2:01 People have already commented that a Mercator projection is not accurate for beam headings, so here is information for getting correct beam headings. RU-vid won't let me post web addresses that direct you away from RU-vid, so I have to describe the sites. If your web browser is set to reveal your location and you want beam headings for your current location, go to the "Antenna Bearings - Geodesic Map" page at VU2NSB, and it will automatically generate a map for you. If you want headings for an arbitrary location, go to LevineCentral's "Amateur Radio Ham Radio Maidenhead Grid Square Locator Map" to get the desired Maidenhead grid square ID. Then enter that at VU2NSB's "Antenna Bearings" page and "Regenerate MAP". For more information, see VU2NSB's web page "Geodesy and Maps for Terrestrial HF Radio".
I understand it is a non-resonant antenna in all the bands it supports, but how non resonant? I couldn't find any info on the actual SWR figures. Most modern radios with an internal tuner cannot cope with anything over 1:2.5 (1:3 best case), so this information is very relevant for potential buyers.
@@TechMindsOfficial OK, now found it. Seems, for people only equipped with an internal tuner, this antenna is only usable between 10-17 meters. At 40m, with a SWR of 1:21, I don't think it is usable at all with any kind of tuner.
I tested with a CHA URT1 about 5 meters from the feed point and that tuned it on all bands fine. I also tested with an ATU-100M Pro in the shack separately, and if I remember that had trouble on 40m. So a decent tuner is defo required for 40m. I would only ever use 40 on the DBP if I had nothing else to use, otherwise a wire antenna for 40m is way better. Cheers
It’s too bad you can’t just make a video about what haarp is and what people believe without saying over and over how “ludicrous and bizarre” the “conspiracy theories“ are. It might’ve almost seemed like this video could be taken seriously. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck…idc if you call me a conspiracy theorist….im gonna say it’s a duck and that you can’t be trusted.
For anybody making conspiracy theories, can you explain the cause-and-effect of the conspiracy theory instead of just propagating bullshit? If you can’t fact, check it it’s kind of stupid.
The expected quite high SWR values (high quality low-loss coax should be used) are found in the Radcom review www.proantennas.co.uk/_files/ugd/695f23_b015c496b0324cdcbfab51a16f45d7c5.pdf
I do not like the phrase in the Specification: "This antenna requires an ATU to minimise the reflected power". You will still have reflected power (and corresponding losses) on the feedline but with the ATU just keep the transmitter happy. The only way an ATU can minimise reflected power is when placed at the feedpoint.
Didn't see any SWR curves. You sound like using 2 tuners getting some signal where there is never a proper resonance. Typical for a G5RV graduate where bandwidth is not really defined. Cheap in materials and good in crowded areas where dx is just what is over a mile.
Hi Matt, thanks for the tutorial, great! One question, my recently purchased radio of this model came with Version 2.02 (1.3E), it seems to be more current than this one, and it has the most varied bugs. Can I post this update? Or if you try to do it, because you have a different one than the one initially shown, could it be damaged? I await your response, thank you.
Once I got past all the issues, which turned out to be all me and not the radio, I’ve been unstoppable with this rig. It’s been my “goto” rig for everything digital. I’ve doubled my contacts in one year from the past quarter century. Not the best cw machine but I get by with it. Phenomenal on ssb and digital. The 20 watts on ssb gives me that extra punch so so often needed. De n5vwn
Ok, I bit the bullet and bought one of these KIWI SDR 2s. It came to the US in two days from Martin Lynch and Sons in England. Two days! I poured myself a cup of coffee Friday morning and activated my new KiwiSDR 2 radio station. I'm still doing a double take at the little black box sitting on the floor, realizing that this KiwiSDR 2 is not hooked to anything else. No need to load any software. It's a standalone box with everything included. It comes with a GPS circuit/antenna to keep perfect time, my location is picking up four or five satellites around the clock. To see the entire 0-30 megahertz spectrum and be able to do a deep dive by clicking and zooming in on a waterfall/spectrum scope is fun and amazing. I am now part of a worldwide group of Kiwi SDR owners/listeners. First, there's the hardware, a small box with the KIWI SDR 2 motherboard coupled to a Beagle Bone, which is the computer. I did nothing but plug the box into a LAN outlet and powered it up via a 5V, 2amp USB charger cord 5.5 x 2.1mm. Go to MykiwiSDR.com and up pops your station IP address, ready to be identified and registered. I plugged mine into an active loop antenna. The configuration software is extensive and impressive, giving you plenty of options for both you and anyone else who comes to visit. Now I can share my listening station with all my friends. Really cool are all the digital modes that can be deciphered. Just point and click on a frequency and the appropriate decoding screen pops up, giving you all kinds of digital info. There's AM, shortwave bands, HAM bands, military bands, Marine bands, weather satellites, it goes on and on. Filters are good, but considering this is a Software Defined Radio I expect things to improve even more with each firmware update. Kudos to the KiwiSDR team for having this magical box manufactured by TRIODE in New Zealand. They are a small but very good electronics manufacturer. Very good receiver, not as sensitive as the most expensive units, but just fine for hours of exploration. Check out all that this radio has to offer, all the modes too. No cobbling together various SDR software from the internet, risking a computer virus in the process. You don't need to be a computer guru to make this all work. I love visiting and using other people's radio stations by simply clicking on a map that shows every online KiwiSDR around the globe. It's great to know that when I leave town I can "work" the world by bringing up my radio station and hundreds of others on my smartphone. This is a great advancement for anyone into radio.
The CW feature is essentially for free as the micro has nothing else to do and takes up little to no computing while not on duty doing tunning. Why not? ADOTJ
That’s a pretty neat antenna! I like how it drops the noise floor without dropping the radio signal. I book marked the website. Anyways, another great video as usual. Thanks! De n5vwn
Around 1976, I got home from work to hear aurora on 10 metres! Had a A contact with a local on ssb. We both had 2 ele quads and beamed North. We were 5 miles apart! G4BTI.
That noise floor comparison is really nice and it seems to work very well. I will finally be able to use my radio's in anger in September when I move to my place in Italy with the mrs and looking at options for antenna and new home base. 73 de G0LQP
Just got mine, pretty interesting, but it's got a heck of a learning curve. So far, I guess the bluetooth isn't an option. No matter what I touch, bluetooth will not turn on.
I am amazed you get HF in the house. I find , even with an external antenna, it is very noisy and I cannot hear much! Outside with a telescopic whip or long wire, works fine though.
So that's essentially a rotatable doublet shortened with capacitance hats. Nice, but I didn't expect that much gain. But why not put the remote tuner right at the feed point, instead of 10m away? And what were you doing with the SDR to prevent overload, when you were transmit on the IC-7100?
The manual states to use an ATU around 25 meters away, normally in the shack. I tested both ways, with an Automatic ATU around 5 meters from the feed point (thats the length of patch cable I had laying around), and then I tested with an ATU in the shack. both gave roughly the same results. Due to the CME I didn't get a proper chance to test it in anger, but hopefully I will get it installed above the roof on a mast when the conditions improve. Cheers
I built my own a few years ago, cost me about £50 in total. I used a 1::1 balun in center and it worked very well. I mounted mine vertically with a line isolater at the base to stop feedline radiation.
Basically then it is a not a beam, it is only a single element , a rotatable dipole and the capacitance hats on the end make up for the lack of element length
@@BusDriverRFI Dual beam implies to me it has 2 elements , the gain is not over a dipole but DBI the mysterious isotropic source that gives highly inflated readings
@@paulsengupta971 I have always felt that a dipole should be the starting point/unity for any gain figures. If this is a shortened dipole how can it have more gain than a dipole ??
@@dave10524 2.15dBi is gain of a dipole in free space, over ground, good ground, you get gain from the ground image created. You can get up to 6dB gain from this at 20-30 degrees elevation, so a standard halfwave dipole could measure as much as 8.15 dBi in a real world installation.
I use a Commet H422 trapped rotary dipole. Its a good antenna but after a winter of storms the traps can take a battering so i was always wondering about the Dual Beam but as a heavy 40 meter user i would be wondering about its performance on 40. Very interesting video..
I had one some years back and although it did tune on 40m performance was marginal at best. For 20m and up it did perform quite well. I bought mine without the balun and fed it with 450ohm back to my own 4:1 balun at the shack and a manual tuner, basically it performed like a short rotatable doublet more suited to the higher bands.
