Hey Walt Love your videos! I'm a new ham here in Canada passed my Basic with Honors. I have a question about the radials for this 17 Five. How many is a good number 4 or 5? Does the length matter? Do they have to be 5m or can they be shorter? Thanks as always for helpful videos! 73 Chris VA3COJ
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love my verticals! I did a POTA just this morning and from beginning set up to first contact without even being spotted first it was 14 minutes. A half hour later I was on the way home with 18 contacts in the bag along with 3 new states. You just can't beat it. I've noticed similar things using KJ6ER's 1/2 wave for 15m (essentially a 49:1 into a 40 inch piece of wire feeding an MFJ whip fully out). I get about 1.5:1 on 20m phone (less on the CW/digital part), completely flat on 12m and 10 is around 1.3-1.4 until you get north of 29.000 hitting 1.8 or so at 29.600. While it doesn't seem to work quite as well as setting up the 1/4 wave and radials, it's perfectly useable and a good deal easier for band changes :) I run it that way quite a bit at home.
Thanks for the inspiration!! Have my 4:1 Unun ordered. Would you go with the 17-5 or the Rybakov? I have a 6m pole (ultra portable) and am thinking to wrap the wire around the pole to get to the extra length for the Rybakov but straight wire of the 17/5 may be better. Thoughts? K4TMO
Very interesting. I enjoy to try making antennas. I will give this one a go. Thank you. Phil 🇬🇧saw the subsequent coastal 20. Going to try that as well👍😁🇬🇧
Hey Walt, Great channel, Thank you for I am learning a lot of your experiments as a novice HAM. My QTH has a constant QRM of S9+ dB. So mobile is the only way to go. I am a great fan of my home brew T2LT antenna's I have got them 10, 2 and 0,7, but looking for something short multi band the 17five looks like a good solution. So I build one from your example. Only difference I made to it are the radials. I first used the radials that i made for my home brew multi band vertical for 20 and 40 based on the Slidewinder design only longer. These radials are in bundels of 6 strands of 3 meter thin speaker wire. I use 3 of these bundels for a ground plain. Now I observe something strange. The more of these bundels I attach the higher the SWR of the 17five gets. Best configuration I found is No radials at all with the 4:1 LDG unun dangling 2,5 meters of the ground (on a 8 meter squidpool) With a SRW of 2,3 on 40 it has even a wider range then expected. According to the Rig Expert it would be tunable on all HAM band except for 160, 80 and 2 meter. This is what I would like to give back to you. It may lead to some ideas. Pitty your day in Poland are over would have loved to work you on this antenna. But how knows maybe trans Atlantic some day.
Thanks for the input and the information on your experimenting. Hope to catch you on the bands for that Trans Atlantic QSO! All the best and 73, Walt K4OGO
KD4YDC Robert here... Walt I saw where Michael KB9VBR took a Muller clip and a solid piece of copper wire to extend his MFJ whip to give it that extra few inches for 17.5ft. I just got a Wolf River Coils 213" whip to go with my TIA 1000. Going to try your radials trick and see what results I get. Love your videos!
Those were some cool QSO’s. The best I’ve had was a DX contact to Guam and Italy from Southern California on a Chameleon LEFS EFHW antenna. Hope to get more DX contacts in the future. Keep the videos coming Walt!!!
Great again Walt, you have to take a look at Spiderbeam, 7m or 10m mini. They make amazing poles and really stiff ones. And have also spare parts if needed
Spiderbeam poles are brilliant! I actually prefer the 7mini to the 10 as it's less whippy. The 12HD is amazing - but it's quite big and imposing in a residential environment.
Nice video Walt! Nice to have a fairly compact setup for multiple bands and looks like a good plan with a telescopic whip, that a good number of folks probably own. 17-five!! 👍📻⚡Cheers buddy! Tom - WA7FLY
Thanks for the video! I picked up a 25foot mast so I'm looking to try this as an elevated vertical with one or two elevated radials. That would be a good, simple POTA antenna if it works. 73, Brian - W5DUI
Serendipity Walt, I too randomly used a 17.5 ft vertical with a 9:1 transformer, still got it in the closet- gonna dig it out and I’ll try a 4:1 as well maybe do a SWR comparison. Keep the free thinking coming Walt. Barnie. 73 de M7PBX.
Thank you! I loved the video! I’ve had my General license since 2010, even though I’ve been on HF several times, I just got my first HF Radio, the Icom 7300. I’m having horrible luck with a dipole and I’m hoping to try the Seven 5, thanks again, I can’t wait to try it! Hope to hear you on the waves! 73 - N9RMG
I’m sort of in the same boat. Got my General in 2020 and just got a 991a. The subject of antennas is daunting, and I may start with a design like this or similar.
Hey Walt, i gave this antenna a try today getting ready for portable work once it warms up, im using a homebuilt 4:1 and a choke after a 6ft patch lead which then goes into my radio. 17 and a half foot vertical and 12 radials between 2.5 and 3.5m long, this thing is a monster between 12 and 20, got my very first copy into VK from Ireland on 20m on it today, feeding it with about 25w. Only issue im having is i cant get a good tune on 10m, im using an mfj 901 manual tuner woth an old kenwood ts130 rig and no matter what i do it wont tune below 2:1 on the lower ssb portion around 28400, i get a good match further up near 28900 but its pretty deaf on 10m anyway, dont know mayne i done something wrong, ill experiment with wire lenghts. Im very impressed though, single wire and i can work really good dx on 4 bands, and it cost me less than 20 quid including toroids for the ununs!
That sounds like fun. It occurs to me that a way to employ the MFJ whip would be to add one of those rods such are used between the base and the coil on a Wolf River setup. I'll see if I can try it on a POTA. I've got the LDG Z-11Pro II, which should give me comparable tuner performance. Thanks and 73, Bill - KE1G
Hi, Walt. Great video. It is very ecouraging to see that kind of random wire type vertical in action. It looks like the length is not very chritical namely 18 ft is a well known length for random wire multiband antenna. It is normally feeded usung 9:1 unun but 4:1 seens to work, too. I have a not sk well working commercial random wire vertical which I most probably modify based on your design. 73! Mikko, OH2BJU
Funny I just chatted with VY2FU Saturday night. 10 watts got me a59 report on PEI some 1600 km to the east. Having fun turning the power down and breaking the pile up he always has . VA3PLK
Hey Walt! Love your stuff, and something to consider is to make a "mini inverted L" by adding a piece of wire with an alligator clip to the 17' whip. I use a longer piece to a cheap pole to tune 40m. Hears better and gets out better than a coil at the base. Have fun in Poland.
WOW HAMS BUILDING ANTENNAS AND WORKING DX ON RU-vid. NOT SELLING STUFF...LOL. GOOD WORK WALT I THINK I MIGHT BUILD ONE MY SELF. HOW ABOUT 80m VERTICAL?
With all due respect to N3LJS, I don't think he is the only one that has noted and appreciates your lack of pushing product. You just get out there and do it for yourself and just share the results with everyone else. I think your audience appreciates that when you start promoting pruduct a bias inevitably follows. Keep doing what you are doing Walt...its brilliant and well appreciated. Cheers ZL2VTH
Hi Walt, good video as usual :) Have you done any comparison with this antenna vs the Coastal 20? I built mine (the Red Clay 20😁) based on your Coastal, but used a 5.6m collapsible whip from ebay set to 17.5 feet and a 3/8 x 24 mirror mount mounted to a short fiberglass mast so I could isolate it and fed it through my 9:1 unun with a 3 foot tail on the "ground" side of the unun. It would be quite interesting to see if the Coastal can offer comparable performance, especially with no radials needed (well, almost none). Those of us who live on postage stamp lots love your vertical videos!
Hello WALT, I think you have a great little antenna there. I'm going to have to give it a try. I really like the antennas that you experiment with. I just got the spark plug antenna the 50 watt one. I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I want to set it up like you did. I'll let you know how it works out. 73 AE4OY William Peacock EM-81UF Blackshear, GA 🤓
Too little too late ? But I wondered why you didn't place, maybe some fishing lines off the vertical as guys ? Just thinking it might keep it from breaking ?
Hi Walt, Nice Video's. recent viewing of your videos have inspired me to go get a X-6100 and now trying to settle on an antenna. Headed to North Myrtle beach in a month or so and want to do a bunch of DX'ing from the beach but there will likely be other beach goers that don't want to be tripping over radials. I also plan to use this set up in the future for Pota/Sota & emergency preparedness and field days. I don't think guy wires will work either. Any suggestion are appreciated. 73's - Phil K2OTA
Hi Phil, if you’re at the beach and by the saltwater you really only need one Counterpoise wire, that should help a bit. Instead of guy wires I use either a surf rod holder or beach umbrella mount in the ground to support the pole. These also work great in common dirt as I’m using them in the backyard in Poland. All the best and 73, Walt K4OGO
Walt, excellent video as always, I have a 3 foot pole that needs a vertical and that's it, lol! One question, how did you attach the counterpoise wires? I couldn't make that part out. Tks, Greg
Thanks Greg! I attach the counterpoise wires to the negative side of the unun. You can also clip them to the outer side of the coax connector at the feed point which will work just as well.
I just got my technician license so I only have the minimal access on 10 meter. I've built a 10 meter dipole so far but wanted to try this. Does this do well on 10 meters? I like the idea of it being multi-band cause I want to be able to listen to the other bands. Or should I build a vertical that is specific to 10 meter only. Thanks for all your videos brotha!!
Hey Walt, I'm a new Ham, just got my Basic with Honors here in Canada! I really enjoy your helpful informative videos. Question about radials. Do they need to be 5m long or can they be shorter say 3m (10ft)? How many radials is best 3, 4,5? Thanks, Chris VA3COJ
They can be any length but try to get as many down as possible especially if you’re going with 3 meter long radials. I think you would probably be ok with 5 or 6 radials 3 meters long but add more if possible
I may try this! I picked up a 1kw 4:1 balun two weeks ago cheap at a Ct ham fest. I was experimenting this week with a 213 whip using a window screen counterpoise with very good swr readings 20 to 6m with and without radials.same swr readings both ways. Do you think this will work with the window screen? It may take me a week or more to set this up. To use my ldg Tuner,4:1 and my wolf river whip.
Hi Rob, sorry I brushed over that so quick. The radials attach to the black (-) ground post on the unun. You can also attach them to the outer side of the coax connector at the antenna feed point, I’ve done that with a big alligator clip before. Bottom line is the center of the coax connects to the vertical driven element and the radials connect to the outer braid wire part of the coax.
I’ve seen a quite similar vertical called a ‘Rybacov’ which used 27feet vertical but fed exactly the same,.. a 17.5ft vertical is near perfect length for 20m band so wouldn’t need the unun on that band. Operating that antenna on the sea coast would be a real Boomer for DX!. I can work VK/ZL from my QTH on the Irish Sea coast with just 10W usb & 1.4m loaded whip antenna. BTW can you give mire info in your power units for portable working. … 73 de G4FBC
Hi Ron, yes the RYBAKOV is a great vertical. I’ve actually built it several times and have some videos on it. I purchased the power units on Amazon, here’s the link: Adjustable Power Supply 3V~24V 5A 120W Adapter Universal AC/DC Adapter DC 3V 5V 6V 9V 12V 15V 18V 19V 20V 24V, 100V-240V AC to DC Converter with 5.5x2.1mm 14 Tips for LED Strip Light Laptop Speaker a.co/d/aUEsEEZ
@@WA2SVM I typically use 5 meter long radials but I hack and wack and don’t worry too much about the exact length. When they are on the ground exact resonate length isn’t important. 73, Walt
Hi Walt, video is amazing as always but I have a question about shnitpowers. Do they drift with voltage ? I have one ( kind of knock off ) and my unit is going down like 0.9 V in 20 - 30 min until it gets hot and then it stabilizes. It is really annoying and I'm thinking about original shnits from amazon if they are constant with voltage from the very start. Thanks for video !
love your antenna videos, just watched a video by VK3YE, Super Cheap Single Pole Beam for 15m, an interesting antenna for you to try out, especially on the beach, al ve3gam ps wonder if you could change the length of the director for each band from 20 to 10?
Thanks Al! I saw that video, very interesting. I did something similar with two poles recently with a Delta Loop I turned sideways. Complete with the fishing line and rotating method Peter used.
Hi, Walt. Nice video man and some great contacts there. I'm looking at maybe getting a 1/4 end fed 60 meter single band vertical as an "all-in-one" type solution to cover 30, 20, 15, 10, and maybe 6 meters. It's just over 8 feet tall and has a coiled bottom half. The price is nice at 40 USD. What do you think? 73
Hmm... My math might be off. That'd provably be better for 60, 30, 15. The 160 one might be good for 80, 40, 20, 10, 5. 🤔 Maybe I'll just get a long poll and wrap some wire around it... 😅
I ended up getting both antennas to switch between to get up and going a bit easier. But yeah, I'll have to do some experimentation for more ideal setups when time permits. 73
Another great video, Walt!!! Hampton Roads was where I got my start and I’m sure we know a bunch of the same guys. Your videos helped get me into QRP (and the (tr)uSDX) and now the G90. Hopefully one day we’ll get to have a QSO. Until then, 73 for now. de K4RUE
