Good video. I travel for business and take my ft60 with me. I purchased one of these slim jims and strung it across the room in my first floor in a hotel. Was unable to hit the local repeater with the stock ht antenna from indoors. With the slim jim I can hit the repeater from indoors. So now I can operate from in my hotel room which gets me away from traffic noise outdoors plus I can monitor while indoors as well as join local nets. Pretty neat for the traveling guy like me.
Norm Christopherson Yep! It's a great performer! I have it rolled up in a 5.11 pouch attached to my QRP gear backpack. Thanks for watching! 73 de K2CJB
I made my first Slim Jim back in the 1980s using tubing from an old VHF TV antenna. Mounted about 15 feet above ground, it enabled me to use a 2 meter repeater about 60 miles away on 5 watts with no problems at all. After moving to a town in central New Zealand in 1990, I made a couple for my taxi driver friends to use as home-based antennas on 78 MHz. They were astounded at the improvement in signals compared to the mag-mount whips they were using on their corrugated iron roofs. No more difficult to make that a J-pole, it has a better performance due to its lower angle of propagation. ZL1CO formerly G4GRH.
Allan Watson Yes, this little antenna works great! It’s high quality materials and construction. I was going to make my own but didn’t have any twinlead on hand. It was actually cheaper to but this one than to get all the materials to make one. Thanks for watching the video! 73 de K2CJB
Hi Chris, it’s a great little antenna. I’ve used it on a SOTA activation from Guisborough Moor a few months back and got out to a Norwegian ham on an oil rig in the North Sea between Aberdeen and Stavanger on 5 watts, I think it was around 289 miles with tropo lift on 👍🏻......Paul M6OPV
Good product demo. Got one to use in my back yard hung from a tree. Works great hitting far off repeaters. It does work better while enjoying a fine cigar! Subscribed.
Looking at testing someday for a Ham Tech license but decided to buy a GMRS license for now. I have two of the BF radios like yours. One is an 8 watt. I just use them to listen. I am thinking this N9TAX Slim Jim setup would be great for my GMRS since they have one for those frequencies but If I order that I wonder how far off the tuning would be for my 2m and 70CM? I will see if I can contact them. Any reason you chose BNC? And how long of coax did you choose? I know you can get 10 or 16 feet. Thanks for sharing! I subbed
1crazynordlander He makes a dual band version, which may be what I have....I forget already. I chose the BNC since the 817 has a BNC and so does one of my ht's. I have the adapter for the Baofeng. Thanks for watching and subscribing!! 73 de K2CJB
Thanks for the review, Chris! Generally Noob question here, why did you go with the BNC to pigtail connection? I have a Baofeng and was going to order the appropriate connection, but the pigtail caught my attention. Ideally, I'll use this one on my home (mobile) when I get set up; is the BNC connection the go-to if I want to pigtail to a different connector? Thanks!
Thanks for checking it out! I went with the BNC option on the antenna in case I wanted to use it with my 817. Instead of using an adapter for the Baofeng (or any ht for that matter) I decided to use the pigtail to reduce the stress on the antenna connector on the ht. Also, the Baofeng has a male SMA on the radio where others have a female, which means another pigtail. Hope that helps!
@@k2cjbradio Thanks! I still haven't decided on what I'm going to set up at home yet, but I'm trying to keep my options open. As I head down the Ham rabbit hole I can see how easy it might be to end up with a closet full of "extra" equipment :)
Thanks for stopping by! The pole is a Shakespeare Wonderpole telescopic fishing pole. I got mine of Amazon for around $25. I use it all the time for portable linked dipole ops. Thanks again! 73 de K2CJB
Thank you for the fast response! I just ordered the N9TAX Slim Jim antenna and was looking for something to mount it to. This will work perfectly. I’ll just need to order some extra length of coax, or just use it when I’m out on the deck enjoying a cigar just like yourself! I hope you have a healthy and happy 2019! 73 - KC3EZP
Jim Kanavel Hi Jim! Thanks for checking the video out! I would think it would work ok. Make sure you order the dual band version with the right connector on it. Good luck!
Great video!! I also have one with the extra coaxial, and did a review of it on my channel. It is one great inexpensive antenna! They work great no matter where you find yourself.
Are this good for camping. We r planing a trip to sequoia so I have my gmrs repeater and I was going to use my 70 cm antenna stell rod 22 40 inch with a magnet base set up somewhere outhere , will this slim gim antenna give a better signal throwing it up on a tree
Hi Jack. I got mine from Joe on ebay. Just search N9TAX on ebay and you'll find his store. He has a selection of antennas. All top grade materials and workmanship! Thanks for watching and subscribing! Hopefully conditions will improve a bit so I can get back out to do some QRP work. 73 de Chris K2CJB
