It never ceases to amaze me the performance of my 71ft 9:1 that I use at my home QTH. I slope it down from 30 to 10 feet. FT991A with outboard tuner. 75 watts. 73 Walt. KC3UWT
Ah, the old banana pole trick 😂😂. I fixed that problem. I'm currently 6th floor roof topping with a 10m Super Light Hard Carbon Fiber pole and 3 plastic coat hangers and created an inverted U, which works a treat 80 through 10 and an MFJ-929 tuner with the same wiring as you. ( the only noodles are rice, 🤣😂 It only bends 5 degrees in really strong winds, sleet, and snowing. 50 feet of RG8X down to my 2nd-floor apartment in Yeoju ROK, still here through winter. Cheers, Walt from an 👽Alien in Asia - VK4 FOO is here.
It was so good to work you Walt! So looks like I have another antenna to build!!! Again thanks for all you do for the ham radio community. Robert KD4YDC
I just got my technician a week ago and have been binge watching your videos! I just made my first contacts today on 10 meters. The best part was I built a vertical dipole by watching one of your videos and used a TN07 32 foot fiberglass pole and my x6100 on 10 watts. I got a 5.5 to the Cayman Islands 1300 miles away. I am hooked! Thanks for all the work you do putting these videos together, they are a huge help to us newbies!
Don’t forget, as a Tech, you have CW privileges on HF. 10W goes a long with with dits and dahs. Nicest bunch of folks I have met with CW, including some new good IRL friends.
8:21 Hey you got Mike activating another park! I bet he was bundled up good if he was on a park table BRRR! I know that if I tried this during the gusty conditions yesterday, something would have broken! 73 de Steve KC4JGC.
I use the 43' heavy-duty fiberglass mast from MFJ with great success. I use two bungee cords to attach it to the ladder on the back of the RV. Great video, great fun! 73 de KC1DBR
Would have loved to caught you on 40, should be workable from here but that same crazy wind took out our power Saturday afternoon. Hat's off to DX Commander hold up with that wind!
Credit to Lord Callum and the quality of his product. That was some crazy lean lmao. It was as I expected WAY too windy to suit me. Too many service wires coming in to risk a tip over, so I stayed in the house.
I built this 41' wire antenna for the horizontal configuration. At a POTA activation it was wonderful to use and easier to put up and take down than the 71' and 58' antennas i have. My highest SWR measured with the G90 analyzer was 2.3:1 on 40 meters. The best was 1.2:1 on 80 meters! I put it up in my yard today to play with and hooked it up to my FT-920 and its internal ATU tunes every band 80 to 10. I should probably try 6 meters later on.
Walt: I have considered going with a 41 foot vertical here, but IMHO, my MFJ 10 meter mast is too flimsy to add an extension on the top the way you made your 41-footer. What I plan to try in the spring is a reinforced lower mast support. I am basing this approach on my full-sized 15 meter quarter-wave vertical I used in the 1980's and 1990's on a couple of vehicles, a Volvo wagon and then 3/4-ton Toyota pickup. Back then, I used a 40 inch base section welded from 3/4 inch stainless pipe with a 3/8-24 stud supporting a large CB spring and 102 inch whip. Wind resistance swept it back so the actual tip height was around 10 ft 6 in. While stationary, the tip was up around 15 feet. No drive-in windows for me! I ran a Yaesu FT-7 or a TenTec Argonaut 509 back then, and had really outstanding luck on 15 meters. No auto tuners in that era, at least not in my radios! I have been running HF mobile since the early 1970's and did a lot of VHF-plus hilltopping back then, too. Keep up your outstanding videos and hope to hear you from a park soon! 73, Keith, WB2VUO
Another great video, and that one guy is right. You have inspired lots of people! Your videos motivated me to study and move up from 11m and get my ticket. Still hoping to make contact one day! 73.
I have enjoyed watching you test various antenna configurations, except for one little detail. Since I am 1400 miles from the nearest saltwater, I much prefer your tests which do no involve the salt water. 😊
GREAT antenna Walt! I suspect that the changing SWR on TX was due to the droop at the top of the pole as it changed position above the sea. This had the effect of added top loading that was never stable but altered as the wind blew. I'd like to see you measure the CM current on the coax on your side of the choke. I think there may be some current there that will also influence how the system performs. 73 OM.
K4OGO.....Walt you are a super star. Great work with the video, much appreciated for a newbie ham who is looking at the hobby, 4260 Km on 20 watts, quite interesting what 20 watts can do. Noticed that the transmit voltage did not drop under 12.7 volts which helps as you are running the LiPo battery. Please keep making the videos in your own special way as they are entertaining and provide technical level assistance and inspiration. Greetings from Australia.
Hi Walt, I use the DX commander 12 meter mast, pole and it'll be ok for what you do, it will hold up most of your vertical wires with no problems with out flexing but it's no light weight you'd need to secure it properly might take you a few goes to get used to it, cheers for the video Adam G7CRQ.
Another great video Walt. I enjoy all of your videos and learn a lot from them. You may even inspire me to make one of these 41ft antennas myself for my Xiegu-G90. All I need to do is get a good pole and the time to put it together. Thanks again. John Aloi Sr - WB3HPE in Crewe VA.
that was great. KB9VBR was great contact. he has a you tube channel. maybe you got in his video as well. going to check. he makes them copper J pole antenna's and they super .he made a 10 meter J pole out of window line hung it from a tree worked super. DC commander pole's wire and antenna stuff now in the USA on DX engineering web cite. Callum has longer poles . I got the 7 meter and 10 meter poles. A B C of ham radio . all ways be choking. love that coax with the ferrite on the end. I got M & P POTAFLEX 7 reel kit and I put ferrite snap beads type 31 on the end . 5 of them . I got a 25ft of coax from buddy pole with BNC on each end. works great. I put a T 240-31 on the end. held it with zip ties. love your antenna's they a lot of fun. I make them as well. I get more out of POTA with a antenna I made my self. Walmart speaker wire. works great . does not last long in NY weather but great for testing once I get the length down some times I make a DX 10 or DX 50 DX commander wire out . then I have it years . for a long wire maybe a kite antenna? just some wind needed . you have that. good way to get 80 and 160 meters. pick a windy night and see how far you get. 73's
Great idea! I actually have a kite I bought for that very reason. I've been thinking about doing an antenna over the Atlantic on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Thanks for your input. 73, Walt
I have a 41 foot antenna also. mine is more horizontal with feed point 10 feet off ground. works good but not as good as it did when it was vertical. good video thanks.
Hiya Walt! Thought I'd stop back by and see how's tricks. Used to hang out and watch you with your wonderful advent at the water's edge in Virginia. (I'm about two miles from Huntington Beach in Orange County, California.) Your video today is super! In fact, I'll re-subscribe and get back in the habit! 72 de William, k6whp
Inspired by one of your Polish QTH antennas, I’m running 43’ as a sloper with the 9:1 balun and 17.5’ counterpoise from my second floor office window. Tune it with an external MFJ tuner and it is excellent
That antenna worked very well Walt!! Basic, yet effective. My portable antenna is the Yaesu ATAS 120. I use that with my Yaesu FT-891 radio and a big tripod to get the antenna up high. Battery is a Motobatt 25ah agm type.
Hello Walt and thanks for yet another very interesting video, this vertical aerial sure took an interesting shape at the top with the wind😁 As I've mentioned in another comment, finding a source for these ununs here in France without eye-watering shipping costs and import taxes is such a challenge it prevents me from experimenting in this kind of antenna. Same goes for coax chokes. I really hope for a QSO with you some day. I've recently discovered that some of these cheap 5.4m fishing poles sold online actually are... not even 5m long 🙄
Does Digikey ship to France? I'd suggest making your own UNUNs, I've always made my own. I've made them using mains wire in a standard electrical box using a ferrite torroid bought from Digikey or Mouser.
Hey Walt, you have me interested in Ham radio again. I’ve been off the air for years but kept the license going. Built a 4 element quad for 10 meters with wire and 3/4 inch wooden arms that was killer. I think I’ll try a two element 40 meter yagi now out of aluminum parts and coils. I have a 40 dipole but need a reflector. Hope to meet on air on day. Thanks again. Chuck N4SHO.
Hey Walt great video as always, I was wondering if you would be able to make a video on comparing the receiving capabilities between Xiegu g90 and your pl 360 Tecsun. With the same antenna would they both receive signals on the SSB ham bands the same or would the g90 have a clearer reception? What about picking up distant signals would one out preform the other? Also a video on some apartment friendly horizontal antennas would be cool too!
Sure, the saltwater goundplane has a large effect on the signal and gives about a 10dB gain. Here are a couple videos I've done that go into a deeper explaination: ua-cam.com/video/Z51j2m0Z0k4/v-deo.htmlsi=kGgxDiXZOBn1bm_J ua-cam.com/video/KjEOUZS_5sw/v-deo.htmlsi=-zQnKZPKNZK5rgfO
Walt, What firware are you using on your G90? I was feeling a bit nervous for that poor pole!😂 Cool setup... I always get to learn and smile when i watch your content. Thanks again... P.s. What color pool noodle do you recommend that i use in the water here in Florida? 😉
Walt! That's a "C" antenna (not to be confused with a "Sea" antenna). Well, If the RF Launcher works... whats in a name? 41 footer name does nice! Sorta acted like an NVIS a minute, didn't it?
Hey Walt The 41’ / 12.5m antenna is that magic 5/8 Wave long at 20m so nice low take off angle, and maybe a dog biscuit or three better than an end fed half wave. I have a 10m aluminium tube vertical made from 6 x 9’ lengths of drawn aluminium pipe. One day, not long after putting it up, I extended it up to 41’ and matched it for 20m That antenna was surprisingly good. Just a bit painful to match into the radio but great once I got everything working.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I usually run 20W of CW. From my X108G. The predecessor to the G90. My max is a dollar out of the old Plastic Fantastic FT747GX, though my old FT101B, where B is for Boat Anchor, could probably throw $1.50 at it once I spend some time with it on the bench. Apparently, the width gives it a nice wide bandwidth better than 1.2 across the entire 20m band, and it’s usable down to the 13.56MHz ISM band. There’s a WSPR frequency there and we can run up to 1W EIRP there I have put a home made base loaded mobile whip, adding another 6’ to the length which I wound to give me a trap extension for 40m that’s a bottle narrow, but gives me all the CW and digital plus some of the voice portion at better than 1.5, with a close 1:1 match at resonance It’s light enough to run portable using an aluminium PA speaker stand and some guy wires, with a chunk of high pressure PVC pipe as an insulator between the antenna and base. But a little awkward to carry on a long hike. Strapped to the back fence it’s held up in 35 mph winds. I was lucky being the first vertical end fed I have built. No room for ground wires in our small inner city back yard. Just a ground stake on a chunk of 10mm earth wire as a counterpoise. Works 20m and 40m with a 3:11 turn ratio unun on an FT240-43. Recently I used an old Wagner HF Marine tuner from the late 70s or early 80s to get 80m to tune up. Used that instead of the Unun, as it’s designed to tune end fed boat antennas for 2-8MHz. Let’s me tune 80m and 40m but not 20m or above. However I can get it to tune down to 1480KHz. Guess I could run a pirate AM station with that :-) George VK2AOE from The Art of Engineering says I should do a UA-cam video on it. Maybe one day Cheers Walt for all the effort you go to. Always curious to see what you come up with. 73 ES GL DE VK2NAP dit dit
I just don't seem to have much luck with the EFRW antenna. I bought a LDG 9:1, attached a 41' sloper and 17' counterpoise, but can't seem to get nearly as good of SWRs as I had hoped. 40m is 7.7:1, 20m is 5.2:1, 17m is 2.8:1, 15m is 3.7:1, 12m is 2.3:1, and 10M is 2.4:1. 10, 12 & 17 are ok, but the rest, not so good and can't be tuned with the internal 3:1 tuner. I was mainly hoping to operate on 20m & 40m. I'll probably go back to my EFHW, although longer, they are < 2.0:1 on 40m, 20, 15, & 10m.
Could you have used the 10m pole and just have made it a sloper by running the wire down toward either your car or down the sea wall. It seems like a sloper would be almost as good as a vertical.
Amazing work Walt. I too am in the process of putting together a high vertical for POTA/SOTA. I have my eye on a Spiderbeam DH 12m + guide rope kit, and I was thinking of using it as a EFHW or inverted V dipole. I may actually copy your design and set up (with permission) and give it a go it works great for you. If I can get permission for a Walt's special 41' that would be great :) Thank you Walt great work, keep it up. I'm looking forward to the next antenna project. 73 M7LDK
You can use the EFHW as an inverted V, that's what I use for portable operating...I have tied a small washer in the centre of the wire and I hook it over the top section of the pole in the middle, with the ends sloping down each side.
Great video Walt I just cut a wire for 41 feet and a counterpoise for 17 feet is length really critical in this non-resonant set up? I hooked up my antenna analyzer up to it and my SWR seems to be 2:1 or 3:1 on the higher bands Except 40 seems to be pretty good 1.5 -1. Is this what you are seeing as well just curious.
Hi Walt..A general query here, with ongoing appreciation for all your excellent videos.. Re: trimming half wave end fed antennas for optimum length.. Being nervous about ‘over-cutting’,I would prefer to, initially, fold some of the length back to get some idea of what the final length might be, before cutting. My question is this.. If I fold back X amount and the antenna comes into resonance, do I cut the same length as the folded back length, or does another ‘equation’ come into play. Also..What difference does it make to the fold over length when using insulated wire, as opposed to uninsulated wire..😊 Hope this makes sense, Walt.. If not, just ignore😊. 73..John..G4EIJ
Makes sense John, I have found that cutting exactly as the fold over works. There really isn't a difference when folding over insulated wire. The electrical length of the antenna stops at the fold over. 73, Walt
So basically, If I make my 43 foot vertical, 41 foot instead, remove the 4:1 Unun and replace it with a 9:1 Unun and either use a 17 foot counterpoise or maybe the radials I already have buried I can maybe boost my signal ?
Hi, I wonder if you could help or explain a thing or two in regard to the antenna I have purchased and using. It's EAntenna DX13M advertised as 1.8-50 Mhz. So far the only thing I've done was grounding it, I have a tube that been pushed into the ground where water level is about 60cm ( reclaimed land from a lake I believe ) using thick copper wire soldered to 15mm copper tube and dipped into the water. I have not much space to lay down radials though. Now, I want to do some top band activities but the antenna don't want to cooperate. If I disconnect ''grounding'' it kind off works, locally more like NVIS one, or rather only as NVIS. So, with your experience what could I do to improve the whole thing please? Regards, Andy de 2E0FHM
KB9VBR, thats a good coincidental contact while on the air.
🤜🤛
Yes that was a great surprise!
It never ceases to amaze me the performance of my 71ft 9:1 that I use at my home QTH. I slope it down from 30 to 10 feet. FT991A with outboard tuner. 75 watts. 73 Walt. KC3UWT
Awesome! 73, Walt
It's great to get you in the log (08:28). Bands were good, but noisy that day. I was using the 1/4 wave vertical with magic carpet ground network.
Was great to get you as well! I enjoy your channel. Thanks for watching and commenting. Hope to catch you again soon. 73, Walt
Your attitude far exceeds the capacity of your antennas 📡 thanks Walt.
Thank you so much for the kind words! 73, Walt
Well, when recognize your voice and can remember your callsign, you have achieved what most will never know. You are the man!
Thanks so much my friend!
Ah, the old banana pole trick 😂😂. I fixed that problem.
I'm currently 6th floor roof topping with a 10m Super Light Hard Carbon Fiber pole and 3 plastic coat hangers and created an inverted U, which works a treat 80 through 10 and an MFJ-929 tuner with the same wiring as you. ( the only noodles are rice, 🤣😂 It only bends 5 degrees in really strong winds, sleet, and snowing. 50 feet of RG8X down to my 2nd-floor apartment in Yeoju ROK, still here through winter.
Cheers, Walt from an 👽Alien in Asia - VK4 FOO is here.
Awesome! Cheers my friend!
It was so good to work you Walt! So looks like I have another antenna to build!!! Again thanks for all you do for the ham radio community. Robert KD4YDC
Thank you so much Robert and thanks for the very kind words. Hope to catch you on the air again soon my friend! 73, Walt
I just got my technician a week ago and have been binge watching your videos! I just made my first contacts today on 10 meters. The best part was I built a vertical dipole by watching one of your videos and used a TN07 32 foot fiberglass pole and my x6100 on 10 watts. I got a 5.5 to the Cayman Islands 1300 miles away. I am hooked!
Thanks for all the work you do putting these videos together, they are a huge help to us newbies!
Thanks so much for this comment and congratulations! Hope to catch you on the air soon! 73, Walt
Really good that you got on the air and built your own antenna 👍. Well done on the DX.
Get your general as soon as possible! You'll really have fun working the other upper bands while sunspot cycle 25 is peaking.
Don’t forget, as a Tech, you have CW privileges on HF. 10W goes a long with with dits and dahs.
Nicest bunch of folks I have met with CW, including some new good IRL friends.
I have a 24-foot vertical with a remote tuner at the base here at home. It works very well too!
Thanks Walt. You have inspired me to get back on the air after 25 years inactive. I hope to meet you on the air some day soon. N8GTT.
I'm looking forward to meeting you on the air! 73, Walt
8:21 Hey you got Mike activating another park! I bet he was bundled up good if he was on a park table BRRR! I know that if I tried this during the gusty conditions yesterday, something would have broken! 73 de Steve KC4JGC.
I took a big risk LOL
I use the 43' heavy-duty fiberglass mast from MFJ with great success. I use two bungee cords to attach it to the ladder on the back of the RV.
Great video, great fun! 73 de KC1DBR
Thanks! That pole in on my list of possibilities.
Would have loved to caught you on 40, should be workable from here but that same crazy wind took out our power Saturday afternoon. Hat's off to DX Commander hold up with that wind!
I really took a risk with that pole. I'm so glad it held up!
Thanks Walt.....lots of fun out by the sea wall.
Thanks for watching my friend!!
Credit to Lord Callum and the quality of his product. That was some crazy lean lmao. It was as I expected WAY too windy to suit me. Too many service wires coming in to risk a tip over, so I stayed in the house.
Yes that pole is amazing and held up!
Nice work, Walt! 73, AE6SS
Thanks so much! 73, Walt
I have a 13M fishing pole that I bought just for this purpose. I have yet to get out with it. Thanks for the video. It the nudge I needed.
A 13 meter pole? Or 13 feet? I've been looking
I built this 41' wire antenna for the horizontal configuration. At a POTA activation it was wonderful to use and easier to put up and take down than the 71' and 58' antennas i have. My highest SWR measured with the G90 analyzer was 2.3:1 on 40 meters. The best was 1.2:1 on 80 meters! I put it up in my yard today to play with and hooked it up to my FT-920 and its internal ATU tunes every band 80 to 10. I should probably try 6 meters later on.
That's awesome, thanks for sharing. Hmmm, I need to try 80 and 6 myself.
Wow. That is a tall antenna. KP2B Jim, Hello from the viewers.
Yes it was a tall one haha
Hey that KB9VBR is Mike from the KB9VBR Antenna channel. He's the one who promotes those window screen ground planes.
Yes!!!
Walt: I have considered going with a 41 foot vertical here, but IMHO, my MFJ 10 meter mast is too flimsy to add an extension on the top the way you made your 41-footer. What I plan to try in the spring is a reinforced lower mast support. I am basing this approach on my full-sized 15 meter quarter-wave vertical I used in the 1980's and 1990's on a couple of vehicles, a Volvo wagon and then 3/4-ton Toyota pickup. Back then, I used a 40 inch base section welded from 3/4 inch stainless pipe with a 3/8-24 stud supporting a large CB spring and 102 inch whip. Wind resistance swept it back so the actual tip height was around 10 ft 6 in. While stationary, the tip was up around 15 feet. No drive-in windows for me!
I ran a Yaesu FT-7 or a TenTec Argonaut 509 back then, and had really outstanding luck on 15 meters. No auto tuners in that era, at least not in my radios! I have been running HF mobile since the early 1970's and did a lot of VHF-plus hilltopping back then, too.
Keep up your outstanding videos and hope to hear you from a park soon!
73, Keith, WB2VUO
Sounds like a great plan. Thanks so much for the kind words! 73, Walt
I still need to try the 41 footer. I've got 29, 35.5 and 71 foot wires for the 9:1 and they work great.
I think you will really like this antenna!
Cool setup. Kb9vbr has some good antenna reviews on UA-cam as well. I recognized his voice when you made contact.
Yes, was cool to make that contact!
Another great video, and that one guy is right. You have inspired lots of people! Your videos motivated me to study and move up from 11m and get my ticket. Still hoping to make contact one day! 73.
Thank you so very much! We will make that contact soon!
Great audio coming from that G90 speaker.
Yes that radio has decent audio for sure.
Awesome Walt! Experimenting with antennas is the love of my life!!! 😋😋
Thanks! Mine too!
I have enjoyed watching you test various antenna configurations, except for one little detail. Since I am 1400 miles from the nearest saltwater, I much prefer your tests which do no involve the salt water. 😊
I'll try to mix it up more away from the water. 73, Walt
This worked so well! I am going to have to give this a try.
Thanks Walt. Your videos inspire me.
Thanks for the kind words! 73, Walt
GREAT antenna Walt! I suspect that the changing SWR on TX was due to the droop at the top of the pole as it changed position above the sea. This had the effect of added top loading that was never stable but altered as the wind blew. I'd like to see you measure the CM current on the coax on your side of the choke. I think there may be some current there that will also influence how the system performs. 73 OM.
I think you are right, it wasn't consistent. Would be interesting to measure that.
Brilliant as always Walt….some serious bend in that but those DX Commander poles look to take some Punishment. 73’s
Thanks! Great poles!
Thanks for representing the 757. You could have used a kite yesterday and probably done just as well. Great video. W2JEL
Thanks! Yes it was blowing hard. 73 from Portsmouth!
Great video Walt, I knew you'd like that antenna. I've had a lot of success with it myself.
It's a great antenna!
Neat project sir!
Also, excellent wallpaper!
Thanks! haha that's an old Italian radio advertisement.
Thanks Walt, looks like a lot of fun, nothing better than to make your own and experiment.
Thanks! that was a fun outing.
K4OGO.....Walt you are a super star. Great work with the video, much appreciated for a newbie ham who is looking at the hobby, 4260 Km on 20 watts, quite interesting what 20 watts can do.
Noticed that the transmit voltage did not drop under 12.7 volts which helps as you are running the LiPo battery.
Please keep making the videos in your own special way as they are entertaining and provide technical level assistance and inspiration.
Greetings from Australia.
Thank you for the very kind words my friend!
It's great. I also have 10 meters pole to setup vertical antenna. The wire is 29 feet long and 17 feet for ground. Performance is good.
Hi Walt, I use the DX commander 12 meter mast, pole and it'll be ok for what you do, it will hold up most of your vertical wires with no problems with out flexing but it's no light weight you'd need to secure it properly might take you a few goes to get used to it, cheers for the video Adam G7CRQ.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting! 73, Walt
thank you, you encourage me to step out and experiment. I agree with the contact, I enjoy your videos, always easy to understand, and practical.
Thank you so much for the kind words! 73, Walt
Nice video. Pretty much self-explanatory. Sounds like you made some good contacts. And that sort of the point.
Thanks for watching! 73, Walt
Thanks for sharing Walt
Thanks for watching!
Another great video Walt. I enjoy all of your videos and learn a lot from them. You may even inspire me to make one of these 41ft antennas myself for my Xiegu-G90. All I need to do is get a good pole and the time to put it together. Thanks again.
John Aloi Sr - WB3HPE in Crewe VA.
Thanks John and thanks for watching my fellow Virginian. I have been to Crewe a few times. 73!
that was great. KB9VBR was great contact. he has a you tube channel. maybe you got in his video as well. going to check. he makes them copper J pole antenna's and they super .he made a 10 meter J pole out of window line hung it from a tree worked super. DC commander pole's wire and antenna stuff now in the USA on DX engineering web cite. Callum has longer poles . I got the 7 meter and 10 meter poles. A B C of ham radio . all ways be choking. love that coax with the ferrite on the end. I got M & P POTAFLEX 7 reel kit and I put ferrite snap beads type 31 on the end . 5 of them . I got a 25ft of coax from buddy pole with BNC on each end. works great. I put a T 240-31 on the end. held it with zip ties. love your antenna's they a lot of fun. I make them as well. I get more out of POTA with a antenna I made my self. Walmart speaker wire. works great . does not last long in NY weather but great for testing once I get the length down some times I make a DX 10 or DX 50 DX commander wire out . then I have it years . for a long wire maybe a kite antenna? just some wind needed . you have that. good way to get 80 and 160 meters. pick a windy night and see how far you get. 73's
Great idea! I actually have a kite I bought for that very reason. I've been thinking about doing an antenna over the Atlantic on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Thanks for your input. 73, Walt
Good work, Walt. It's all about testing, and I think this could become a new product, "Walt Commander," for portable use.😊
hahaha thanks!
I have a 41 foot antenna also. mine is more horizontal with feed point 10 feet off ground. works good but not as good as it did when it was vertical. good video thanks.
Thanks! yes this one is great as a vertical.
Betcha the GP on the ant was happy. :). Nice build!
Thanks! it's a perfect GP!
Another fantastic video!! Thank you. Inverted L!!! Perhaps tape the wire at the joint to reduce pull?
Thanks, I taped it at the joint. It was just a crazy windy day.
Hiya Walt! Thought I'd stop back by and see how's tricks. Used to hang out and watch you with your wonderful advent at the water's edge in Virginia. (I'm about two miles from Huntington Beach in Orange County, California.)
Your video today is super! In fact, I'll re-subscribe and get back in the habit!
72 de William, k6whp
Thanks William! Hope you are doing well! 73, Walt
Inspired by one of your Polish QTH antennas, I’m running 43’ as a sloper with the 9:1 balun and 17.5’ counterpoise from my second floor office window. Tune it with an external MFJ tuner and it is excellent
That's awesome, thanks for sharing!
I use a 31' kite pole with the 41' wire. I wrap the wire on the pole. It works great. Give it a try.
Yes it works great! I've done that too:
ua-cam.com/video/pHa7A6f3LMI/v-deo.htmlsi=r6gTXojGdY_YHM7m
Good going Walt, thanks for video.👍.
Thanks Steve!!!!
Nice video. Pretty much self-explanatory. Sounds like you made some good contacts. And that sort of the.
Thanks for watching!
That antenna worked very well Walt!! Basic, yet effective. My portable antenna is the Yaesu ATAS 120. I use that with my Yaesu FT-891 radio and a big tripod to get the antenna up high. Battery is a Motobatt 25ah agm type.
Do you use any radials or ground plane when you elevate the atas?
@@anonymous_friend I use a ground wire with a crocodile clip on each end and a tent peg driven in to the ground.
Awesome, great setup!
Hello Walt and thanks for yet another very interesting video, this vertical aerial sure took an interesting shape at the top with the wind😁
As I've mentioned in another comment, finding a source for these ununs here in France without eye-watering shipping costs and import taxes is such a challenge it prevents me from experimenting in this kind of antenna. Same goes for coax chokes.
I really hope for a QSO with you some day.
I've recently discovered that some of these cheap 5.4m fishing poles sold online actually are... not even 5m long 🙄
Thanks! Hopefully you can find a supplier in the EU. Hope to catch you on the air soon! 73, Walt
Does Digikey ship to France? I'd suggest making your own UNUNs, I've always made my own. I've made them using mains wire in a standard electrical box using a ferrite torroid bought from Digikey or Mouser.
Another cool video Walt. I subbed! I guess I will be out tomorrow trying my new G90!
Thank you so much! 73, Walt
Great fun, Walt. Looked more like an inverted L at times. LOL
Thanks! Yes it took the shape of a few different letters LOL
Hey Walt, you have me interested in Ham radio again. I’ve been off the air for years but kept the license going. Built a 4 element quad for 10 meters with wire and 3/4 inch wooden arms that was killer. I think I’ll try a two element 40 meter yagi now out of aluminum parts and coils. I have a 40 dipole but need a reflector. Hope to meet on air on day. Thanks again. Chuck N4SHO.
Thanks for the kind words Chuck! 73, Walt
Thanks for the video Walt, looks like you had a lot of fun yesterday. How many contacts did you make and in what length of time?
Made about 35 contacts in about 2-1/2 hours but I was hunting for DX, I think if I called CQ I would have probably had many more.
Hey Walt great video as always, I was wondering if you would be able to make a video on comparing the receiving capabilities between Xiegu g90 and your pl 360 Tecsun. With the same antenna would they both receive signals on the SSB ham bands the same or would the g90 have a clearer reception? What about picking up distant signals would one out preform the other? Also a video on some apartment friendly horizontal antennas would be cool too!
Thanks and thanks for the video ideas, I'll look into that!
🇨🇦can you explain the salt water effect on the counterpoise? Great video, gives me some ideas
Sure, the saltwater goundplane has a large effect on the signal and gives about a 10dB gain. Here are a couple videos I've done that go into a deeper explaination:
ua-cam.com/video/Z51j2m0Z0k4/v-deo.htmlsi=kGgxDiXZOBn1bm_J
ua-cam.com/video/KjEOUZS_5sw/v-deo.htmlsi=-zQnKZPKNZK5rgfO
Walt, What firware are you using on your G90?
I was feeling a bit nervous for that poor pole!😂
Cool setup...
I always get to learn and smile when i watch your content.
Thanks again...
P.s. What color pool noodle do you recommend that i use in the water here in Florida? 😉
It won’t win any beauty contests but it does the business!
LOL yeah it's ugly but works.
..you might try 60m..
TN07, Spiderbeams, and DX Commander are 3 I'm looking at. TN07 is in the lead.
Same here!
Walt! That's a "C" antenna (not to be confused with a "Sea" antenna).
Well, If the RF Launcher works... whats in a name? 41 footer name does nice! Sorta acted like an NVIS a minute, didn't it?
hahaha you're right. Yes it actually did act like a NVIS on 40.
ima try something like this... with AH-705 Antenna Coupler... Cheers!
Good luck! Cheers!
Pretty cool, how come you aren’t using the mic compression on the g90?
Thanks, I use it from time to time.
From what I’ve read it supposed to help with transmission by maximizing the wattage output to its fullest, but who knows lol
Hey Walt
The 41’ / 12.5m antenna is that magic 5/8 Wave long at 20m so nice low take off angle, and maybe a dog biscuit or three better than an end fed half wave.
I have a 10m aluminium tube vertical made from 6 x 9’ lengths of drawn aluminium pipe.
One day, not long after putting it up, I extended it up to 41’ and matched it for 20m
That antenna was surprisingly good. Just a bit painful to match into the radio but great once I got everything working.
That’s awesome. I bet you could put some power into that thing.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I usually run 20W of CW. From my X108G. The predecessor to the G90.
My max is a dollar out of the old Plastic Fantastic FT747GX, though my old FT101B, where B is for Boat Anchor, could probably throw $1.50 at it once I spend some time with it on the bench.
Apparently, the width gives it a nice wide bandwidth better than 1.2 across the entire 20m band, and it’s usable down to the 13.56MHz ISM band. There’s a WSPR frequency there and we can run up to 1W EIRP there
I have put a home made base loaded mobile whip, adding another 6’ to the length which I wound to give me a trap extension for 40m that’s a bottle narrow, but gives me all the CW and digital plus some of the voice portion at better than 1.5, with a close 1:1 match at resonance
It’s light enough to run portable using an aluminium PA speaker stand and some guy wires, with a chunk of high pressure PVC pipe as an insulator between the antenna and base. But a little awkward to carry on a long hike.
Strapped to the back fence it’s held up in 35 mph winds.
I was lucky being the first vertical end fed I have built. No room for ground wires in our small inner city back yard. Just a ground stake on a chunk of 10mm earth wire as a counterpoise.
Works 20m and 40m with a 3:11 turn ratio unun on an FT240-43.
Recently I used an old Wagner HF Marine tuner from the late 70s or early 80s to get 80m to tune up. Used that instead of the Unun, as it’s designed to tune end fed boat antennas for 2-8MHz. Let’s me tune 80m and 40m but not 20m or above.
However I can get it to tune down to 1480KHz. Guess I could run a pirate AM station with that :-)
George VK2AOE from The Art of Engineering says I should do a UA-cam video on it.
Maybe one day
Cheers Walt for all the effort you go to. Always curious to see what you come up with.
73 ES GL
DE VK2NAP
dit dit
I just don't seem to have much luck with the EFRW antenna. I bought a LDG 9:1, attached a 41' sloper and 17' counterpoise, but can't seem to get nearly as good of SWRs as I had hoped. 40m is 7.7:1, 20m is 5.2:1, 17m is 2.8:1, 15m is 3.7:1, 12m is 2.3:1, and 10M is 2.4:1. 10, 12 & 17 are ok, but the rest, not so good and can't be tuned with the internal 3:1 tuner. I was mainly hoping to operate on 20m & 40m. I'll probably go back to my EFHW, although longer, they are < 2.0:1 on 40m, 20, 15, & 10m.
Could you have used the 10m pole and just have made it a sloper by running the wire down toward either your car or down the sea wall. It seems like a sloper would be almost as good as a vertical.
My DX commander 10m pole is barely 30ft long
Amazing work Walt. I too am in the process of putting together a high vertical for POTA/SOTA.
I have my eye on a Spiderbeam DH 12m + guide rope kit, and I was thinking of using it as a EFHW or inverted V dipole. I may actually copy your design and set up (with permission) and give it a go it works great for you. If I can get permission for a Walt's special 41' that would be great :)
Thank you Walt great work, keep it up. I'm looking forward to the next antenna project.
73
M7LDK
You don't need my permission! Go build it!
Hopefully we can make a contact on the air with it. All the best and 73, Walt
You can use the EFHW as an inverted V, that's what I use for portable operating...I have tied a small washer in the centre of the wire and I hook it over the top section of the pole in the middle, with the ends sloping down each side.
Great video Walt I just cut a wire for 41 feet and a counterpoise for 17 feet is length really critical in this non-resonant set up? I hooked up my antenna analyzer up to it and my SWR seems to be 2:1 or 3:1 on the higher bands Except 40 seems to be pretty good 1.5 -1. Is this what you are seeing as well just curious.
That SWR is still not terrible. This antenna needs a tuner.
Hi Walt..A general query here, with ongoing appreciation for all your excellent videos..
Re: trimming half wave end fed antennas for optimum length.. Being nervous about ‘over-cutting’,I would prefer to, initially, fold some of the length back to get some idea of what the final length might be, before cutting. My question is this.. If I fold back X amount and the antenna comes into resonance, do I cut the same length as the folded back length, or does another ‘equation’ come into play. Also..What difference does it make to the fold over length when using insulated wire, as opposed to uninsulated wire..😊
Hope this makes sense, Walt.. If not, just ignore😊. 73..John..G4EIJ
Makes sense John, I have found that cutting exactly as the fold over works. There really isn't a difference when folding over insulated wire. The electrical length of the antenna stops at the fold over. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Many thanks for the quick response, Walt..and for the information.. Exactly what I wanted to know..73..John..G4EIJ
@@johnrees44..G4EIJ To mitigate the folded back section, twist it with the outgoing wire, that way it won't become linear loaded.
@@paulsengupta971..thank you..J…G4EIJ
Where did u get the orange covers for the knobs on the G90?
They came off my RS-918 transceiver
Careful with tape. Some will pull the finish off the pole. Guess how I know?
Roger that!
Tactical comment for later ;)
Roger that!
So basically, If I make my 43 foot vertical, 41 foot instead, remove the 4:1 Unun and replace it with a 9:1 Unun and either use a 17 foot counterpoise or maybe the radials I already have buried I can maybe boost my signal ?
Yes that should work well
Is that the dx commander expedition or classic pole?
It's an Expedition.
Hey Walt, I just heard P7TBI talking to you. Couldn't hear you though.
73
KO4GBB, Moe
Hi Moe! Band conditions were strange yesterday. That QSO is in a video I'm posting shortly.
Where did you get the antenna map from your station location?
Right here:
ns6t.net/azimuth/azimuth.html
Another great video Walt! Wouldn’t it be easier to use the coax as a counterpoise?
If I wasn't beside that saltwater that would probably be the better way to do it but a groundplane over saltwater is like having an amplifier.
Hi,
I wonder if you could help or explain a thing or two in regard to the antenna I have purchased and using. It's EAntenna DX13M advertised as 1.8-50 Mhz. So far the only thing I've done was grounding it, I have a tube that been pushed into the ground where water level is about 60cm ( reclaimed land from a lake I believe ) using thick copper wire soldered to 15mm copper tube and dipped into the water. I have not much space to lay down radials though. Now, I want to do some top band activities but the antenna don't want to cooperate. If I disconnect ''grounding'' it kind off works, locally more like NVIS one, or rather only as NVIS.
So, with your experience what could I do to improve the whole thing please?
Regards, Andy de 2E0FHM
Hey walt my g90 is a lot quieter than yours maybe have a play i only run rf gain at 50 percent i love your vids but in my headphones ouch
Sorry, I have a hearing impairment.
hearing you loud and clear from u k
Awesome thank you!