my pocket)
Looks similar to my wonderwand wide bander but I can get get very close to 1:1 and can also use it with long wire for even better results. I have their tuneable counterpoise too which makes things better but still portable. I use a 7m fishing pole with it. (Did a short vid of it). My 1st gen windcamp bracket was causing me all sorts of swr issues I don't use it anymore.
I removed my gen1 windcamp bracket because it didn't work well with the cage. I felt like this tuner was just a tad too narrow to get the job done. Not bad in a pinch, but not great.
Can you still get the wonderwand? Don't see many about. I did think they were really expensive for a new one for not much in them. I'm hoping to find one someday for my x6100 for portable and travelling. This Chinese make is a much better price but don't think it works very well even though they are plastered all over eBay from loads of sellers.
My LC tuner much like that tunes 51 foot radiator inverted L with 12 foot counterpoise. Seems to work nearly as good as a EFHW 49 T 1 cut for 40m. MT 1 made for HB-1B CW rigs. vk5cz ..
I did a simple demonstration in the video, but here is a more in depth demo (with a different tuner, but the method is the same): ua-cam.com/video/t5trpVWJvSQ/v-deo.html
There seem to be a lot of clones of this thing, of varying quality. I bought one myself and on investigating inside, found that the inductor was almost shorted out, and a very thin low quality nylon washer on the inside was causing the antenna screw to touch the case. Those issues I was able to fix but I feel like my version of the product is a copy made by some manufacturer that doesn't actually know anything about RF and are just replicating someone else's "magic box".
@TerrisLeonis you are 100% correct. This is a clone of the wander wand that came out way back with the Yaesu ft-817 was launched (if that one wasn't a clone of something even older.)
Very welcome. The antenna you have displayed appears to be better than the Gawant as the inductor has many taps compared to 2 taps the Gawant antenna has, well the Gawant antenna schematic I followed only had 2 taps yet it tunes and gets out from 160m to 6m even without any counterpoise, not tested higher frequencies yet. Thanks for sharing and showing us the internals, I would like one to compare with the Gawant I made ... just struggling to find a trustworthy eBay or Amazon seller inside the EU or UK, not China. any suggestions by anyone would be much appreciated
Hi Steve from Italy, thanks for this nice video. I've bought this antenna and I'm waiting to receive it. surely not a dx antenna but it looks well made and really small for random activities. 73 😉
Hello Italy! I've subscribed to your channel! This is a good enough antenna as you heard in the video... and its so small that it can be easily taken with you!
Super awesome experiment! What's the ideal counterpoise wire lengths per band? Is more better? Elevated or on the groud? Earth ground? Portable and permanent installation... I hope you make a whole video on just that! 😁 #hamradio 73
Sure thing! I like to break things... so I can fix them. That includes starting new businesses, or playing with computers... and if it has wheels, I can definitely get it stuck. Specifically I ran a data center business and sold it in 2006, at that time I lost my website, my email, etc, so I was temporarilyoffline@gmail.com and its stuck ever since. @@NickkoG
Interesting little "antenna". More like a manual tuner with a short whip, but still. On a side note, have you ever considered doing a "From worst to best" antenna review? I'm sure you have bought some units that were complete dogs and others that are simply wonderful. I think it would be a great video if you could rank them from worst to best.
I've done it before with 2m antenna solutions. Its very subjective - both in opinion and in location. Right now, I'm on a quest for the best compromise... haven't found it yet.
Hmm? Best compromise I can think of is a small short wave radio. No TX of course but they are so much more sensitive on a small whip. You can hear everything but never get involved. That’s a win win
It IS just a manual L tuner plus short whip. Nothing wrong with that design concept,, was used decades ago.. Cap across coax, coil in series with antenna to electrically lengthen it. I would expect best results from a tuned radial than a random one or many random. Very interesting product!
@@markanderson8066 it's a very interesting product with lots of utility! I'd like a bit broader tuning range, but I could definitely make use of it as is.
Of course but I have made several contacts with my recently purchased DL1DN whip, holding it in your hand for human counterpoise works best lol but I'm impressed for what it is, I even made contacts with the 20m coil, you do have to adjust the length of the whip for best SWR. Making any contacts at all on such a tiny system is a lot of fun. I even made contacts with the same antenna on the Albrecht 2990, as it's plastic I had to tip my finger off the antenna ground to act as a counterpoise. Is it a compromise ? sure, my portable EFHW works better but I can't carry it around as easy or walk from place to place so for this kind of operation the whip is a compromise I'm willing to take, and it works. The EFHW also needs reasonable height and that's not always achievable. I've tried the MFJ-939C loop tuner and the little MFJ-9232 which work really well and no counterpoise needed but as you can imagine not as convenient as walking around with a whip.
Thanks! QC is always a problem - I find that most of the people building these things don't know what they are -they are just following the instructions.
Why? What's this thing about using small aerials? Put up something better. There is plenty of space to put up a long wire and use a tuner. As a ham friend said to me you can tune a knitting needle with a good atu but it won't be efficient. G4GHB.
@@temporarilyoffline It shouldn't cost more than 30 US dollard no more... In Europe il selled 80 euros... As emergency antenna it can be good but swr too hight IMHO.
After seeing this post, I decided to buy one for shortwave reception.
Thank you for the detailed explanation.I'm from Japan.
Glad it helped!
I suspect that, for HF, the max inductance of the coil may not be enough to compensate for the extremely compromised length of the whip, thus much better results with wire up the pole. And the taps may be a bit wide to do better on best SWR. There are probably frequencies where the match could be pretty good, but not necessarily in the ham bands. Lots of the old manual tuners had roller inductors for a more continuous tune, though even they had a second variable capacitor at both ends of the inductor. The good but cheaper manual tuners have a tapped inductor and switch, but also had both capacitors, and the effect of the second capacitor was not parallel to that of the first, so you could still find a good match. (Matching is a two dimensional problem.) One capacitor and one inductor are theoretically enough, though the desire to avoid high Q, and thus high circulating current, leading to higher losses, makes the pi network design useful anyway. The other trick is to be able to connect the capacitor at either end of the inductor, a trick used by nearly all auto tuners today. (Somewhere in my basement I think that I have a Collins military aircraft radio auto tuner that has a roller inductor and a vacuum variable capacitor, each driven by a DC motor and gear train. I don't remember, off hand, whether or not it has a relay to switch which end of the coil gets the capacitor.)
You maybe could add a switch, or a pair of banana jacks to let you choose where the capacitor connects on your unit.
Thank you for your well thought out reply. Everything in ham radio is a compromise - including this antenna. But... is it the compromise you can live with?
With those telescopic antennas, you can buy one of those short wave wire antennas that reel up, I usually have an alligator clip on the end, which you can clip to the end of your telescopic antenna to basically lengthen it.
Great Idea!
That is tiny. I kept hearing John Candy ordering Orange Whips (Blues Brothers)! Thanks TO!
I don't know why we're not having an Orange Whip right now!
Great video. Reminds me of the Miracle Whip antenna that was commonly used with FT-817/818 from Miracle Antenna. Wonderfully simple antenna tuner that, just like this one, needs to have a few radials. Without them, it would be a miracle that it works at all.
Right! This is a miracle clone
Hi Steve, bought this antenna from Aliexpress for 34 euro's. On 40 to 10 Meters I got this close to 1.1:1. This was not always whit the highest noise (switch). Worked Norway on 40M from my upstairs room with 5 watt on a Xiegu G106. Nice little antenna to play with. A wire from 7 meters and some ground worked much better. Would like to see it on a Antenna analyzer. Keep them coming those videos.
It didn't have the range for my earth, maybe yours is better? Fun to play with!
Do you think I could use this as a tuner for a 45ft doublet (GR5V style) antenna?
Also, I've seen 5.28m telescopic whips and I'm wondering if that could be used instead of the supplied whip, in a portable situation?
Any experienced opinions appreciated 🙏
@redeyegooner the only think I can say is try it!
true, bought and it works very well ros 1:1 from 10 to 40 meters but what I noticed is that when I get the ros almost to 0 the noise or station signal is lowered to make the Smeter go up I have to adjust the variable slightly but it goes up the ROS.
Don't forget to put a counterweight wire about 5 meters.
I would like to understand this problem. ROS good low signal, ROS slightly high towards 1.5 the station signal rises
Comprei uma antena dessa, não vale nada, ela é tipo uma antena fantasma com um resistor de 50R, zera a estacionaria mas não transmite para lugar nenhum sem cantar com a recepção que não recebe nada nem mesmo estações comerciais de alta potência, a recepção não recebe absolutamente nada , essa antena na recepção é surda, completamente surda.
Fun video. I was curious about these antennas. Thanks Steve.
Any time!
I have one on order mainly just to listen when I am in the house. I mainly operate potable so no antenna access from in the house
Sweet!
Just received one from Banggood. 7.122 is a SWR of 1.03; 14.060 is SWR of 1.02; and 21.060 is 1.25. It will be great for SOTA or POTA. No radials and great power (all over 5W).
Perfect! Glad you like it!
just received one - unable to receive anything! strangely enough, while the knobs have an effect on an swr plot in antenna analyzer, disconnected the antenna from this tuner and the same plots almost not changed! as if it acts as a dummy load
Open it up and see what's going on!
@@temporarilyofflinelooks pretty much the same as yours, only opposite wire colors. However i suspect either wrong ferrite type used, or the capacitor value is way off. i have experimented with a signal generator near the antenna, and while i'm able to tune it to receive, its somewhat worse than using the antenna directly without the tuning box. Reminding me why i told myself not to buy chinese ****.
@@EvgeniX.My results weren't perfect either, but it was fun to play with.
Hi TO. Thanks for this. I was looking at those a while back. Maybe you could add a test of this with the x6100's internal scan & tune to your round 2-it queue.
That's a great idea Jeff! I don't have the antenna anymore - This wasn't "the one"
I just ordered one. I didn't see any with a BNC so I got one with a PL259. I'll looking forward to trying it out.
It seems like a good deal, especially if you add a lot of radials.
@@temporarilyoffline I’ve been out with it once, it works better than any of the other similar concept antennas I’ve tired. I mounted it on mini tripod instead of directly to the radio. I used two 11 foot radials. I’ve made up a set of five 20 foot radials that I’ll try on my next outing.
@@N2YTA Sounds good!
hello, what is the optimal thread length to use in high bands? you've tried? I have one of these units and using it with a telescopic is practically impossible, where the swr is good there is no good rx.
I don't have an answer for that - it's interesting that you have good SWR and no RX. I didn't have great results with it either (as you saw in the video)... neat idea, but ultimately not a great performer.
I am using this antenna for listening to shortwave radio only because I don't have a license. SWR is not much of interest for me while listening but after reading this comment I took my antenna and went to a ham radio friend. We got the same problem with the telescopic whip. It was a littlebit better after we replaced the telescopic whip with 5 meter of wire. The antenna was connected to a Xiegu G90, the wire was hooked up from the table to the lamp at the ceiling then to the window, 2nd floor in a house made of stone. For ground we used the copper pipe from the heater at the wall. We got heared (FT8 PSK reporter) in almost all countries in europe on almost all bands. No reception for 10m and 15m.
Anyway ... The "Manual" says:
The knob above is the band switch of each frequency. The knob below is for fine adjustment of frequency and vibration point. The upper outer ring 11 and inner ring 50 represent the common position of 11 - 50MHz. 8 and FM represent 8MHz and FM bands can use this position. And so on. Then select the knob below to fine tune to find the best standing wave suggestion link talent to check the vibration point.
Well, in fact the "Manual" was the Ebay page from the seller and this instructions don't work. At least for my antenna. We only got it tuned in position 4.5, 5 and 5.5 on all bands. So my guess is - and this is only a guess that I have to verify - that the toroid inside is mounted wrong. I don't have a clue if flipping the toroid around will help with this problem but it's worth a try.
Greetings from Germany
Holger
@lkjwertz I think if you use the matching network as if it was a manual tuner and ignored the "band" markings it would work much better.
The power of the qrp antenna equipment is marked as 20w. Would it be okay if I set the output power of my ham radio to 50w?
I would hope the maker has tested the antenna and found its limits. If you set it higher, it might be ok or it might cause some problems. Open it up and take a look, see if you feel comfortable making the repairs that might be needed and test away... That's what ham is all about. (Comfortable could mean just buying another one after "the cost of education" too)
Thanks for the video, I was thinking about trying one of these. Try elevating the counterpoise wire, I bet that will help. What is the length of the couterpoise, if it is a multiple of a wavelength, I may affect tuning, try 17ft. Thanks again!
I tried a 17ft and a 10ft, thanks for the tip!
Elevating the radials will require them to be cut to the band. Leaving them on the ground will let the signal couple into the ground.
If it is supposed to be a “counterpoise” I was told they should be elevated but whatever works!
Elevated radials (counterpoise) need to be resonant, radials on the ground should be many and can be cut to resonance or not. Either way, whatever gets the job done in the situation your in is the most important part.
Hey man! I love your content. I bought one of these antennaa for myself, may I ask what the top and bottom knobs are for? I forget easily. Thanks!
One is for inductance and the other is for capacitance. Turn the top one for course adjustments and turn the bottom one for fine adjustments.
For table top antennas on the higher bands (30m to 10m), I usually go for a STL "mag-loop". It takes more space on the table top but you don't need all the radials. Therefore, arguably the overall footprint is smaller than these mini-whips with lengths of wire attached. I suspect this device is more useful as an efficient QRP antenna match. Because it is connected directly to the antenna, there is no lossy feeder with a high VSWR between the match and the antenna.
I think you're right
where could I get the mount with the counterpoise wire from?
I made it from a ring terminal, a piece of wire and an anderson power pole connector. From there I have a few sets of radials/counterpoise wires that I can choose from depending on what vertical I'm running. I also can swap this between other antenna mounts and radios. Its a pretty versatile setup.
Will that RC-2 work on the Xiegu X6100?
Sort of. The ground screw part that keeps the bnc from spinning has nothing to secure it.
Sort of. The ground screw part that keeps the bnc from spinning has nothing to secure it.
I have the same device and I have still been unable to use it... I just am not able to understand how to make it work with the MCHF RS-918 QRP Transceiver! Any help would be really apprciated...
Does the mchf have a scope or an swr meter? Do you have an antenna analyzer? Check out this vid for an example of how to tune it up: ua-cam.com/video/KCsn5eGmC6Y/v-deo.html. (Different antenna, but same concepts)
@@temporarilyoffline thank you so much! Will check that video
I just got one from Amazon and am still experimenting with it. What length of radials or antenna wire worked best for you the best?
Thanks from NH
My goto for GROUND radials is 4x10m radials - but the rule of thumb is 1/4wave on the lowest band of interest and then you'll be able to work your way up from there. For the radiator, I'd use the same logic as a "random wire" - or I'd go with something specifically tuned for the band of interest and get all higher bands by adjusting the matching network or the length of the radiator by folding back.
@@temporarilyoffline - thanks for your info and for your video. I played with my Gig Antenna today and I found the whip antenna does little but by adding the radial wire to the tuning control, I can begin to hear stations on all the regular bands - 40 and 20 meters. The tuning control is the good bit, whether connecting to a radial or to an antenna wire. Even though I hear stations, I've yet to make a QSO. I'm connected to one of those small USDX radios. I'm still experimenting.
@@rbashta keep plugging, you saw the effort I had to make at 5w to be heard in the vid. It can be done.
You can also put out a steady tone for tuning by switching mode to RTTY and just keying the mic. Much easier than fumbling with switching CW to straight key.
Yes, I do that same trick in other vids. Anything that outs out a signal - even whistling into the mic on side band. Good call
99% of successful tunings on my antenna analyzer were with the inductor set between 6 and 9 o'clock. Tuner is also good with a small loop, Can't justify a quicky antenna like this with 9 miles of radials...Low efficiency but it works!
Right! is it "Low" or "High" efficiency? I guess it depends on what your definition of efficiency is.
The fact that you couldn't get below 2:1 concerns me about getting this. I've seen a design that has a loading coil with banana plug taps that has interested me (I saw it at Ham radio outlet when I bought my ic705) but I've refrained from getting it because I know it will be less effective and I already spent way more money than I want. Plus my K6ARK EFHW is already extremely portable. (his balun plus 26 awg polystealth and his winder design make for something that fits in my pocket)
There are so many options! This was fun to play with, but you're right!
Cool breakdown on this antenna Steve, those are fun projects. Nice video
Glad you enjoyed it
Looks similar to my wonderwand wide bander but I can get get very close to 1:1 and can also use it with long wire for even better results. I have their tuneable counterpoise too which makes things better but still portable. I use a 7m fishing pole with it. (Did a short vid of it).
My 1st gen windcamp bracket was causing me all sorts of swr issues I don't use it anymore.
I removed my gen1 windcamp bracket because it didn't work well with the cage. I felt like this tuner was just a tad too narrow to get the job done. Not bad in a pinch, but not great.
Can you still get the wonderwand? Don't see many about. I did think they were really expensive for a new one for not much in them. I'm hoping to find one someday for my x6100 for portable and travelling. This Chinese make is a much better price but don't think it works very well even though they are plastered all over eBay from loads of sellers.
@@cbjamesb1 yes G0nzi still makes them, not sure what countries they export to but a few I think
You can find them in the US at hamradio.com or at hamradio.co.uk in the UK
Got one from AliExpress for 30 bucks. I was about to return it until I saw your video. I'll try with some radials. Thanks.
Good luck! Antenna science comes to the rescue!
My LC tuner much like that tunes 51 foot radiator inverted L with 12 foot counterpoise. Seems to work nearly as good as a EFHW 49 T 1 cut for 40m. MT 1 made for HB-1B CW rigs. vk5cz ..
Nice!
I would rather see this through an antenna analyzer than trying to tune it on the radio.
Good idea!
Yet another super portable cloud warmer, just like the miracle whip. No compromise for copper in the air.
Exactly!
Gostaria de saber como usá-la em ondas curtas
I did a simple demonstration in the video, but here is a more in depth demo (with a different tuner, but the method is the same): ua-cam.com/video/t5trpVWJvSQ/v-deo.html
I got one of those for Xmas, and is deaf as a bat. I can´t hear anything, even though it tunes...
That's very strange
There seem to be a lot of clones of this thing, of varying quality. I bought one myself and on investigating inside, found that the inductor was almost shorted out, and a very thin low quality nylon washer on the inside was causing the antenna screw to touch the case. Those issues I was able to fix but I feel like my version of the product is a copy made by some manufacturer that doesn't actually know anything about RF and are just replicating someone else's "magic box".
@TerrisLeonis you are 100% correct. This is a clone of the wander wand that came out way back with the Yaesu ft-817 was launched (if that one wasn't a clone of something even older.)
I have seen these on eBay and was curious so, thanks for the field test. You saved me some money. I think I'll pass on this one. 73!
It needs just a tad more range
You really need some electrical quarter wave counterpoises hooked to your rig.
OK, you did it. Good.
@@wa1ufo standby
My question is, is it worth the $50.00 CDN to buy this thing? Does it work any better than an MFJ-9232?
It's fun to play with. Can't get the MFJ unit anymore.
I have seen it on someone else's video and asked what it was. I guess it's a portable little ATU, It's limited but I like it.👍
Yeah, its a little L network tuner.
Did you play with antenna length?
It was telling me "Longer! Longer!", so I added the longer wire and it was still saying longer. I started to feel bad, so I put it away.
Amigo, tem algum guia de usuário?
I didn't get a user guide. Try this video for a more in-depth tutorial: ua-cam.com/video/t5trpVWJvSQ/v-deo.html
Isn't that achtually what they call the Miracle Whip Antenna...? 🤔
Yes, China found it!
Interesting Steve, thank you for sharing.
Anytime!
Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure!
The tuning unit looks like the Gawant Antenna configuration.
I haven't heard of that, thanks for the tip
Very welcome.
The antenna you have displayed appears to be better than the Gawant as the inductor has many taps compared to 2 taps the Gawant antenna has, well the Gawant antenna schematic I followed only had 2 taps yet it tunes and gets out from 160m to 6m even without any counterpoise, not tested higher frequencies yet.
Thanks for sharing and showing us the internals, I would like one to compare with the Gawant I made ... just struggling to find a trustworthy eBay or Amazon seller inside the EU or UK, not China. any suggestions by anyone would be much appreciated
Hi Steve from Italy, thanks for this nice video. I've bought this antenna and I'm waiting to receive it. surely not a dx antenna but it looks well made and really small for random activities. 73 😉
Hello Italy! I've subscribed to your channel! This is a good enough antenna as you heard in the video... and its so small that it can be easily taken with you!
@@temporarilyoffline thanks for the subscription. I agree, very small to carry 😉
Reminds me of the "Miracle Antenna"
I think its a clone for sure.
Nice overview video, God bless.
Thanks, you too!
Gotta use a ground radial
Sure do!
looks a lot like a "miracle whip" but with a removable antenna
Yeah, its a clone for sure! Good Eye!
Super awesome experiment!
What's the ideal counterpoise wire lengths per band? Is more better? Elevated or on the groud? Earth ground?
Portable and permanent installation...
I hope you make a whole video on just that! 😁
#hamradio 73
Yes! All of that 😀
Was worth it to see the insides. Neat
I love tearing stuff apart! I like the idea of this dingus, the execution could be a tad tighter though.
Thank you for the tech. I'm constantly distracted by review-type videos without any useful information.
Glad it was helpful!
Very interesting now I want one, lol 😂
That's how it works! I love looking at any new antenna!
@@temporarilyoffline I understand, for me it's more interesting than new radio.
Can I ask you why you are temporarily offlone?
Sure thing! I like to break things... so I can fix them. That includes starting new businesses, or playing with computers... and if it has wheels, I can definitely get it stuck. Specifically I ran a data center business and sold it in 2006, at that time I lost my website, my email, etc, so I was temporarilyoffline@gmail.com and its stuck ever since. @@NickkoG
Interesting little "antenna". More like a manual tuner with a short whip, but still.
On a side note, have you ever considered doing a "From worst to best" antenna review? I'm sure you have bought some units that were complete dogs and others that are simply wonderful. I think it would be a great video if you could rank them from worst to best.
I've done it before with 2m antenna solutions. Its very subjective - both in opinion and in location. Right now, I'm on a quest for the best compromise... haven't found it yet.
Hmm? Best compromise I can think of is a small short wave radio. No TX of course but they are so much more sensitive on a small whip. You can hear everything but never get involved. That’s a win win
It IS just a manual L tuner plus short whip. Nothing wrong with that design concept,, was used decades ago.. Cap across coax, coil in series with antenna to electrically lengthen it. I would expect best results from a tuned radial than a random one or many random. Very interesting product!
@@markanderson8066 it's a very interesting product with lots of utility! I'd like a bit broader tuning range, but I could definitely make use of it as is.
Bashirian Knolls
Compromise antennas and qrp just don't work. This is just another bad dummy-load. For succesfull QRP one needs to use a fullsize antenna.
I was really hoping for a neat mini-tuner
Of course but I have made several contacts with my recently purchased DL1DN whip, holding it in your hand for human counterpoise works best lol but I'm impressed for what it is, I even made contacts with the 20m coil, you do have to adjust the length of the whip for best SWR.
Making any contacts at all on such a tiny system is a lot of fun.
I even made contacts with the same antenna on the Albrecht 2990, as it's plastic I had to tip my finger off the antenna ground to act as a counterpoise.
Is it a compromise ? sure, my portable EFHW works better but I can't carry it around as easy or walk from place to place so for this kind of operation the whip is a compromise I'm willing to take, and it works. The EFHW also needs reasonable height and that's not always achievable.
I've tried the MFJ-939C loop tuner and the little MFJ-9232 which work really well and no counterpoise needed but as you can imagine not as convenient as walking around with a whip.
Ummm that is not a Wonder Wand, certainly looks like one, the real one works a lil bit better than that in my experience
The Wonder products are fantastic! I think this could definitely benefit from a tad more capacitance and inductance.
A 5' whip with no counterpoise??? P.T. Barnum was right....
I didn't think it got much better with the 'poise 🤣
Parisian Mills
good video
Thanks!
So far atu in my G90 works well so this can wait ;) 73
Yeah, if you have an ATU, I wouldn't use this also.
There are QC issues with these.
This clip shows the repair.
ua-cam.com/video/uP6D13uhY8o/v-deo.htmlsi=T0kIMahn2GKsgdS-
Thanks! QC is always a problem - I find that most of the people building these things don't know what they are -they are just following the instructions.
$27 on aliexpress
Sweet, beware the tassles!
Its a clone of the Wonder Wand
Sure is
Why? What's this thing about using small aerials?
Put up something better. There is plenty of space to put up a long wire and use a tuner.
As a ham friend said to me you can tune a knitting needle with a good atu but it won't be efficient.
G4GHB.
Right! I played with this antenna at my farm, plenty of room for something bigger. Just having fun and sharing. Thanks for watching!
Turn and keep cap at zero
Only time i need to move cap from 0 is for U/VHF frequencys
Good Suggestion!
Hello
Hi
Hwhip
Hwhip
Cool Whip.
@@forgetyourlife thanks for noticing!
A tipical china antenna, thanks to this video i will not buy this antenna...
Glad it helped! I think the antenna has its place, but I wish it had just a tad more range in its tuning ability.
@@temporarilyoffline It shouldn't cost more than 30 US dollard no more... In Europe il selled 80 euros... As emergency antenna it can be good but swr too hight IMHO.
@@mrtonicsvls3624 You can make a decent antenna for less in an emergency - and it will be closer to resonant too!
That's a SO239 not a PL259
Yep, sure is.
Id say this eas pretty crap..
I think it needs just a tad more tuning range to be really good.