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I am new to this (don’t currently own a SW radio … YET). I am curious what external antenna you had attached, and how that works. I am concerned about attaching any external antenna because we are the lightning capital of the USA and it gets SCARY here.

I have been charging the unit now for 5 hrs, is that normal?

K7RAW-The Antenna Whisperer and designer of the NoodleTenna here to help you SUCCEED with your 20m NoodleTenna. First off, nice job in construction. You showed a pretty decent SWR at timestamp 7:13, just a bit high (14.88 MHz) in frequency so you know it can resonate. You just need to realize that this is simply a physically-shortened but electrically identical antenna to a classic wire dipole (like the well-known "Slinky Dipole") which is technically called a "continuously-loaded dipole". A couple of suggestions: 1) Add a "common-mode choke" (in this case a 1:1 BalUn) located at the antenna to isolate your feedline from the antenna. Evidence for needing this is any effects on SWR from nearby metal. A "coax-wound" CMC on an FT-240-31 toroid is ideal; 2) Run the feedline 90 degrees from the NoodleTenna to minimize interaction. Mounting the NoodleTenna horizontally makes this easy (like down the vertical mast tubing); 3) Set up your NanoVNA properly (frequency range first, THEN calibrate). Then you can easily see whether you have an open, a short or something close to 50 ohms ; 4) Make the legs EXACTLY the SAME LENGTHS (and fold-back the extra wire under the last turns) so you can adjust the turns to get a VERY GOOD SWR match, otherwise you will never get a good SWR (high SWR minimum means unequal turns); 5) You DO NOT NEED A TUNER because this is a resonant antenna with close to 50 ohm impedance (no ground, no radials, no impedance transformer). This design is nearly identical to the classic "Slinky dipole" which many people have had lots of success with (only I use good-conducting wire instead of the Slinky's poorly-conducting spring steel). The stiff noodle and PVC backbone does not seem to degrade performance over an air-core Slinky. The shortened design makes it somewhat less sensitive on the receive side but does not affect the transmit efficiency. Avoiding noise-generators nearby like high tension power lines will lower your background noise. So PLEASE, BEFORE you "bad-mouth" someone's design, maybe you should seek out a little help from a knowledgable antenna builder to show you how to implement my suggestions above to succeed. I've had lots of people build my NoodleTenna and make lots of QRP QSOs. If you want some help getting good results with this antenna I can walk you thru the simple process. Just email me at rudi@wiedemann.cc. I'm THAT CONFIDENT I can show you success with this antenna. You are SO CLOSE to the finish line. 73....Rudi the Antenna Whisperer.

Pretty clear video, thanks for the insight on this I am a Ham and travel with my ft 70 this will complement our evenings down south in winter as I have picked up quite a few stations on my older sw radio 73

Can you post a link to the antenna you're using? Thanks

Great little radio, the one thing that really bugs me is lack of a kick stand at the rear, I'm always trying to prop the radio up on my table!

7060khz to nie pasmo telegraficzne.skad wziales te stacje co sie zegnaja ?? Co do radia to jest bardzo dobre.👍👍👍

Ani na pierwszej ani na drugiej freq niema pasma dla tych stacji co slysze.To jakas fikcja albo sobie gdzie indziej nagrales koniec lacznosci dwoch stacji.- from SP hamradio

Can you tell me if it is possible to scan in lsb and usb modes? Tks

I just picked one up on Prime day for $49. Thanks for the video, very helpful. -KO4VTJ

My first radio. I still try to learn to use it. Scan FM and save 1, 2, 3...

If you touch the outside of your coax connector and the SWR changes your getting RF on your coax (Common Mode Currents), and therefore false SWR readings. Your coax needs to be decoupled with a 1:1 balun or ferrite chokes, AKA Common Mode Choke, before your radio to stop this. Any loaded shortened antenna like this will be less efficient than a stretched out wire. Antennas are sensitive to their environments, especially metal in their environment, especially indoors, as your finding out. Antennas prefer wide open spaces, ABOVE things in their environment. The further away from your living area, the less QRM / man made noise from digital devices within your home will affect your reception. The odds were stacked against your setup working well. ALWAYS make wire antennas longer than you think you need (lower frequency) them trim them to increase resonance to your desired center frequency. Too high a resonant frequency, too short the antenna. 73 -mike

73 from Mystery Radio return ;-)

Where you at in n.c?

Yea, I have Tecsun H-501

Great review and presentation style! I'm looking to get a "new" radio - I've had several used units through the years that I got from thrift stores and always sold them at a hefty profit... so I never held on to them long enough to learn how to use each model 🙂 I've got some bonus points from work I need to use before I retire - so I thought I use them on a NEW radio and actually learn how to use it and fully enjoy it! Thanks for the video...

need more round😅

What external antenna are you using?

If the step button is not raised and is an issue for you, just make a small plastic rectangle the same size as the step button and glue it on the button - viola - now it is raised.

I just talked to ya on 40m. Had to go grab me some coffee, I'm brand new to cw and appreciate the qso. De KO4WHX Edit: I apologize for cutting it short without giving you my rig info I had to run off for a minute

Your down too low in the 20 meter band. You were down below the frequencies they were using, unless you were shooting for the CW stations. You might try this on 10 meters. This might work better with your SWR

I love this video - simply because it shows a true amateur experiment that failed. Together with the comments this is a great learning experience. More of that!

Another thing you might consider doing is building a 49:1 balun and then using a noodletenna as an end-fed half-wave. That means you can feed it from the bottom, and also will work on some frequency multiples. I've seen some videos of people making end-fed slinky antennas that work well on 40 meters and 15 meters. You will need some short counterpoise wires but should be a lot easier to deal with than a traditional 1/4 wave vertical (which requires a bunch of 1/8 or a few 1/4 wave radials). Here's an example of a slinky in EFHW mode: ruclips.net/video/RejzmpjhTwU/видео.html You can build a 49:1 balun cheaper than you can buy, fwiw. Basically you need some wire and a toroid ferrite.

The z of a heavily loaded dipole is less than 10ohms. Maybe 5 ohms. You could make it work but the z is one of 2 problems. The other is that, unless its on a tall mast, it needs to be horizontal so both sides are balanced to ground. Apart from that , it's perfect 😂

The antenna is a helically wound linearly loaded dipole. There will be interactions with the enviroment. Trying to tune it to resonance indoors may not predict its performance outside. Hight above ground might be playing a factor. The idea of adding telescoping whips to either end and tuning the antenna using them may be a good suggetion. Just a few inches of straight wire or some wires in a fan configuration might improve its performance. The role of the coax feeder has to be considered. A current choke close to the feed point might make the performance more reproducible. Antennas of similar design are going to be be sharply tuned and you may have to decide what portion of 20m you intend to operate.

Partner, what you made was a large loading coil. Add a stinger to each end and the performance will increase. Adjust the coil count for better tuning. A loading coil is only one part of the antenna system. Experimenting is the fun part of the hobby. Good luck.

I think you need a Balun at the feed point ? I think it may play better horizontally ? 🤔.....?

Your feedline may be coupling with your radiator. Make sure your feedline is perpendicular to radiating element. I use a vertical 20m OCFD antenna and had high swr when my feedline was was not at a 90 degree angle from the feedpoint. Good Luck Ross, K8RLB

Love your little mcHF transceiver! I really like mine. Bought it 2nd hand but won’t sell it. I’ve tried the slinky dipoles. They work, not great but it was fun (to me) trying.

Nice setup. Thanks for sharing. Barry, KU3X

Got one for a battery build. Shoulda got the small boy for the shengs , charger, pi, 18650 charger. Or vna , trusdx and paddle. Couldn’t think of what I needed more boxes for at the moment haha

I have one which I bought from a local ham who is making it. It is nice to use, but being a little lazy to relearn CW and first time use of paddles, I have only few CW QSOs in my log. Used to an ardent CW DXer long back with straight key as I had only CW for DXing in my homebrew radio. 73 de Jon, VU2JO

I have one I haven’t opened yet, might try to not fully disassemble but just loosen top screws to sneak some lube down inside

Purchase link please , because am afraid to buy a poor quality batch or store

Really digging that ammo box

Thank You Duncan! I have watched 100’s of videos on this great radio and yet you pointed out 3 very helpful tips that no one else has ever whispered. Keep up your great How-tos and enjoy the re-discovered hobby like I have.

Thank you for the video! What antenna are you using on 10 m and CB?

I was looking for a video like this for a long time! Thank you! Don't expect much from the UV-K5 with a large outside antenna. Its RX will overload, especially on VHF. Good to see how well the GM30 receives. Might be my next purchase. Would like to compare it RX-wise to Tidradio H3, H8, and Retevis RA89. The latter has an amazing receiver, but the audio is a bit too "buzzy". Thanks again!

I have spare batteries (BL-5C) for backup so I won't have to wait for charging. That's also handy for DXpeditions. I like Todderbert's and Jay Allen's reviews. I've bought several radios after seeing their reviews. You explained the 'step' button for me. Interesting feature.

Pretty good. Looks like you had an enjoyable time. Warmer weather is around the corner here, temp above 60 degrees. Time for me to set up portable. Barry, KU3X

Nice job.

Great video. Thanks for putting the captions up.

You done well on your 1st CW activation. I've had the same problems with stations popping up on my frequency due to solar conditions and due to that have had to change frequencies and bands a lot this week.

I have this unit coming in two days. I am curious on your opinion as to how sensitive this radio handles medium wave DXing.

perfect lighting! What kind of lamps do you use?

Very jealous of that location!! Use to live much farther north, just off the BRP close to Lexington VA. Best 3 years of my life, especially as a motorcycle guy. Sure wish I had taken more interest in amateur radio back then though because that would have been fun to do exactly what you're doing in this video!

I have the same one matched up with mla 30 plus. Amazing little radio.

Looks like a lot of fun. KO4HPC 73

heard one of my friends on this video. Sent him an email to tell him about this video. How cool is that!

I had a great time, Duncan. It's always a net positive to spend time at altitude in the fresh air and sunshine playing a little radio. Thanks for the invite!