Walt.. I got my license in 1992 and let it expire. Your videos have reignited the flame and I bought a G90. Studying now to take the tests. Thanks for making amateur radio "cool" again. Love your energy and enthusiasm.
The green god of Jealously has hit me again Walt! I'm home in Mass, 120 miles from the sea and I can hear the Aussies well and OCCASIONALLY I get through with my 891 and 100 watts and a wire. The salt water is your friend for sure! 73 , KC1MTM, Joe
I built one of these years ago without knowing it had a name... I just thought if I put a wire on a vertical fishing pole it would probably tune up okay. It worked well enough for an apartment balcony antenna! I'm getting back into HF and thinking of building this as one of my portable options. I'm sure I could do it better now with some of the knowledge and tools I have. Thanks again for all your videos.
Hi Walt. I built your original Coastal Wave antenna with the 9:1 and then the 4:1 ununs. Unfortunately my Icom 705 doesn’t have an internal tuner I used my homebrew Z-Matcher but didn’t have much luck with the off-center-fed so switched to a center-loaded end-fed again with no radials. The center loading had to be manually switched with a short jumper but performance was much improved. With the SOTA Beams 10M travel mast 15M only required a small capacitor for the loading and covered a good bit of the band without a tuner. You may want to consider an end-fed vertical withe a 49:1 unun at the base. A little different approach to a no-radial vertical. 73, Terry W4ZQ
Hey Walt, great work with your Rybakov. I worked VK3EY a few days later from the beaches of Brittany and I mentioned you as my chosen source of inspiration😁 I have a Rybakov I bought from M0CVO (as the "Magitenna") before I watched your videos (I would have built it myself instead) and sometimes it works really well, sometimes not so good. The ground conductivity seems to alter its efficiency quite a lot. I use it with 8x5m ground radials when I can't take advantage of a wire to the sea water like you did here. On 40m my SWR is in the 2.5 range. I need to use the G90's tuner. Also on 16m. I've experimented a longer radiating element (29ft, 8.84m) with a 9:1 LDG unun and SWR was worse. I ended up using the 4:1 that came with the Magitenna but saw no significant difference from the original 25ft, 7.6m wire. Best 73s to you & family, Walt.
My current home antenna is a 53 ft Rybakov. 25 foot vertical section and then a 23 ft horizontal section roughly 25 ft off the ground with an LDG 4:1 unun and 16 radials. I work 10-80 meters with no problem
Hi Walt. Because of your YT i comeback to my 11m dx and started working with to get my Ham license. You are inspired me to do Ham license , so hopefully I get before this end of year. 73’s
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I have started to build antennas, so I all ready have Rybakov , EFHW and last weekend i have build T2LT from rg6 coax ( 75 ohm) with 240-61 ( takes 1,5 hour calibration to get 50 ohms and 1-1,2 on 11m) . After I tested last weekend I’ve got pretty good results with T2LT 10w Sweden-Brazil ( 5988miles) . When I do my Ham license I’m pretty sure that i want to hunt You 73’s Rafael
Hey Walt, just got my Extra license and you've inspired me to build this one. Pole and unun are on order! Also gonna try to use this massive steel hog fence as a counterpoise ... stay tuned (to coin a phrase). 🤠 PS: When I was a pup, I always figured that the longer the wavelength, the more sophisticated the operators -- it just HAD to be that way, right? Nope.
Hey Walt, I just wanted to say Thank You for the tip off about using "speaker wire" for building antennas. I bought some off eBay (it arrived this morning) and I'm thinking about building the Rybakov as a simple home base vertical here. I'll need to get a 4:1 unun but it's payday this week so fingers crossed I can grab one next week. 73 and good DX. DE G7LPW (Keith) in Norfolk England.
@tankthetuba if you like building your own gear, consider making a 4:1 guanella balun. They're easy, cheap and effective. I made one for my home base antenna and one for my kid's radio club in the same afternoon.
7200 MHZ is one of a few reasons why I’m CW only on HF. Its beacons of hope like yourself Walt that lead the community and might make me go on phone as well. We’ll see. 73 and keep up the outstanding work Walt! De N1XV
Here in the UK our 40m allocation ends at 7.200 above there's LW radio signals we get strong from China & Romania. Possibly you may have heard some skip?
I use this antenna often for POTA since I can just use my drive on mast mount and a 30ft pole. It's not as good as my 53ft or 71ft EFRW but it's quicker and less trouble to use in high foot traffic areas. Like you said, for 40-10 it's a good option and gets decent results.
A great antenna old man! You inspired me around 6 months ago to build one of those critters. Many contacts later, it's been fun playing with lengths to enable 75 meters. Many thanks for all you do!
Great video Walt! I want to build this antenna and try it out. Thanks for all you do on your channel. I have learned more from watching your videos than i have from anything else...and i truly appreciate it. So glad your wife is doing better. Keep up the great work!!
Great fun Walt ! Yes early morning . Grey line DX is great ! For last Fall/Winter?early Spring 10/12 meters was GREAT ! Both the Rybakov and end fed half wave veritable and the longer 9:1 random wire veritable ground mount is great DX antenna .Easy to set up. Someone north of me did a POTA on 7200 and got it done. Did video on youtube. Was great ! I did FT8 on 17 meters and 15 meters just the outher day. was great. some DX . I got my QRO 49:1 warm. got over 100 contacts from 5Am to Noon. 400 watt . Same setup but was a Park . and 49:1 with mono band wire cut for 15 and another one for 17 meters. Just drop down change wire. I did 4- 17F counterpoise on ground. works great ! I got tune around 1.3/1.5 on FT8 . stays under 1.8 on SSB part. I get better tune on my 10/11/12 meter wire and the 6 meter wire. 20 meters goes up but under 2:1 the whole band. I used a 2 stack of FT 240-61 wound with 10 AWG mag wire and 3KV 100 PF cap. Not hard to make a UNUN . 73
Roger that, I can't wait for fall as 10/11/12 will start getting better again. This winter should be amazing as we are probably going to be pretty much at the peak of this solar cycle. I'm going to do a lot of 10 and 12 playing on camera and for 11, umm well I'll be there LOL. 73 my friend
I've neen to Taiwan but never knew they had surf shops there! Once I get my HF stuff organized (recently moved to new home and still unpacking) I"ll drive to the local beaches and try some of your ideas. My QTH is about 10-12 mlies as the crow flies from Monterey Bay, Calif...
Good morning Walt: Another great antenna video. It’s amazing how well operating adjacent to “Salty Walt” water helps with the ability to reach out to other stations world wide! Love your videos, each one is like a private training session, thank you. Prayers continue for Mrs.🙏🇺🇸 AC3EA
@@georgebradshaw474 thank you so much George! Allison was talking about you this morning, your ears must be burning haha. That saltwater is the secret sauce for sure. Makes me just want to be a beach bum with a radio. All the best my friend!
I have been playing with stainless steel whips on 20m and up as a ground mounted co-phased set up, and have been getting some real nice results. Looking to elevate the setup and lower the ground effects.
I will help your analytics I watch all your videos and Im subscribed. I used your 29’ vertical this morning on a CW Pota activation on 20 meters. 16 contacts in 1 hour! Thanks for all the tips. 73s
I might have to look into this antenna for POTA operations. I want a multi band antenna with minimal footprint. A while back I acquired a decent amount of 18 gauge wire for free and it is just waiting to be made into antennas.
Ha! I built this antenna last evening and got my first DX on 20 meters. I spoke to a pretty cool guy in London and a guy in ST Martin. I used 4 counterpoise. I think they are too long, 25, after hearing you say yours is 17’.
Those counterpoise wires are probably much better than my 17 footer. The more the better, they're not too long. I only need one short one because of the close proximity to saltwater. Great contacts and congrats on the DX! 73, Walt
Great stuff Walt. I have been messing around (i.e. experimenting not doing silly stuff) with my Black Brick QRP SDR radio which is proving to be great fun with EFHW style antennas. The reception is brilliant - better than my FT450D ? - and on the internal mike can get some great 5 watts TX as well if the conditions are right. 73 M7BLC
That's fantastic. Very inspiring. Partly thans to you (with a healthy doese of Callum obviously) I recently bought a DX Commander Classic 10m pole and an LDG 4:1 unun to try this very antenna. The heatwave here has delayed things, but hope to get it up this week. Wee question if I may. The fully extended pole is 32ft and the Rybakov 25ft. Do you just tape the wire to the pole at that length or are you using one of those s-biners for this? If so, how? Again, really inspirational stuff. Les, Oregon, KK7TPM
I just tape the wire to the pole with some cheap 99 cent electrical tape. As you can see in the video I have the feedpoint at the bottom so the wire only has to go up 25 feet from there and there is some naked pole at the top lol. Thanks for the kind words! 73, Walt
@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks for the info! I've been using a 17.5 as my qth antenna for some time now. With my tuner, it's good for 15-40 meters. It appears to tune up on 10 and 12, but I've only been able to complete a couple of contacts on 12, and none on 10. I'll try the 25' soon.
I want to try at the beach here @ South Padre Island, we can actually drive on the beach north towards port Mansfield and have little or no traffic sometimes. DX Commander looks like a reasonable option for for the beach, do you use an umbrella mount sometimes? Screw into the sand?
I use an umbrella mount for my smaller poles but my 7m and 10m DX Commander poles won’t fit in the umbrella holders I have. I just screw the bottom cap off and slide it over a piece of PVC pipe
Really enjoying your content thank you. Suitably inspired to construct a Rybakov. Ideal for my POTA ops. Hope you dont mind me asking are you ex Navy/ USCG ?. 😉🇬🇧🍻🇺🇲
I was thinking of mounting this 10' up on my pergola and running elevated radials over the pergola. I notice that your antennas are usually mounted in the ground. Is there any added benefit from adding 10' of elevation?
Actually the benefit is the ground especially for me by salt water. The reflective RF ground of the surface below you is the advantage with an antenna like this. Height is not always an advantage for a vertical HF antenna.
Hi Walt I use a similar design I came up with 33ft vertical 9:1unan with 16ft6inch capacitive radial system. Great videos hope to work you again de M0JFE
If you were going to turn this into a fixed station antenna, what would you do differently? Rather than running a wire up a telescopic pole, would you use an aluminum element or ... ? Trying to adapt this for home use. The Cushcraft R7 isn't really doing it for me anymore. 73
it's about 45mm or roughly 1-3/4 inches. I have not been able to find an umbrella spike big enough to support it and that's why I use PVC pipe as a support spike. 73, Walt
Here is a video of my radial kit. 4 x 5m long. Made from silicon wire to make them easier to unroll. My whole antenna system is made from Ali Express parts, but I bought the 10mm to 3/8 adapter for the telescopic whip to keep things at 3/8. Even the spring and the string winders came from Ali Express. ua-cam.com/video/zKSV8wBxUhE/v-deo.htmlsi=_iig0XBlcRMzIHJW
Walt: How does it play on 80 meters? I have one cut & bagged, but famiky has kept me from getting out. Maybe I can get an early August POTA activation...de WB2VUO in Amherst, NY
Honestly it tunes and works on 80 but I haven't used it there. There is a link mod you can do to make it better for 80. Do a search for that, I think there is some info out there.
Amazing contact, i know VK3EY as well he makes youtube video as well. For 20m as you already know, is better the short rybakov of 5.5m. Ciao Walt IU4PSD
Thanks for another great video. I'm going to build one of these. I'm semi retired, so I'm on a budget. Can I use a painter's pole that's about 24 feet when extended, or would the aluminum pole sections cause problems? I could cobble together some PVP pile ( I can't really afford a DX Commander pole). Also, I've noticed a lot more nonsense on the 40 meter band these days: people playing music, swearing (got nothing against swearing just not on ham radio), and political rants. I love amateur radio because it's a place I go to to avoid the craziness of life. Thankfully, there is the 20 and 15 meter bands for DXing. I live in Marin CA, so we're near beaches. I really want to try putting a counterpoise out into salt water. Thanks again...73...KN6KNB
Thanks for watching! Unfortunately that painters pole will cause problems because of its metal parts. Here’s an idea I’ve tried and it works. I’ve used a couple old smaller poles and taped them together to make them extend to the 25 feet I needed. You could get a couple cheap Crappie poles online or find some old fishing poles and strip the eyelets off them. That’s actually how I built my first Rybakov when I was over in Poland. If you go back and look at the beginning of this video, that green mast is a couple poles tapped together. 73, Walt
Walt.. I got my license in 1992 and let it expire. Your videos have reignited the flame and I bought a G90. Studying now to take the tests. Thanks for making amateur radio "cool" again. Love your energy and enthusiasm.
Thanks for the kind words! I’ll catch you on the air soon my friend!
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I would love it. I hope my first QSO after 25 years can be OGO on 20m and two G90s!
The green god of Jealously has hit me again Walt! I'm home in Mass, 120 miles from the sea and I can hear the Aussies well and OCCASIONALLY I get through with my 891 and 100 watts and a wire. The salt water is your friend for sure! 73 , KC1MTM, Joe
Hi Joe! Yes indeed saltwater is amazing for radio wave surfing LOL
all the best and 73 my friend
I built one of these years ago without knowing it had a name... I just thought if I put a wire on a vertical fishing pole it would probably tune up okay. It worked well enough for an apartment balcony antenna! I'm getting back into HF and thinking of building this as one of my portable options. I'm sure I could do it better now with some of the knowledge and tools I have. Thanks again for all your videos.
Hi Walt. I built your original Coastal Wave antenna with the 9:1 and then the 4:1 ununs. Unfortunately my Icom 705 doesn’t have an internal tuner I used my homebrew Z-Matcher but didn’t have much luck with the off-center-fed so switched to a center-loaded end-fed again with no radials. The center loading had to be manually switched with a short jumper but performance was much improved. With the SOTA Beams 10M travel mast 15M only required a small capacitor for the loading and covered a good bit of the band without a tuner. You may want to consider an end-fed vertical withe a 49:1 unun at the base. A little different approach to a no-radial vertical. 73, Terry W4ZQ
Walt, I love your channel! You've inspired me to find a way to get back into the hobby after a dozen years or so away... Thanks!
Thank you so much for saying that! I'm looking forward to talking to you on the air my friend. 73, Walt
Hey Walt, great work with your Rybakov. I worked VK3EY a few days later from the beaches of Brittany and I mentioned you as my chosen source of inspiration😁
I have a Rybakov I bought from M0CVO (as the "Magitenna") before I watched your videos (I would have built it myself instead) and sometimes it works really well, sometimes not so good. The ground conductivity seems to alter its efficiency quite a lot. I use it with 8x5m ground radials when I can't take advantage of a wire to the sea water like you did here.
On 40m my SWR is in the 2.5 range. I need to use the G90's tuner. Also on 16m.
I've experimented a longer radiating element (29ft, 8.84m) with a 9:1 LDG unun and SWR was worse. I ended up using the 4:1 that came with the Magitenna but saw no significant difference from the original 25ft, 7.6m wire.
Best 73s to you & family, Walt.
My current home antenna is a 53 ft Rybakov. 25 foot vertical section and then a 23 ft horizontal section roughly 25 ft off the ground with an LDG 4:1 unun and 16 radials. I work 10-80 meters with no problem
Cool, great setup
Hi Walt. Because of your YT i comeback to my 11m dx and started working with to get my Ham license. You are inspired me to do Ham license , so hopefully I get before this end of year. 73’s
You can do it! I’m an 11 meter guy that became a ham. Good luck my friend 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I have started to build antennas, so I all ready have Rybakov , EFHW and last weekend i have build T2LT from rg6 coax ( 75 ohm) with 240-61 ( takes 1,5 hour calibration to get 50 ohms and 1-1,2 on 11m) . After I tested last weekend I’ve got pretty good results with T2LT 10w Sweden-Brazil ( 5988miles) . When I do my Ham license I’m pretty sure that i want to hunt You
73’s
Rafael
I am a new ham license W8BLT and I really like your channel. Thanks. I like your G90 and small amp battery and simple antennae set ups. Fun to watch.
Thank you! 73, Walt
Hey Walt, just got my Extra license and you've inspired me to build this one. Pole and unun are on order! Also gonna try to use this massive steel hog fence as a counterpoise ... stay tuned (to coin a phrase). 🤠 PS: When I was a pup, I always figured that the longer the wavelength, the more sophisticated the operators -- it just HAD to be that way, right? Nope.
Hahahaha Nope! I agree my friend. That fence as a Counterpoise sounds like a cool experiment! 73, Walt
Hey Walt, I just wanted to say Thank You for the tip off about using "speaker wire" for building antennas. I bought some off eBay (it arrived this morning) and I'm thinking about building the Rybakov as a simple home base vertical here. I'll need to get a 4:1 unun but it's payday this week so fingers crossed I can grab one next week. 73 and good DX. DE G7LPW (Keith) in Norfolk England.
Hi Keith! Thanks for the kind words my friend and have fun building antennas! 73, Walt
@tankthetuba if you like building your own gear, consider making a 4:1 guanella balun. They're easy, cheap and effective. I made one for my home base antenna and one for my kid's radio club in the same afternoon.
7200 MHZ is one of a few reasons why I’m CW only on HF.
Its beacons of hope like yourself Walt that lead the community and might make me go on phone as well.
We’ll see.
73 and keep up the outstanding work
Walt!
De N1XV
Thank you for the kind words my friend! 73, Walt
Here in the UK our 40m allocation ends at 7.200 above there's LW radio signals we get strong from China & Romania. Possibly you may have heard some skip?
Time has come to build my Rybakov. Thanks Walt for the great videos.
Thanks! Have fun building that antenna. 73, Walt
I use this antenna often for POTA since I can just use my drive on mast mount and a 30ft pole. It's not as good as my 53ft or 71ft EFRW but it's quicker and less trouble to use in high foot traffic areas.
Like you said, for 40-10 it's a good option and gets decent results.
Yes indeed, pretty good results
A great antenna old man! You inspired me around 6 months ago to build one of those critters. Many contacts later, it's been fun playing with lengths to enable 75 meters.
Many thanks for all you do!
Thank you for the kind words my friend! 73, Walt
Getting it done as usual. Very nice. Thank you for being such an inspiration.
Thank you so much for your inspirational words my friend!
Love your channel. 20m has been awesome for Europe from Midnight to 3am. I'm up in NH. 73 and keep up the awesome DXing.
Thank you so much! I really need to start staying up later and working 20.
All the best and 73, Walt
Great video Walt! I want to build this antenna and try it out. Thanks for all you do on your channel. I have learned more from watching your videos than i have from anything else...and i truly appreciate it. So glad your wife is doing better. Keep up the great work!!
Thank you so much my friend, I greatly appreciate your kind words. My wife is getting better and treatment is going well. All the best and 73, Walt
Great fun Walt ! Yes early morning . Grey line DX is great ! For last Fall/Winter?early Spring 10/12 meters was GREAT ! Both the Rybakov and end fed half wave veritable and the longer 9:1 random wire veritable ground mount is great DX antenna .Easy to set up. Someone north of me did a POTA on 7200 and got it done. Did video on youtube. Was great ! I did FT8 on 17 meters and 15 meters just the outher day. was great. some DX . I got my QRO 49:1 warm. got over 100 contacts from 5Am to Noon. 400 watt . Same setup but was a Park . and 49:1 with mono band wire cut for 15 and another one for 17 meters. Just drop down change wire. I did 4- 17F counterpoise on ground. works great ! I got tune around 1.3/1.5 on FT8 . stays under 1.8 on SSB part. I get better tune on my 10/11/12 meter wire and the 6 meter wire. 20 meters goes up but under 2:1 the whole band. I used a 2 stack of FT 240-61 wound with 10 AWG mag wire and 3KV 100 PF cap. Not hard to make a UNUN . 73
Roger that, I can't wait for fall as 10/11/12 will start getting better again. This winter should be amazing as we are probably going to be pretty much at the peak of this solar cycle. I'm going to do a lot of 10 and 12 playing on camera and for 11, umm well I'll be there LOL. 73 my friend
I've neen to Taiwan but never knew they had surf shops there! Once I get my HF stuff organized (recently moved to new home and still unpacking) I"ll drive to the local beaches and try some of your ideas. My QTH is about 10-12 mlies as the crow flies from Monterey Bay, Calif...
Oh awesome, you'll work some great Pacific DX from that location for sure.
I've had couple QSOs with Rob, always cool to get VK land. Gonna add this antenna to the line up. Thanks Walt
You will enjoy this antenna! 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES the plan for Kill Devil is the 41vertical, 58 dipole, and swapping the 29 for Rybokov
Another great video Walt, and I hope Allison is still improving. 73 Greg
Thank you so much Greg, she is doing well and I really appreciate your thoughts my friend. 73, Walt
Good morning Walt: Another great antenna video. It’s amazing how well operating adjacent to “Salty Walt” water helps with the ability to reach out to other stations world wide!
Love your videos, each one is like a private training session, thank you. Prayers continue for Mrs.🙏🇺🇸 AC3EA
@@georgebradshaw474 thank you so much George! Allison was talking about you this morning, your ears must be burning haha. That saltwater is the secret sauce for sure. Makes me just want to be a beach bum with a radio. All the best my friend!
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES 🙏💕🇺🇸
Great contacts to VK with that setup Walt. Just amasing my friend.🍺🤠🇦🇺
Thanks! That was a fun morning of DX! 73 my friend
Nice signal to Australia!! VK5 stations are in South Australia, unless operating mobile or portable.
Thanks! That was a fun morning of radio
Thanks for the simple antenna idea. I’m going to try it.
Have fun, you're going to enjoy this antenna!
Looks like a beautiful day
It ended up being a nice day after a little rain.
I have been playing with stainless steel whips on 20m and up as a ground mounted co-phased set up, and have been getting some real nice results. Looking to elevate the setup and lower the ground effects.
I'm interested in seeing how that works out! 73, Walt
I will help your analytics I watch all your videos and Im subscribed. I used your 29’ vertical this morning on a CW Pota activation on 20 meters. 16 contacts in 1 hour! Thanks for all the tips. 73s
Thank you so very much my friend! I’m enjoying your channel as well! 73, Walt
Morning Walt. I usually play FT8 early in the mornings but I'm going to start spinning the dial and see if I can catch you. 73 KA2G
@@Herschel_KA2G morning! Hope to get you in the log! 73, Walt
I might have to look into this antenna for POTA operations. I want a multi band antenna with minimal footprint. A while back I acquired a decent amount of 18 gauge wire for free and it is just waiting to be made into antennas.
It’s a good antenna, give it a try!
I think this is the next one to build. I think it will be perfect on the shore of the brackish river here. Thanks! 73, w3rrm
Enjoying your channel. I may have to build one of those and give it a try.
Thank you so very much! It's a fun antenna to build
thanks Walt for the videos on the Rybakov antenna, I just built it for the holidays. Now I have to try it.
73 jerry F4HJO
It's a great antenna, you're going to enjoy it! 73, Walt
Finally pulled the trigger on the x6100! 😊❤️
Awesome!!!!
Well you could have sold me the x6100 instead of shooting it!
@@KeystoneInvestigations 🤣🤣👍🏽
Walt, I have recently discovered that a 50' wire with a 9:1 unun is great on 10 meters, + on the G-90.
Great tip, I'll have to try that!
5.6 m whips are readily available online. I'm considering just hooking one of them up to 2 m. of wire on a pole--(2+5.6=7.6) effectively a Rybakov.
I have a couple, not a bad idea. The trick is the coupling at the feedpoint. Putting a 4:1 at the base is key.
How do you do it awake and dxing at 5 thats brill, you are the Ham man .Walt always looking out for your vids thank you ...This is the way of the ham
@@corsavic1 I’m an early morning person, bring on the coffee! Thank you my friend
I made this antenna. Works great
Awesome! 73, Walt
Awesome video
Thank you so very much my friend!!!!!
Ha! I built this antenna last evening and got my first DX on 20 meters. I spoke to a pretty cool guy in London and a guy in ST Martin. I used 4 counterpoise. I think they are too long, 25, after hearing you say yours is 17’.
Those counterpoise wires are probably much better than my 17 footer. The more the better, they're not too long. I only need one short one because of the close proximity to saltwater.
Great contacts and congrats on the DX! 73, Walt
Great stuff Walt. I have been messing around (i.e. experimenting not doing silly stuff) with my Black Brick QRP SDR radio which is proving to be great fun with EFHW style antennas. The reception is brilliant - better than my FT450D ? - and on the internal mike can get some great 5 watts TX as well if the conditions are right. 73 M7BLC
Thanks! I need to grab my Red Brick the next time I'm home for a visit. 73 my friend!
Radioddity, if you're out there and see this, the Rybakov really needs to be bundled with the G90. Just sayin', LOL.
Hahaha it is the perfect pairing!
Walt awesome video! I have to admit I am jealous of the ocean bud. 😂
Thanks! I'm lucky to be by the ocean for sure. 73 my friend
Good morning Walt!
@@terryshackelford712 good morning my friend!
As always another banging video and contacts.73
Thanks! That was a fun morning. 73, Walt
Way to go, Walt...!!!
Thank you!!!!!!
Super cool.
Thanks for watching!
hi thanks for another cracking video can i ask a basic simple question the wire into the water is it insulted or bare wire thanks
Hi and thanks! It is insulated but it doesn’t matter. It’s no different than laying a counterpoise wire on the ground. Same principle.
Another great video Walt. I just ordered the 4:1 unun and I can't wait to get it on the air. 73 KI5UTS
Thank you so much! You will have fun with this one. 73, Walt
That's fantastic. Very inspiring. Partly thans to you (with a healthy doese of Callum obviously) I recently bought a DX Commander Classic 10m pole and an LDG 4:1 unun to try this very antenna. The heatwave here has delayed things, but hope to get it up this week. Wee question if I may. The fully extended pole is 32ft and the Rybakov 25ft. Do you just tape the wire to the pole at that length or are you using one of those s-biners for this? If so, how? Again, really inspirational stuff. Les, Oregon, KK7TPM
I just tape the wire to the pole with some cheap 99 cent electrical tape. As you can see in the video I have the feedpoint at the bottom so the wire only has to go up 25 feet from there and there is some naked pole at the top lol. Thanks for the kind words! 73, Walt
Hello Waldi lux super 73..
Hello Jan! 73 my friend!
Please put a link to the drawings/sketches of the antennas you build and showcase in the episode's description on your channel.
Sure thing, I put all of my drawings up on my Instagram page. Here’s the drawing from this video: instagram.com/p/Ck-4KCPDqjo/?igsh=MmJmYXI3NGV5MHB0
Very cool! How does the Rybakov at 25' compare to the 17.5' with the same 4:1?
They are very similar antennas especially on 20, 17 and 15 meters. The Rybakov adds 40 meters and is really amazing on 10 meters.
@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks for the info! I've been using a 17.5 as my qth antenna for some time now. With my tuner, it's good for 15-40 meters. It appears to tune up on 10 and 12, but I've only been able to complete a couple of contacts on 12, and none on 10.
I'll try the 25' soon.
I want to try at the beach here @ South Padre Island, we can actually drive on the beach north towards port Mansfield and have little or no traffic sometimes. DX Commander looks like a reasonable option for for the beach, do you use an umbrella mount sometimes? Screw into the sand?
W8BLT
I use an umbrella mount for my smaller poles but my 7m and 10m DX Commander poles won’t fit in the umbrella holders I have. I just screw the bottom cap off and slide it over a piece of PVC pipe
Really enjoying your content thank you. Suitably inspired to construct a Rybakov. Ideal for my POTA ops. Hope you dont mind me asking are you ex Navy/ USCG ?. 😉🇬🇧🍻🇺🇲
Thanks! Navy civilian engineering contractor for decades
I was thinking of mounting this 10' up on my pergola and running elevated radials over the pergola. I notice that your antennas are usually mounted in the ground. Is there any added benefit from adding 10' of elevation?
Actually the benefit is the ground especially for me by salt water. The reflective RF ground of the surface below you is the advantage with an antenna like this. Height is not always an advantage for a vertical HF antenna.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Good to know. I'm on South Padre Island TX and my house backs up to the bay. Thanks for the reply!
Hi Walt I use a similar design I came up with 33ft vertical 9:1unan with 16ft6inch capacitive radial system. Great videos hope to work you again de M0JFE
Interesting setup! Hope to get you in the log soon! 73, Walt
Should try a Doublet sometime Walt.
It's on my list! 73 my friend
If you were going to turn this into a fixed station antenna, what would you do differently? Rather than running a wire up a telescopic pole, would you use an aluminum element or ... ? Trying to adapt this for home use. The Cushcraft R7 isn't really doing it for me anymore. 73
@@N5OLA probably use aluminum elements. This is basically a Sigma EuroComm HF-360 antenna which is what I use at my home QTH as a permanent antenna.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thank you! I have a 40' telescopic aluminum pole waiting for a project like this.
Last question!!! At home, do you use the 5% counterpoise with your Sigma?
@@N5OLA no, my sigma is mounted on a metal handrail which is connected to my metal roof. That’s all.
That is AWESOME, Walt!! Now, I need to build one, lol!! Beach DX definitely has its advantages. Take care, my friend! -73 KQ4KIO
Thanks for watching! Oh yes the beach is amazing for DX. 73, Walt
What is the base diameter of the DX commander 10m pole? I'm trying to figure out which screw-in umbrella holder/spike to buy.
it's about 45mm or roughly 1-3/4 inches. I have not been able to find an umbrella spike big enough to support it and that's why I use PVC pipe as a support spike. 73, Walt
Here is a video of my radial kit. 4 x 5m long. Made from silicon wire to make them easier to unroll. My whole antenna system is made from Ali Express parts, but I bought the 10mm to 3/8 adapter for the telescopic whip to keep things at 3/8. Even the spring and the string winders came from Ali Express. ua-cam.com/video/zKSV8wBxUhE/v-deo.htmlsi=_iig0XBlcRMzIHJW
@@GordonHudson that clamp is perfect. That’s nice. I really like that.
Please help Walt , like and Subscribe folks.......
Thank you!!!!
When you get back to Portsmouth do you do antenna building classes?
I haven’t done that but maybe that would be a good event to do with my club “Chesapeake Amateur Radio Service” I’ll put that idea out to them
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I took my exam with them during field day
How many counterweights and what length are needed if there is no sea?
4 or 5 counterpoise wires 5 meters long work great.
Walt: How does it play on 80 meters? I have one cut & bagged, but famiky has kept me from getting out. Maybe I can get an early August POTA activation...de WB2VUO in Amherst, NY
Honestly it tunes and works on 80 but I haven't used it there. There is a link mod you can do to make it better for 80. Do a search for that, I think there is some info out there.
Amazing contact, i know VK3EY as well he makes youtube video as well. For 20m as you already know, is better the short rybakov of 5.5m. Ciao Walt IU4PSD
Yes that 5.5 antenna is great or as I call it "The 17-Five" it does perform well on 20M Ciao and 73 my friend
Parks On The Air.....so that's what POTA stands for.
And all this time I thought it stood for People Only Take Aspirin! 😦
Thanks for another great video. I'm going to build one of these. I'm semi retired, so I'm on a budget. Can I use a painter's pole that's about 24 feet when extended, or would the aluminum pole sections cause problems? I could cobble together some PVP pile ( I can't really afford a DX Commander pole). Also, I've noticed a lot more nonsense on the 40 meter band these days: people playing music, swearing (got nothing against swearing just not on ham radio), and political rants. I love amateur radio because it's a place I go to to avoid the craziness of life. Thankfully, there is the 20 and 15 meter bands for DXing. I live in Marin CA, so we're near beaches. I really want to try putting a counterpoise out into salt water. Thanks again...73...KN6KNB
Thanks for watching! Unfortunately that painters pole will cause problems because of its metal parts. Here’s an idea I’ve tried and it works. I’ve used a couple old smaller poles and taped them together to make them extend to the 25 feet I needed. You could get a couple cheap Crappie poles online or find some old fishing poles and strip the eyelets off them. That’s actually how I built my first Rybakov when I was over in Poland. If you go back and look at the beginning of this video, that green mast is a couple poles tapped together. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thank you for the information. I will do exactly what you suggested. Thanks again...73...KN6KNB
I would think with a name like Rybakov it would 7.62m😀
Are you sure that transmission on 7.2 MHz is not broadcast from Europe as our band limit as you know is 7.2
Oh I'm positive, that frequency is the junkyard of American ham radio
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES they are idiots then
hi,. where can i get this dx commander pole?
dxcommander.com/product/10m-expedition-pole-dx-commander/
It took about 5 days shipping from UK to USA
Can you try rybacov 2? The director are 13 meter, and you put one radial for band if you want tnx
I will look into that
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES i attend video 😊
Is it possible to use it as slopper ?
I don't think it would be as good as a vertical but give it a try.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES i’m on the casr
And DX Engineering just got more of my $$$.
Have fun building this one! 73, Walt
7.200 is for the little children playing on their daddy's radio when he ain't home..
Exactly
I can't believe some of the crap I was hearing on 7.2 the other day :( I just spin the VFO and find another frequency :)
Same here, I progressed into ham radio from the 11 meter world and I can honestly say 7.200 is worse than CB has ever been.
7.200 is a zoo and has been for many years.
@@TheQwik512 yes it has!
bye bye
Have a great day!
May God bless you
I think it's fine to speak 'American"..
Roger that!!! MERICA