I'll admit that I'm surprised that the coax heading to the DX Commander didn't soak up all the power. This definitely falls into the category of trying stupid things and getting surprising results. I love it. I also love that you are instilling the fun of experimentation in your kids. More of this, please.
please also keep in mind that not only is the polarization hugely important (around 20 db loss for cross polarization) but when you make tests like this over a large swath of time the propagation changes minute by minute and sometimes second by second. You could hear the Raleigh fading occurring even during some of the tests with the same antenna. conditions on 2 meters are often better during the morning with some possible inversion from the cooler air up higher and the warmer air mass down low. As the day progresses and the air mass heats more evenly during the "heat" of the day, typically propagation conditions get worse as the day progresses. you still had fun and hopefully learned a few things. In any case testing and having fun is the better part of amateur radio. 73 de James K0UA
As others have noted, the tape measure Yagi and the Buddipole dipole should have been mounted vertically instead of horizontally to match the polarization of the remote station. Cross-polarization will cause a large path loss between your station and the repeater. You might want to repeat the tests of those two antennas with them mounted vertically and I suspect you'll note a huge improvement in the performance. Otherwise your video was informative and fun. I encourage you to continue experimenting and posting your results!
"Rubber Ducky" antennas are designed to work best when MOUNTED on the radio. The radio acts as a counterpoise. The next time try dropping 1/4 wavelength piece of wire under the ducks. The antennas that you had horizontal should have been mounted vertically. You get about 20db LOSS in signals when both station are "crossed polarized". Oh, DON`T use the cheap Chinese adapters, on VHF you can get 3db of loss, thats half your power! Continue experimenting, it's FUN ! Congrats on getting ur ticket !!! 73 N8AUM.
I didn't see anything wrong with what he said I believe constructive criticism is very important part of what he was doing here I never want to cause an argument so don't get me wrong either way I just believe there's quite a few of us may have learned something from what was said you know I still don't understand why there's a problem getting 50 ohms when you use the rite coax and antenna with good ends with an swr as good as1 to 1 I wish someone could explain what changes would need to be made to have min.50 ohm or little higher without messing up the 1 to 1 swr I've been a cb base and mobile operator for fourty years at least and we never tested ohms only swr and I always insisted that the swr meter not even move for al forty channels with atleast a hundred watts and always had great reception and transmit I knew 1 guy that had a really strong signal with an aluminum group lane in a tree use 75 ohm tv coax with a good swr I would say around 1.2 maybe can't remember but he was one of the strongest stations coming out of his area and the were stations with better antennas more power and higher in the air this is why I ask about ohms and adjusting them anyone that really knows the answer I would really really love to know details please
What a fun test guys, sorry I missed the live stream! Just curious on the Yagi that Becca built, in the picture you had it horizontal, for FM usually you would set it vertical just wondering if you tried both? Maybe a shoot out video Yagi vs DXC with the Yagi at 10' and zeroed in on the repeater best you can just a thought. The DX Commander is a great antenna that covers so much didn't know 2m also until you mentioned it before. Thx for the video.
@@temporarilyoffline , Hey thats what this community is all about! Just make sure with the yagi vertical the mast if metal is not in line with the antenna.
Testing antennas is awesome, thanks for sharing. I'm curious about ground planes for HT antennas in the test setup. I learned in one of Josh's videos that the Nagoya, rubber duck, and Abreees require ground planes -- our bodies are part of the ground plane when clutching an HT, hence the need for tiger tails or similar. I confess that I've thrown out perfectly good Nagoyas after testing with a specan and coupler but then realized that I did not attach a tiger tail or other ground plane. Thoughts if it affected performance? I may have missed something on the setup...
If "human" is part of the requirement, we used the yellowfeng in its natural state of holding it in your hand. The results could only improve if we added a real ground plane. I'd have to gear up for a test like that.
I have nothing useful to add (new ham). However, it’s very nice to hear/see teenagers enjoying themselves with technology that isn’t TikTok. You must be doing something right.
Having fun can be contagious! It is my understanding that early exposure happens, then a decline, then they get back in later when life slows down again. If you're interesting, ARRL has LOTS of scholarship money to tease your school's administration with!
@@temporarilyoffline I was actually thinking of having a switch between the Baofeng and the Kenwood, instead of having to swap the cables 30 times. :-) However... having them all available would be fun too.
@@superdave913 I have mental issues (probably of my own making) that says don't trust having 2 transmitters into one antenna... 50w "leaking" into a 'feng through the reverse usage of a switch scares me.
How does impedance affect performance? I noticed that many of the low SWR antennas also had 20ish ohms of impedance. Doesn't the impedance on the antenna need to match the 50 in the radio? I too am new to this, and trying to learn. Great Vid!!! K9LRG
Here is what I know... The radio is expecting 50Ohms, but it can deal with a range, it doesn't have to be exact. The closer you are to 50Ohms, the better. Just like the closer you are to 1:1 SWR, the better. Impedance is like trying to walk through water vs air vs motor oil in my head. The RF will find the best path into and out of your radio. Too much impedance and you're going to lose signal strength. A 1:1 swr is a 50 ohm to 50 ohm match
Have a homebrew DXC for a about a year..... tested 2m and 70cm when I made it. Have a 20M and 40m wires installed. Able to hit many repeaters in my area.
I have always been curious how antenna height vs coax length is related. As an example, close to my radio I can get my antenna about 10ft high over 25' of coax. Another location, I can get to about 60ft high but it will take about 125ft of coax. I would gain from the antenna height, but lose on the coax length. Hmmmmmm.....
I don't know if anyone else said it but your yagi should have been mounted for vertical polarization not horizontal. Also they say you show the budipole is horizontal. You need a vertical antenna to talk to a repeater.
@@temporarilyoffline I’m wanting to get a nice Yaesu 80 watt 2m mobile rig, was wondering the best format of antenna to get for that band in order to squeeze all of the performance I can out of it. Specifically was leaning towards a FT-2980R, this would be my first decent rig above 10 watts so I’m trying to understand the best type of antenna to pair with it
No problem... it really depends on how far you're looking to get with it. Just start chasing answers - get the rig and connect to what you have, and upgrade from there. They are also really easy to make out of connectors and any kind of wire.
@@temporarilyoffline I think I’m gonna opt for diamond knock off from Amazon to start and put it up on my roof, right now I’m rocking a 2m ladder line antenna strung up with some paracord
I have cheap coax running to my 75M dipole which works as it should but on VHF the coax is soooo lossy the SWR measured very low. 1st I thought my MFJ was messed up so I measured it with my HP-8712ES and 8711A network analyzers and they both agreed with the MFJ.
Why does the analyzer measure resistance? I've been trying to figure out how to apply the impedence measurement from my NanoVNA, but isn't resistance DC?
Your radio wants 50Ohm resistance, so the closer you get to that, the better you receive audio performance you get. From what I can tell, the radio will survive between 20 and 70. Your antenna can only be resonant at one spot on the band, so you have to make a compromise and either be slightly not resonant or use a tuner... or use one and only one very specific frequency and don't let the wind blow. I generally ignore the resistance/impedence measurerment in favor of getting on the air, but others hunt it down voraciously like the demon it is! Either way, enjoy YOUR radio my friend!
I tested a couple of them and they were just a hair under the min spec for harmonic suppression. Like they say, you get what u pay for. The plus side to most of the Chinese radios flooding the market is I think it will get more people interested in the hobby.
Did you say Becca is for sale? She looks a very fine young woman and she likes ham radio! What is the freight to Australia? Seriously you are a lucky man to have a ham wife. I also have such a wife, who also gets me beer :-)
Why test with such low power. Its highly improbable that these antennas can reach the repeater and get it to respond. A Baofeng probably cant reach out more than a mile or two on earth ( yes they can hit satellites with a yagi).
@@temporarilyoffline That is true, but I’m thinking I was mistaken. I think Nagoya changed the shape of the base before I ever had my first antenna. I’ve only been at this for a year. Still a newbie.
