Informative, thank you Tracy. I made my first attempt at a SOTA activation last weekend. I used my homebrew EFHW and SOTA tuner to no avail. Based on your videos, I've ordered a Jackite 31' and will be adding the MK2 to my pack. Thanks again for your infomative videos.
Hey Tracey, thanks a lot for braving that frigid weather to give us a review of this neat little antenna. Kind of a coincidence that I've been looking at the Spiderbeam mast and this little antenna for a week or two. Nice to find one of your thorough reviews on it. I think I just made my mind up to buy it hihi. 72/73 Brent
Hi Brent, you might also want to check out the HyEndFed site as they have their own line of reasonably priced poles. I'm thinking about getting one to augment my Spiderbeam. 72 Tracy
I'm a fan of Ron's. He's a super helpful guy. I have the mk1 of this antenna, seems to me the only difference is the added strain relief - which I get around by running a thin zip tie through the eye in the banana plug. I also can recommend the 12.5m masts that Ron sells. They're slightly longer than the spiderbeam rough equivalent. Very heavy gauge wall thickness. I use my Mk1 on 17m as well. I keep a tuner inline switched to "through" for the other bands, and set for 17m only when that bend's selected. I use 17m a lot. This antenna matches very easily for 17m. Most of my contacts on this have been between 20m and 17m. Ron's quality of production is terrific. (Unfortunately the £/Euro conversion makes his goods more expensive than before) My other portable antennas are big flat tops fed with twinfeed, but they need three masts to put them up properly. Takes more time and hassle! Good luck and hope to catch you on HF one of these days.
Great video..I have been using 31' and a 9:1 unun for a while...like reviews about the smaller side light weight. This looks great for tip to beach or local park..keep em coming.
Slick little antenna. I like the multi-band usage without need of a tuner. I'm getting bitten by the QRP & backpacking bug pretty badly. I think this little antenna will find it's way into my kit. Thanks for the review! Don / W5DON
Thank you for the comment, Don! Maybe you could think about posting a video showing yourself backpacking portable? I hope to post a backpack portable video myself later this year.
Thanks Tracy maybe next time could you show how you set up the antenna re how much coax how high off ground is feed point etc. I have used a few end fed wires and Par antennas before but the multi band look good. rig is kx3 for SOTA mostly. thanks a lot de Ian vk5cz ..
Good point, Ian. I'll work on doing that in future videos. Nice rig you have there. I too used Par antennas in the past. I had a lot of fun with those but as you indicate, the multiband antennas that HyEnd offers are really nice.
Nice video Tracey, I have the Ultralight MK1 version, I find it works very well too, in addition, the SWR is low on 17m, so for me it's actually a 5 bander! 73 from Lincoln U.K, M0KED.
Hi Tracy, Great job on the review, I think you covered pretty much any questions that anyone might have with this new antenna. Got to give you lots of credit for standing out in the cold wind. I think even though I don't mind the cold I would be in the car operating since it was siting there! hi hi! 73, Cameron AF7DK/GM7LQR
Hi Tracy, great review. I'm using an End Fed without a counterpoise at home and needed to add an ugly balun and use the auto tuner on my TS-570S. This looks like a solution for both limited space home and portable use. By the way, you also have great choice of an name... Cheers, Tracy - VK3TTT
_"...and needed to add an ugly balun and use the auto tuner on my TS-570S."_ I had this issue due to my feedline being so far off resonance. After messing around with it, I decided to go with an end-fed run of 66' and a 64:1 transformer. Performance was MUCH better on 40-10 at 100w. Building one is trivial in cost, but the length of the element might be off-putting for some. What kind of VSWRs are you getting once the auto-tuner goes to work?
Hi Matt, The autotuner on the TS-570 will happily tune down to around 1:1 on all bands. I am using the Maple Leaf Studio End Fed Easy-Tenna which is 72ft (21.9m) long. However, it has a 90 degree bend as it runs around my roof and a 50ft coax feeder is recommended. My coax is considerably shorter than that. I haven't experienced RF i the shack but I am usually operating QRP. I'm being heard around the world with WSPR on 40 and 20m and 5W but I'm not hearing much. The S5-S7 noise floor doesn't help. Tracy - VK3TTT
Hi Tracy, it's always a pleasure to meet another one of us :) It may not have been clear in the video, but no counterpoise is required with the HyEndFed antennas. That's a beautiful thing in my estimation and it really helps get you on the air fast especially where space is an issue. Nice to hear you are playing around with antennas, that's a big part of the hobby as far as I am concerned. 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
No counterpoise needed or used. The coax is not acting as the other half of the antenna. The trick is in the balun contained within the matching unit. This makes for a clean and easy installation.
End feed antennas have high impedances (Near 4 K) and only need a 5% counterpoise at the lowest frequency. Usually, the coax running to the transceiver is sufficient. With power levels 100 Watts up, you will need a sort of choke balun you will put 1/4 wave from the UnUn, to avoid RF in your shack. Same amateurs have RF troubles inside the station. You can solve adding 1/4 wave cables from the ground of your tuner or transceiver. Remember: Plastic coverer wire have a 90% propagation velocity and you will reduce the lenght, over a barefoot wire. Regards. LU1AR
This antenna uses an UnUn 1 to 7 to convert 50 Ohms in 2450. Wire have around 3000 ohms at resonance with 2 mm diameter. If you use 300 ohms twinlead cable with ends shorted, they are more fat and impedance reduces more. You can made it. Look at this site: pa-11019.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/149-transformer-for-endfed-antennas-35.html
I would say no. The matching unit is specifically designed to work with the length provided. Instead, take a look at their 3 band model. It's longer than 10m but you can bend the wire to go into a smaller space as long as the angle is greater than 90 degrees.
Hi Tracy, very interested in this, im off to Turkey in a couple of months and want to take my FT-817ND and have been looking for a portable antenna with no need for an ATU, think this might just do the job perfectly.
They don't need coils or traps as they are at least a half wave. The magic is in the matching unit. And as far as price goes, I've spent far more money on antennas that don't work as well. I don't do that anymore.
KC5RET here. Great video. How is the antenna mounted? Is the feed point up on the pole or down on the ground? If it's on the pole, how high up did you mount it? if on the ground, how far above ground? Will there be a stateside point of sale for these antennas? I'm thinking DX Engineering should look into selling these. 73, Rob, KC5RET
Hi Rob, thank you for watching! The feedpoint was approximately 3 feet off the ground at the low end of the antenna which is the the ideal height per the manufacturer's spec. I do not believe anyone in North America is selling HyEndFeds. Having said that, they ship quickly to North America and the shipping rates are reasonable. 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
Tracy, thanks for the reply. if I decide to buy one, I've got the perfect location and the perfect piece to keep the feedpoint 3 feet off the ground: a temporary electric fence post from Tractor Supply www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/step-in-poly-fence-post-48-in?cm_vc=-10005... I'll give Hy End Feds another look and I'm looking forward to more videos. 73, Rob, KC5RET
The Step-in fence post is an interesting product and it does look like a good solution for the feedpoint. Thank you for the comment, Rob! 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
So about $100 for the antenna from this company. No radials needed per this companies literature. You still would need a spider beam pole and a way to mount the pole, and estimate that would cost you another $100. Plus the cost of the coax pigtail. So for 20m complete set up estimate antenna system $200 budget. - N1KTJ
There are many other commercially made antennas similar, to this antenna. An end fed is an end fed. These are very expensive and can be duplicated for much less. Your hawking this antenna as if it was just invented yesterday.
I don’t think BNC is dumb. The fittings are lighter, which suits the portability intended. Connections are made quickly, which also suits the portable operator.
Informative, thank you Tracy. I made my first attempt at a SOTA activation last weekend. I used my homebrew EFHW and SOTA tuner to no avail. Based on your videos, I've ordered a Jackite 31' and will be adding the MK2 to my pack. Thanks again for your infomative videos.
Hi Hal, thank you for the feedback! You are really going to enjoy your portable station once you have a chance to use the pole and Mk II Packet.
Hey Tracey, thanks a lot for braving that frigid weather to give us a review of this neat little antenna. Kind of a coincidence that I've been looking at the Spiderbeam mast and this little antenna for a week or two. Nice to find one of your thorough reviews on it. I think I just made my mind up to buy it hihi. 72/73 Brent
Hi Brent, you might also want to check out the HyEndFed site as they have their own line of reasonably priced poles. I'm thinking about getting one to augment my Spiderbeam. 72 Tracy
I'm a fan of Ron's. He's a super helpful guy. I have the mk1 of this antenna, seems to me the only difference is the added strain relief - which I get around by running a thin zip tie through the eye in the banana plug.
I also can recommend the 12.5m masts that Ron sells. They're slightly longer than the spiderbeam rough equivalent. Very heavy gauge wall thickness.
I use my Mk1 on 17m as well. I keep a tuner inline switched to "through" for the other bands, and set for 17m only when that bend's selected. I use 17m a lot. This antenna matches very easily for 17m. Most of my contacts on this have been between 20m and 17m.
Ron's quality of production is terrific. (Unfortunately the £/Euro conversion makes his goods more expensive than before)
My other portable antennas are big flat tops fed with twinfeed, but they need three masts to put them up properly. Takes more time and hassle!
Good luck and hope to catch you on HF one of these days.
Thank you for your informative comments, Ian. I'm looking forward to that contact with you.
Masts come from DX-WIRE.DE.
Banana plugs are good for their insulation properties. Keeps it simple as well. Less to go wrong.
Great video..I have been using 31' and a 9:1 unun for a while...like reviews about the smaller side light weight. This looks great for tip to beach or local park..keep em coming.
Hi Terry, thank you! Good luck with your portable ops.
Outdoors On The Air mattress I
Terry, I am QRP in Texas, small budget, retired and need a functional endfed ant for my X108G rig. How does your 31ft/9:1 ant workout for you? Tnx
Slick little antenna. I like the multi-band usage without need of a tuner. I'm getting bitten by the QRP & backpacking bug pretty badly. I think this little antenna will find it's way into my kit.
Thanks for the review!
Don / W5DON
Thank you for the comment, Don! Maybe you could think about posting a video showing yourself backpacking portable? I hope to post a backpack portable video myself later this year.
Outdoors On The Air - My video skills aren't up to par for publishing. I am working on a few things though. Look me up on FB, and shoot me a message.
Thanks Tracy maybe next time could you show how you set up the antenna re how much coax how high off ground is feed point etc. I have used a few end fed wires and Par antennas before but the multi band look good. rig is kx3 for SOTA mostly. thanks a lot de Ian vk5cz ..
Good point, Ian. I'll work on doing that in future videos. Nice rig you have there. I too used Par antennas in the past. I had a lot of fun with those but as you indicate, the multiband antennas that HyEnd offers are really nice.
Nice video Tracey, I have the Ultralight MK1 version, I find it works very well too, in addition, the SWR is low on 17m, so for me it's actually a 5 bander! 73 from Lincoln U.K, M0KED.
Thank you, Andy! I never even thought to try the SWR on 17m. I appreciate you bringing that to my attention. 73 from Ontario Canada, VE3TWM.
Hi Tracy,
Great job on the review, I think you covered pretty much any questions that anyone might have with this new antenna.
Got to give you lots of credit for standing out in the cold wind. I think even though I don't mind the cold I would be in the car operating since it was siting there! hi hi!
73, Cameron AF7DK/GM7LQR
Hi Cameron, thank you for the compliment! I really appreciate it. 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
Hi Tracy, great review. I'm using an End Fed without a counterpoise at home and needed to add an ugly balun and use the auto tuner on my TS-570S. This looks like a solution for both limited space home and portable use.
By the way, you also have great choice of an name...
Cheers, Tracy - VK3TTT
_"...and needed to add an ugly balun and use the auto tuner on my TS-570S."_
I had this issue due to my feedline being so far off resonance. After messing around with it, I decided to go with an end-fed run of 66' and a 64:1 transformer. Performance was MUCH better on 40-10 at 100w. Building one is trivial in cost, but the length of the element might be off-putting for some.
What kind of VSWRs are you getting once the auto-tuner goes to work?
Hi Matt, The autotuner on the TS-570 will happily tune down to around 1:1 on all bands. I am using the Maple Leaf Studio End Fed Easy-Tenna which is 72ft (21.9m) long. However, it has a 90 degree bend as it runs around my roof and a 50ft coax feeder is recommended. My coax is considerably shorter than that. I haven't experienced RF i the shack but I am usually operating QRP. I'm being heard around the world with WSPR on 40 and 20m and 5W but I'm not hearing much. The S5-S7 noise floor doesn't help.
Tracy - VK3TTT
Hi Tracy, it's always a pleasure to meet another one of us :)
It may not have been clear in the video, but no counterpoise is required with the HyEndFed antennas. That's a beautiful thing in my estimation and it really helps get you on the air fast especially where space is an issue. Nice to hear you are playing around with antennas, that's a big part of the hobby as far as I am concerned. 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
Don't find these on eBay or Amazon. Shipping direct from HyEndFed is an additional 35% of the total cost. Is there a North American source?
Unfortunately not.
Look at Ultimax antennas. They are from Florida and less expensive than Hy EndFed. I have the 88 ft. and it works great. W8BEI
Does this not have a counterpoise? IF not, is the coax acting as the other side of the antenna?
No counterpoise needed or used. The coax is not acting as the other half of the antenna. The trick is in the balun contained within the matching unit. This makes for a clean and easy installation.
Thanks for the reply. This goes against everything I've learned so far.
End feed antennas have high impedances (Near 4 K) and only need a 5% counterpoise at the lowest frequency. Usually, the coax running to the transceiver is sufficient.
With power levels 100 Watts up, you will need a sort of choke balun you will put 1/4 wave from the UnUn, to avoid RF in your shack.
Same amateurs have RF troubles inside the station. You can solve adding 1/4 wave cables from the ground of your tuner or transceiver.
Remember: Plastic coverer wire have a 90% propagation velocity and you will reduce the lenght, over a barefoot wire. Regards. LU1AR
Thank you for the explanation!
So if the impedance is 4000 ohms would you not need a 80:1 matching unit to make the radio happy?
This antenna uses an UnUn 1 to 7 to convert 50 Ohms in 2450. Wire have around 3000 ohms at resonance with 2 mm diameter. If you use 300 ohms twinlead cable with ends shorted, they are more fat and impedance reduces more. You can made it. Look at this site:
pa-11019.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/149-transformer-for-endfed-antennas-35.html
You say the wire is 20m can this be cut down to 10m to fit in my area.
I would say no. The matching unit is specifically designed to work with the length provided. Instead, take a look at their 3 band model. It's longer than 10m but you can bend the wire to go into a smaller space as long as the angle is greater than 90 degrees.
GM4AFG : How is the banana Plug Connection made waterproof Tracy? has it an internal "o" fitted ?
It's not hollow thru.
Man you are crazy haha Thanks for the great review
You're welcome, and thank you for the comment!
Mine will be here on Monday! I'm anxious!
Let me know how it works for you!
very good VA2SOB
Thank you, Claude!
Hi Tracy, very interested in this, im off to Turkey in a couple of months and want to take my FT-817ND and have been looking for a portable antenna with no need for an ATU, think this might just do the job perfectly.
Have fun in Turkey and let me know how you do.
Very expensive antennas. I wonder how they manage to keep low SWR without coils or traps on this wire.
They don't need coils or traps as they are at least a half wave. The magic is in the matching unit. And as far as price goes, I've spent far more money on antennas that don't work as well. I don't do that anymore.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir thanks for the reply. Appreciate it. I tend to tinker my own stuff so I just wondered what's inside the box. 73 de 9A3AKF
hey tracy what did that antenna cost to get it to canada ?
Hi Vini, I honestly don't recall. It was likely $30 or so.
Is there anywhere in the UK I could get this antenna.
73's Alan in the UK
Hi Alan, I don't know but I know they ship plenty of antennas to customers in the UK. 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
make your own very simple to do
KC5RET here. Great video. How is the antenna mounted? Is the feed point up on the pole or down on the ground? If it's on the pole, how high up did you mount it? if on the ground, how far above ground?
Will there be a stateside point of sale for these antennas? I'm thinking DX Engineering should look into selling these.
73, Rob, KC5RET
Hi Rob, thank you for watching! The feedpoint was approximately 3 feet off the ground at the low end of the antenna which is the the ideal height per the manufacturer's spec.
I do not believe anyone in North America is selling HyEndFeds. Having said that, they ship quickly to North America and the shipping rates are reasonable.
73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
Tracy, thanks for the reply. if I decide to buy one, I've got the perfect location and the perfect piece to keep the feedpoint 3 feet off the ground: a temporary electric fence post from Tractor Supply www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/step-in-poly-fence-post-48-in?cm_vc=-10005... I'll give Hy End Feds another look and I'm looking forward to more videos.
73, Rob, KC5RET
The Step-in fence post is an interesting product and it does look like a good solution for the feedpoint. Thank you for the comment, Rob! 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
I sent a US currency conversion request to them for this ant. Does $118 sound about right?
Hi Steve, HyEnd Company have a currency converter right on their site. Give that a try.
I bet it is warmer inside that car on a sunny day than standing outside in the wind.
True, but I wanted to be outside.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Canadian blood is a lot thicker, LOL
So about $100 for the antenna from this company. No radials needed per this companies literature. You still would need a spider beam pole and a way to mount the pole, and estimate that would cost you another $100. Plus the cost of the coax pigtail. So for 20m complete set up estimate antenna system $200 budget. - N1KTJ
To fry an egg, you need near $ 1500- "Ancillary equipment".
Or you could use a tree and a bit of paracord.
There are many other commercially made antennas similar, to this antenna. An end fed is an end fed. These are very expensive and can be duplicated for much less. Your hawking this antenna as if it was just invented yesterday.
Just an FYI...some end feds require a counterpoise, where ones like the HyEndFed models do not.
Nice but way over priced!
BNC ? dumb
I don’t think BNC is dumb. The fittings are lighter, which suits the portability intended. Connections are made quickly, which also suits the portable operator.