Well done John. After being QRT for 40 years, I bought a KX3 four years ago. Just retired, so time to take it out on a peak. Appreciate your tips. Bob - W2TAC

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

Hi, Bob. Glad to hear the radio bug has bitten again. Being retired, you'll have the time to go climb a mountain and operate. (Can't wait for that myself...) I think it's great that the hobby has such diversity in opportunity for so many different people and at differing ages. Enjoy the experience and make some waves - air waves that is!

Thank you, this was great! It's nice to see that there are quite a few reliable and easy-to-set-up options for SOTA work.

Thank you very much, John! I really enjoyed this video and hope you will do more. 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.

I hope you make more QRP videos soon. Really enjoyed this one.

Great video. Im in the us and I really enjoy all of your videos on qrp. antennas is a great subject. I hope to see you do one on battery power and ideas like that for qrp. And anything on qrp Gear. I think you do a wonderful job with you video work. Thank so much . Fred

John, great encouraging video. Thanks. N2NUT

Cheers John, really good and informative video. 73 Dave M0GGK

Good video. I use a Myantenna end fed and it works great. Thanks for the video.

Great video John. The wind was pretty loud during your introduction. Next time, place some fluffy material over the microphone, like stuffing. Keep up the good work :) de K6KNS

Great video, I'm going to subscribe to your channel 👍👍

I like videos like these. They remind us to be portable and minimize our gear to what we NEED instead of what we HAVE. One thing though, and I'm not sure if someone has already pointed this out, but, an Off-Center Fed Dipole is an unbalanced antenna. And coax is unbalanced line. So that should not be a balun it should be an unun. Only reason I mention it is because there is already too much confusion out there on what is and is not a balun and voltage balun vs current balun for new hams to sort through. Thought you might want to annotate it over the part. Respectfully, me :)

@johnsaunders8315

7 жыл бұрын

Hi, Fox. Yes, you are absolutely correct about the OCFD antenna. If you have a look at my channel you will see the review I actually did on that antenna and the feedback I received then from others - indeed it needed to be an unun. I have been in comms with the manufacturer and when I finally post out of my current loc, then I'm going to pay them a visit, pick up a new version and give it a test run. Thanks for the comments, and, as we say over here, Duty First.

Hi John, excellent video. Thank you for sharing. Im using a variety of antennas when out portable. Im currently using linked Dipoles, and a random vertical antenna with a 9:1 Unun. The dipole is excellent, but like you if i needed a quick & dirty antenna the vertical wins every time. It also very much depends on what your surroundings are like, given which antenna is "best fit" some of my dipoles simply won't fit where I like to operate. Keep up the great work, really enjoyed this video. 73 Dan M0TGN

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

ColdestMoon, Yep, that's the truth. Keep on enjoying the hobby and the great outdoors!

great video, very to the point which is what we like! keep up the good work 73's KC8WIX

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

Kevin, info needs to be short and sweet (just like my XYL!), otherwise people get bored watching and they miss the message. And the message is - ham radio is fun! Cheers, mate!

thanks so much for this John. great vid. I've just completed my foundation course in Canberra so Im just starting out and it is great to see some Aussie vids on the hobby. could you provide some details on the radio you were using please? thks again Cristian

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

G'day, Christian. The two radios I have used are the FT-817 by Yaesu and the Elekraft KX-3. The KX-3 is a beaut little kit radio into which you can instal a range of options - battery charger, antenna tuner, extra bands, though ostensibly, it's HF plus 6m. The FT-817 is broad band doing HF, VHF and UHF, but with no options for an ATU. You can get a battery pack, but at the end of the day, the cheaper option is to go for an external battery source. All in all, they are both good radios, but the KX-3 (if it's been put together properly) beats everything else hands down. The filtering is AMAZING!

very interesting - im just getting back into amateur radio and building a qrp cw rig for portable operation so these type of antennas is what i will need. Probably start with a simple long wire and L match tuner

@johnsaunders8315

7 жыл бұрын

Hi, Marty. Yep - start simple and go from there. One of my earliest antennas was a long wire - given my living conditions in a university college, that's all I could put out the window. It worked...as well as interrupting a few people's stereo systems! Enjoy the hobby and - welcome back!

@martyjames6204

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks John!

All good but some links to the antennas you showed and maybe some actual experience on the end fed would have been nice. A few QC's with each set-up and some wide angle shots of the antenna as placed and good to go.

Nice overview of suitable antennas, John. I rely on the end fed or the Sotabeams linked dipole for my activations. Grant VK4JAZ

@johnsaunders8315

4 жыл бұрын

There certainly are a pile of ideas, Grant. I tried the other day with my 40m squid pole vertical. Fortunately, it was a short walk up to the summit. Thanks for the feedback.

@grantmcduling9760

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnsaunders8315 What summit was that, John?

@johnsaunders8315

4 жыл бұрын

@@grantmcduling9760 It's called "North of Mt Byron" in the D'Aguilar range NP, in close proximity to the Somerset lookout. Basically, you park in the lookout "car park" and walk a couple of hundred meters to the summit. My operation was largely unsuccessful due to time of day. Check out my recent 4x4 & radio video. The summit is driveable - it's where Peter (VK4EA) was working his 10GHz from.

@grantmcduling9760

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnsaunders8315 thanks John.

I have the same tripod its hrate heavy but works well not fallen over once and i use 2 7foot hamsticks as a dipole ontop of a 15foot ali paintera pole which happened to fit in the tripod nicely and i have used it in fair winds and no problems so far

Hi john i like your fanned multi band idea i picked up 50,000 metres of 1.3mm stainless steel cable 316 was thinking using a 10m poll in inverted v as the wire ,is super light and strong. resonant length antennas always work better.

Nice overview! Question: Did you cut the lengths of the various dipole ends using a tuner or just mathematics? And you mentioned it broke...was that at one of those joints from too much line tension? Future SOTA activator here!

@johnsaunders8315

9 жыл бұрын

Mel McMurrin Hi, Mel. I just used good old mathematics. What I should have done was to tune each section to the relevant spot on the particular band before I attached the next section. It would have made the resonance better and SWR lower. The break was on an old solder joint in the PL259 which I had on the coax, so nothing to do with the antenna itself. Have fun with SOTA, but I hope you have more time than I do to do activations!

@redman840

8 жыл бұрын

+Mel McMurrin Mel: The formula for a 1/2 wave dipole is 468 divided by the frequency.For example,if one were to operate in the middle of the 20 meter phone section,let's say 14.250 mhz,one would divide that frequency by 468....468 divided by 14.250 mhz= 32.84 ft.Each leg of the dipole would be 16.42 ft,with the dipole being fed in the center of those two legs with coaxial cable.Use this same formula for each band you make one for.Cut it a little long and then trim to resonance,with equal cuts being made off of each end.A SWR of 1.5 to 1 or lower is fine.A SWR of 1.0 to 1 is ideal,but not always attainable,but try to get it as close as possible to that level.Using an antenna analyzer makes this very easy to do.Also try to get the dipole close to 1/2 wavelength for each band formula(25-32 ft in this case) above ground level to be most effective.A bit lower,and it still will work great for you.Either set it up as a horizontal dipole,or as an inverted vee antenna,and make some qso's.John uses some good examples of other antennas that can be made for field use.Good luck with your project...73...Dennis W7KB

John, I'm a new ham who is fascinated by SOTA. I think your video was brilliant. It was very informative. Have you thought of adding a servo (such as the ones used in RC models) to your magnetic loop? If you put a battery and a veritable resister or a pot on a few meters of wire, you could be far enough away as not to add impedance to the antenna. Just a thought. 73 KE0OAP

@johnsaunders8315

7 жыл бұрын

Hi, Ray. Yes, I have thought about it but not "got around to it"! I want to put a loop up with a servo at my home QTH when I get back there and use it as a receiving loop to cut the noise down, so the variable cap will do well there. Glad you like the video - there's a few more on my channel as well. Hope what I am doing is helpful for fellow hams. 73!

Good overview on portable antennas. Verticals, radiate equally bad in all directions. You can say that again. Cheers!

@johnsaunders8315

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment. Yes - they do radiate equally poorly but my next vid is going to be on a portable 1/4 wave GP ant for 40m that I mount off the bull bar of my truck...they're convenient at least and very portable! Cheers!

Folks, I am interested in your feedback on this video...so let me know what you think. John

@billjobes1851

7 жыл бұрын

John, I found the information you offer valuable and interesting. Your presenting style is excellent. From a production perspective, I'd suggest wind screens on your mic. And a clip on lavalier to mitigate wind and background noise. 73, Bill W3WJ

@MarkPentler

5 жыл бұрын

I got a lot from this video but agree with Bill on the production notes. Literally my job, so I'm oversensitive :)

@porkyfedwell

5 жыл бұрын

Great content, but the wind made parts of it unbearable.

Hello John, I am very interesting in vertical antennas use in the field without using tuner. You know it is very important to save power for long time camp operation and tuners is enemy of the batteries. Any suggestions?

@johnsaunders8315

9 жыл бұрын

Ismet, if I were going to use a mono band antenna then I would just make it a 1/4 wave GP and tune it to length then leave it set. To use it multi -band I would think about a simple LC network with a tuning cap. Yes it is a tuner, but a simple one with lower power loss. Thanks for the comments and your interest.

@jamesk0ua

5 жыл бұрын

Not all tuners use power to maintain the relays. Example the LDG z11proII uses a small amount of power to tune up, but no power after that. a single set of internal AA's will last about a year of operation. de K0UA

Muchas gracias John muy interesante y explícito en pocas palabras.XE1YCH

@johnsaunders8315

4 жыл бұрын

No worries, Benjamin. My pleasure to be of assistance to fellow hams.

You mentioned to disable the "auto-tuner" but I think that the kx3 Antenna Tuner needs to be triggered every time is needed. It does not tune the antenna automatically. Please correct me if I'm wrong and elaborate. Thank you 73's to you

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

+Achisachis73 , yes, with the magnetic loop you do have to dis-able the internal tuner because it won't have the necessary capacitance. That's where the tuning capacitor on the loop antenna itself comes to the rescue. The process is to tune the cap by ear to get maximum noise/signal level, then transmit with the KX3, monitoring the SWR readout whilst making very tiny adjustments. It does work!

@Achisachis73

8 жыл бұрын

John Saunders oh ok, so you say take it out of the circuit for proper capacitance? I think I understand. I just have not heard a relay disconnection on enable/disable on my KX3. Thank you

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

+Achisachis73, I'm not talking about taking anything out of your KX3 - in your menu you have the option of turning the auto tuner on or off, assuming you have the module fitted. That's all I'm saying. When I use a different antenna which the tuner works with, I simply turn it back on.

@Achisachis73

8 жыл бұрын

John Saunders I understand, that was not the question. Every time I need to tune my antenna, I push the ATU button on my KX3. ATU stands for Antenna Tuner. In your video you say "AutomaticTuner" The KX3 does not have an automatic tuner, does it? By disabling the tuner, does the radio disconnect electrically the tuner? or does it just disable the function?

What’s a quiz pole? Is it available State side? Thanks fer da nice video!!

@johnsaunders8315

Жыл бұрын

Hi, Paul. Sorry - it’s the Aussie accent. “Squid pole”. For that, read fibreglass telescoping fishing pole. Cheers.

@paullinnell

Жыл бұрын

@@johnsaunders8315 thanks!!

hi there - can you please provide information on the 'very portable end-fed wire antenna please - the one that comes before the Alex Loop?'

@johnsaunders8315

4 жыл бұрын

Hi Little Mike. The antenna is a Bushcom Mil 1 antenna. I've done a review on it too, but wasn't that complimentary. Bushcom want me to look at a new one and do a review - they may have a point and the one I used could be faulty. It does work well as a RX antenna, but the problem is getting it to load up like it is supposed to. Cheers and thanks for watching!

@MrLittlmike22

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnsaunders8315 that's great many thanks looking at bushcomm and the prices are prohibiting! Pity to hear that mil 1 is not good look forward for the review

John --- Where can I find a 10m "Squid Pole" in the USA??? Walmart, Sporting goods, or some other place.

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

John, let me check with a supplier here in Oz and see if he can give you any ideas.

@frostgfx

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks John... I am in MA USA...

@johnsaunders8315

8 жыл бұрын

Jon, my source tells me that in the US, they are called Jackite poles. He suggests you look at their website, which is www.jackite.com or use that as a search term for ebay etc.

@frostgfx

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks... Jon

good video, audio is terrible

Sorry John but only 25% of what you are explaining is understandable for a non "Aussie" - certainly ad that speed!. "That mountain is too high for me". Paul - OP5A.

@johnsaunders8315

6 жыл бұрын

Hi, Paul. Sorry about the "Aussie" talk and the pace. Glad that you took the time to give me the feedback, in any case. Always good to keep the audience in mind. That was one of my earlier videos. Cheers!