Nice work Walt. Any wire can be an antenna. It doesn’t have to come from an antenna manufacturer… The BEST antenna is the one you have in the air and works! 73!
I made one of these after watching this video and finally had time to try it out this evening. Things weren't going well at first. No one was hearing me but I was hearing them just fine. I checked the wire and the top end of it had come loose from the pole I had it taped to, probably due to the heatwave we're in. Anyway, put it back up and kept trying without much success at first. Finally got through to a couple different POTA stations successfully, so I'm calling it a win. I'm going to trying putting the antenna up in a different spot to see if things improve, but I'm pretty happy with it considering how easy it was to make. I didn't have a balun or unun, just the banana clip. Thank you for this tutorial and helping me get back into the hobby after a long time away.
Built this about in 30 to 40 minutes this afternoon, put down six 15 foot radials, first contact using my G90, 20 watts was Patagonia from central Georgia, USA. THANKS Walt!!! Sooo cool!!
I love making wire antennas. It’s great that you show amateurs they don’t have to spend great amounts of money to make instead of buying an antenna that will get you on the air.
I have watched many of your videos, these construction videos are exceptionally helpful. I also love the Polish people and always enjoy your references to Poland.
👍Thanks for posting. Speaker wire is great for making wire antennas. Connections can be made more permanent by using electricians "choc" block and taped up.
Good one. I would not solder the ends as it makes the wires brittle. Also I have been using WAGO lever wire connectors lately. That would make connecting the radials easy and secure (I prefer to use the radial term for more than a single wire whereas I think of a counterpoise as a single wire.) The WAGO comes with a variety of sizes for connecting 2, 3, and more wires. I use them to add length to my dipoles and make almost any connection where an old fashioned wire nut could be used.
Good stuff Walt! The thing to remember with ground radials is it isn't the length, it's the number. I suspect that the antenna would likely work even better with 10 2.5ish meter radials than it does with 5 longer radials.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES great vid as always, but to take that thinking further, how about comparing a flyscreen ground to a bunch of radials. With the flyscreen you don't have to be careful about Joe Public or his dog tripping over one and suing you! VK4BOB
Thank you for the lesson! (KN6UNC here)... My ex left me with and old Kenwood TS-520s, and I've been looking for an antenna I can rig up. (Currently renting this house; so don't want to cause damage). I served over 20 years as an Electronics Tech. in the U.S. Coast Guard. I also have my B.S. in Electronic Engineering Tech.... During my service, I had more experience climbing masts, and replacing antennas, than I did construction of them. I'm not sure the distance, but was able to talk to the Communication Station in Kodiak, AK... from off the coast of Panama... 😂 *edit* We always dealt in "Frequencies vs Wavelength. Somewhere around 5-6Mhz seemed to have the best "Sky-Skip"...
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I actually served most of my time in the OBX. Prior to my final station, was the Electronics Support Detachment, Supervisor out of Wanchese. My command was out of Portsmouth. I am very familiar with the area, lol!
Just stumbled on your channel a couple of days ago, and I'm sure enjoying it! The spirit of what you're doing is, for me, the absolute essence of this hobby. Antennas, in particular, lend themselves nicely to experimentation, discovery, and application -- plus you generally get to know fairly quickly if you're successful or not. Thanks for the channel, and keep up the good work! 73!
Fun little build. I love wire antennas. One item to note... "niblets" as I call them... the insulation/cutoff pieces that are discarded... personally, I like to show that they have been properly discarded... too many people don't consider stuff like that and leave their trash where it lies... As a content creator and influencer, you have the power to lead by example. 73 and keep making great videos!
As a newcomer to the world of amateur radio, I’m truly grateful for channels like yours that share such valuable knowledge. The tutorials on building HF antennas have been incredibly informative and the insights into HF propagation have deepened my understanding of this fascinating hobby. Watching your videos has been an absolute pleasure and each one leaves me more excited about delving into radio communications. Additionally, I would be thrilled to see more videos focused on simple yet effective antenna building like the one in this video. Your practical approach makes the learning process so accessible and enjoyable. Keep up the great work 👏👏 Thank you for being such an excellent guide on this journey. 73!
Very good video. Very informative and concise. Thank you for taking the time and energy to produce this vid. Not many people thank you for the time and planning and editing, etc. I really appreciate what you do for us.
Thanks Walt, I've also been watching your videos and finding inspiration. Even some of us Extras are lightweights when it comes to construction and can get befuddled by the simplest details at times (at least for me that's the case). Showing all the steps helps immensely. The quality of your videos is amazingly consistent as well. Much aopreciated.
Thanks for showing us your thought process and construction methods. I’ve been watching your videos for a year or two. You inspired me to add a G-90 to my 7300 to make portable operation easier. I have made several of your antennas and they work really well. Going to put up another one this weekend and have some Fun! Thanks again for great info and fun projects, you’re a great ambassador for Ham Radio!!!! Take care.
Thank you so much for the kind words, it means a lot to me and makes me want to get out and do more. Have fun this weekend and wishing you good DX! 73, Walt
Looking forward to the discussion about the UNUN and Balums and what and why not they are needed for wire vertical and horizontals, much appreciated from Australia.
Thank you for these videos! I really appreciate everything you do to show people what is possible. If you ever get a chance it would be nice if you could do a video on the settings you usually mess with on your G90. Thank you for everything you do!
because I don't own my house my antenna is always portable. I have a speaker wire that is inverted V using a banana clip with a choke. It is tuned for 20 meters and does a great job. I have used the same piece of speaker wire over a year now. When I want to play ham radio I can set it up when I don't I take down and put behind a bush. Let me add this about soldering the ends. I have done that and to me it makes the ends brittle. If the antenna moves around to much they break. So I no longer solder the ends. Great video as usual. My wife and I just passed through your neck of the woods not long ago. I waved! Hi HI.
I've had good success with a similar antenna. I understand what you're trying to do with the quick-and-dirty approach. Here's how I church it up a bit: What I do with my radials is attach Anderson Powerpole connectors to them in groups of four, then I have connectors hanging off the ground terminal of my transformer on short pieces of wire. Makes it really quick to deploy. I've got three groups of four radials, two of them 2m long, one of them 5m long for total 12 wires on the ground. Silicone insulated wire is really good for radials because it's super flexible and doesn't tangle the way stiffer PVC insulated wire does and that lets me get away with having four pieces of wire permanently connected. I use the same radials with my 17 foot whip for a quarter-wave ground plane antenna. With the radials I described, you can tune the whip very close to 1:1 SWR on 6 to 20m.
@@alekseygrachev4025 No, I'm talking about sets of radials (connected to single Anderson Powerpoles). So 2 sets that contain 4 x 2m long radials for total 8 x 2m radials, and one set that contains 4 x 5m radials.
@@alekseygrachev4025 I just use all of the radials, regardless of frequency. It seems to work OK. But I watched a RU-vid video recently where someone was using raised radials; they used a stick to support them off the ground close to where they attached to the feedline and also at the end, so they don't touch the ground. With this system, they were able to tune the radials so that the antenna had close to 1:1 SWR. I might give that a try as well. However, it will necessitate carrying a VNA in my backpack. The benefit is that only one or two radials are needed.
The 4:1's seem to do well with the smaller verticals, like the Ryabkov and your 17.5'. As a collector of the LDG Infinity Stones, I noticed that the manual for the LDG 4:1 unun says that it is for verticals 18-43 feet. I might give the 18 foot one a try, since it's a perfect length for one of the smaller masts I have.
Thank you for doing these videos Walt!! I finally got home to that new G90, trying different things almost daily, end fed, random wire and dipoles. Only problem now is next time I get home it’s mid-December and that cool Tennessee weather might keep me from playing around outside. Cheers and thanks again. W4KAM
Another excellent episode Walt. I believe your 4:1 balun is of the "voltage" type and not the current type and if I am correct, it is for this reason that it works. A current type works best on a balanced load like a dipole fed in the center, whereas a voltage type is more forgiving BUT it also allows common mode current to flow. In this case as a vertical fed against ground, we have very little if any common mode currents, so this type of balun can be used. I believe this is so based on the fact that the terminals are color coded. If this were a current balun, able to force equal currents on each terminal, you would most likely not have as good a result here with THIS vertical situation because half of the power would be presented directly into the ground to warm the worms in the soil of the groundplane area. That's just my best guess based on what I saw. In any case, it WORKS! Keep em coming and never stop building / experimenting. 73 OM
Thank you and another great comment. Thanks for taking my limited knowledge to the next level my friend. 73 from a structural engineer that wish he would have studied broadcast engineering. All the best my friend!
I used those binding posts to make a series of HF verticals from 10-40m. I prefer the efficiency of single band verticals rather than multi-band antennas.
Awesome vid. Thanks. Perfect descriptions. I get bored with the videos that show how to cut every part. And you covered all the details, like there is a hole on the bannana jack, but chose not to use it. Or we could tin the wires, but not necessary in the case. I also don't understand why people buy wire antennas. I prefer to make my own stuff. So I appreciate DYI videos. Steve O, K9SMO
It really is THAT easy. You do exactly what I do. Just get it up about 17+ feet and go! I've done it with just one 13' counterpoise. But more is better. They don't even have to be very long either.
Git er done Walt!!!! Nice, my kinda hamming, quick and dirty! I highly recommend investing in bongo ties, but hell electrical tape is cool too. Take care, Walt! Wish you and the family an awesome turkey day!
Challenge accepted! I just got into Ham . I was licensed last Friday. I want to set up a shack at my work in Baltimore city. I was looking for a portable home brew idea for HF. This looks like a good experiment. Thanks. KC3WZQ
Hi, Walt, great demonstration of Mickey and Donald engineering, but hey, can’t dispute the results! Keep on truckin and keep the videos frequent. 73, Mike K3CXG who dat!
A wire vertical is definitely in my future. Still getting the shack together. Fan dipole setup for 40,20,15, & 10 meter currently. Vertical will be for base and portable. Seriously considering a base loading coil for 160 and 80, on up. Good job on your build.
Wow, I loved City Park when I was a kid. If you cross the bridge where the ducks are there's a partially wooded area that might get you out of the wind a little bit. 73
Hello Walt, thank you for this video. I often use vertical antennas when I am /P but never had the idea with a 4:1 unun. I just ordered an ldg to try. 73 jerry F4HJO
An engineer with a hammer, some of the most shocking video EVER! LOL, J/K! What's weird is there's a roll of the same wire right behind me, and a pair of the banana connectors on the desk next to me. I have the same pole in the mail, and am planning about exactly what you built. Thanks again, perfect timing and a great video! Take care, Greg😊
I am interested that you seem to include 1:1 choke balun or unun to exclude common mode current. I have tried some of these and found some designs that are extremely lossy. I have tended to avoid their use, but I have an advantage at least for portable work, since I mainly use 5 watts or less. I feel with QRP we don't have to worry as much about suppressing some low or moderate common mode current. Not trying to tell people what to do, just sharing my own experience. Keep trying stuff, and thinking how to compare with other designs. Keep having fun! And keep "putting the fire to the wire!" Dave WA4NID
Tried discount speaker wire - but mine would break very easily at soilder points or connectors. Probably copper covered inferior metal. Good luck with .75 mm2 electrical “household” wire stripped of the outer insulation. Did a 100 meter soool, giving me 200 meters of high quality wire. So far worked perfect when used as 4x10 meter counterpoises for a vertical whip on 20 and 40 meter bands
I absolutely enjoyed the video. I need to get one of those masts. You are inspiring me to try the same thing but I also want to try using both wires (of the speaker wire) and short them at the top, so it will be a vertical loaded linear dipole. May be able to do 40 meters that way (or half that height for 20m).
With the price of even simple commercial antennas having gone past the Moon, anyone should learn to build their own. Years back I worked single-band WAS using an antenna I built for $18. It was constructed entirely of PVC pipe and wire.
I just built this model using the 4:1 balun. My SWR was lowest at 10 and 12 meters 1.26-1.3, the 20m was 3. I was using 20 feet cheap Amazon coax (M&P on the way). I need to really figure out the Rig Expert analyzer. Anyway, it was fun. I’m going to connect it to my FT 710 and listen tomorrow. As I understand, this antenna should be used with an external tuner for higher SWRs?. Thanks for the videos.
Some time people just don't get it. You are usually talking about a regular homebrew long wire antenna. It's not supposed to be pretty. It's not supposed to win contests... Well beauty contests. It's throw some wire, connectors and sticks/poles together and get it on the air! If you build one and get it to tune up in that sweet magic spot you adore... On that one you can start to make it look pretty and sexy. That way you can keep it and use it for years to come. If it's not very good but basically gets the job done but junky... Then you can just chunk it in the corner of the shack and never think about it again. You obviously can't throw it in the trash because... Well we are hams. We have never thrown anything away and we will not start today!
Found your video while searching for a bideo to pass on to a brandnew General I met on a 2m repeater last week. I really like your video since you cut to the chase - I think it is good to show folks the practical way to build an antenna, quick simple and to the point without adding a 20 minute lesson on theory. Odd that your SWR graph isn't more in the form of smooth arcs and that it changes so much between passes. Curious what your SWR would have been with other unun/balun options. 73 de NE5B
Thank so much, I really need to get an antenna analyzer for these videos versus the internal setup in the rig. I’d like to revisit this myself. 73 de K4OGO
This video really inspires me to make my own antennas and get out there while stop wasting money in pre-built antennas. I still have one area not very clear, when do I want the 1:1 or the 4:1 or the straight bannana clip adapter? I always wonder about that. Lets say to build a 20m vertical which one should be the best? I will love to just use the straight adapter but still wonder about the differences. Im not into much of a multiband, I will like to build the best possible 20m as digital modes is what I love
Thanks for watching and commenting. For a good resonant 20 meter antenna you can just use a straight banana clip with a vertical wire cut 1/4 of a wavelength for the digital part of the band. Counterpoise on the ground lengths are not that important as I mention in my videos. That would work. You could add a 1:1 choke which might help keep current out of the coax but try the simple banana clip approach first and see how it performs. 73, Walt
Perfect , thanks, I’ll try that. I’m in Melbourne FL so I’m looking forward to try throwing some radials by the Indian River and see how it goes. I’m pretty excited to try that
great quick and dirty get on the air demo Doc.. Wires are so fun to play with and they work great.. A dangling red tassel next to that wire might have gained you a few db, just sayin’.. LOLOL.. thx for sharing. k0klb
Another great video Walt. Instead of taping the wire why not loosely wrap it around the pole? Or use some Velcro straps to hold it to the pole? Why the 4:1 unun/balun if the G90 has a tuner that will tune basically a wet noodle?
That Dollar Tree electrical tape just works for me. Yes the G90 will tune anything but I want to show the true design of this antenna as everyone doesn’t have a G90. All the best and 73
Another good video Walt. I heard N9SES talking to you but I was able to hear you. I made contact with him right after you. I was wondering if you were making a video and there it was. I will get you in the log one day
Thanks! Check out the Rybakov antenna. It’s basically the same as this one with a 25 foot (7.6 meter) driven element. I’ve had some success on 40 with it. 73, Walt
Was that a 4:1 balun or a 4:1 autotransformer setup? If it were the latter, seems to me that the outer shield of your coax would be part of the counterpoise which may not be desirable.
On a different note. I am using a 9.1 to make a random wire ant. I cut the wire at 35.5 and my counterpoise at 6.5 ft. I have a chamleloen choke and using a 25ft run of KMR400 coax. I get pretty decent SWR's. Now the issue.. I hear no one but only ft8. Any Idea?
Well if you’re talking about the last few days, conditions haven’t been too good. I just did a spin from 10 down through 40 meters and it’s dead. That 35.5 should be a great antenna. The only other issue could be a cross connection of the driven element and Counterpoise to the wrong side.
Yes but bury them very shallow (like an inch deep) it’s the surface of the ground that’s acting as a RF reflector for the antenna. It’s completely different than electrical ground. Many people staple their counterpoise wires into the ground and let the grass grow over them.
I’m extremely green on hf. Could I double the length of the driven element to 35’ and use this on 40M? Would I also need longer counterpoise wires? I can fit the antenna in my backyard as is but can’t go to longer counterpoise wires. Thanks, Matt NE9D
Hi Matt, length really doesn’t matter with counterpoise wires on the ground. It’s when you lift them off the earth that you have a resonance issue. An antenna that’s very close to this and works well on 40 is the Rybakov which is very similar to this one with a 25’ vertical wire and a 4:1 unun. Here’s a video I did on it a while back: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-akjMmt3d9i0.htmlsi=dEeqzJuV_4IoksFt
