Nice to learn about 4m - even though we can't use it here in the U.S.. What I'm most impressed by though, is that you have an "antenna guy". I didn't know that was a thing. Considering I'm getting older, and was previously seriously injured in a fall, I need to find one of those.
Most people in the UK still have a TV aerial and maybe a TV satellite dish, so there are people who specialise in that sort of thing, people with ladders.
I have a TV station on (North American) channel 4, right in the middle of all of this, plus lots of telemetry/SCADA/etc. in the 72-76 MHz band. I used to do a lot of TV DX, mainly by Sporadic E. You never knew what you were going to pick up!
I was on in the contest, just to the south of you. Antenna was a 2 element Moxon built from 20mm pvc conduit and 1.5mm solid copper wire. I’ve also made a J pole from 450 ohm slotted ribbon cable, that I’ve used /P with my ex army Clansman 352. 73 Nick G0OQK.
I probably heard you and most likely have you recorded in my IQ recordings :-) Just didn't make it in to the video though as I had lots to choose from. Cheerss!
Nice, glad the antenna is working well for you. I am very new to 4m. Only have an old reprogrammed ex-pmr Ascom SE550 on FM at the moment. The Swindon SDARC group have a 4m net every Wednesday at 19:30 to 20:30 UK time, 70.400 MHz FM, vertical polarization, if want to try and listen out for them.
I wish all antennas were built like that one. Nice and thick(😅) and all the parts included. Thank you for the review, another band that might open up to the world!
4 meter would technically be a feasible HT band. 6 meter is probably the limit for 1/4 wave antennas that won’t break your radio or wrist in the wind. 4 meter would be great in the mountains.
I made a video on a 4M handheld quite some time ago now, and I made a great contact while on high ground. It's a shame it isn't available worldwide really, but I guess 6M is close enough.
I do a 4-m activation once a month portable in Co. Antrim. Antennas I use are: 1/4-wave mobile whip, J-pole, folded dipole and yagi. I have recently acquired a moxon that I hope to try soon. Rig is Icom IC-7100 and Messi & Paoloni coax. Works well and we average about 10-12 callers, including Scottish and Cumbrian stations.
Great to see someone reviewing a commercial 4M aerial now there are a few to choose from. I notice Moonraker also do a 4M aerial with a fiberglass raydome so it looks like a 2M/70cm, anyone had any experience of it? Thanks for the review, I do like the construction method with the securing screw going through the threaded sections!
I hope your antenna from the same manufacturer/distributor is durable ... I bought a "double discone" a few years ago and it seemed nobody has ever tested the antenna long term outside, because the isolating plastic got bad and allowed water to get right into the inner conductor of the air-cell coax, because there was also no seal in the socket, messing everything completely up electrically. I remember, they also had some issues with the center conductors material, which was so flimsy, it broke into two pieces when inserting the connector. They were nice enough to send me a new part, which was technically the same poor design but it didn't break because I was sensibilized and ultra careful. Anyway after the water incident I had to remove the entire cable and install a 30 year old discone that used to be outside for solid 20 years on top of my former 15m tower, which used an ceramic isolator plate and was made by a German ham and semi professional antenna designer who sold it for peanuts on a flea market in the early 80's. The metal parts of the double discone from the UK were well done stainless steel with clean threads but the isolating interconnection between the cones center parts with the cheap plastic components seemingly only designed for indoor operation, which is ridiculous to be sold as a proper outdoor antenna. I hope the long term experience with yours is better. The way they attached the radials on your 4m antenna is also an odd choice, putting a lot of unnecessary load on the plastic if I saw this correctly. Keep us posted if it makes it longer than a year outside in the sun and wind. Some PVC falls literally apart when exposed to sunlight for longer periods of time, which is normal when outside in the open.
@@n1vca from memory i tightened them as hard as i could its probably the fact that its been battered by wind...i need to have a 'ladders' day and repair...theres things growing in my gutters too due to the pidgeons under my solars 🤣🤣🤣
Well that was fun I like 4M and it needs more love , Ive got a "flowerpot" antenna that I've had up for a while it's unfortunately underused but I did get some one fronm Slovinia on it so yes DX is eminantly possible !! If you've got a FT710 then go for it!
I only have a 4M HT, the Anytone AT-288. Therefore I can only do FM, which sound great for local signals. All the local 4M nets are all vertical SSB, so I cannot join in at the moment. It's on my game-plan to get a proper 4M-capable rig (or a downverter if I can source one). Thanks for reminding us all about the "Friendly Band"! 73, Jan M7HNK
I like 4 metres. I put a 70Mhz element on my Cobwebb, that worked OK, but it succumbed to some strong winds. At the moment I have a T2LT, that works well.
I miss 4M. Back in Blighty (I moved 25+ years ago) there was quite a crowd of us doing it mobile. Here in the US we don't have the 4M band. I did gain 220MHz and 902MHz,
@@TechMindsOfficial Both 220 and 902 are very underutilized. So much so that there is pressure to convert 902-928 to a cellphone band. 220 gets used for repeater linking quite a bit and there are a few repeaters there too. There are repeaters on 902 but the source of hardware is rapidly drying up. Used to be that you could get a Motorola GTX900 for $50 and simply update the channel entries but they are getting very scarce.
Hi Mat, great effort and as you said you got on 4 meters on the right momen LOL. I only made two contacts on 70 MHz with a small quarter wave vertical I made from pieces liying around. At 9:25 in your video I noticed that your end fed wire was not there. Any plans coming up? Cheers, Phil ON4VP
We had the tree removed at the end of the garden, so had to take the EF down, but it's back up again now :-).... Well, in terms of upcoming antenna builds and testing, I do.... One if a HexBeam from a new supplier and I also have a multi-band vertical to build. Plus a mobile HF antenna but that one would require me to leave the house away from my shack lol..
Not given up as such, just moving antennas around. TBH, I got fed up with people using Meshtastic in aircrafts which just filled up the node list with nodes that I would never reach. Totally pointless in the real world. If I ever need off grid comms, I have a ton of gear I can work with lol... Will most likely put it in the loft sometime soon. I still have a Paradar Yagi pointing north, and connected to a node in the shack, it's just not powered on right now due to moving things in the shack. Well spotted though, you are a True OG of my channel :-)
You do use an antenna installer. I was gonna ask that but rewatched the video and just caught that. Is that a UK thing? I google it here in So California and I get handyman ads and such. I don’t want just some guy up on my roof for all kinds of reasons. Are they terribly expensive? If anyone reads this and is in the South West United States and can recommend someone, I’d appreciate it. Thanks for the video.
To be fair, the guy is local to me, he mainly does TV antennas and Satellite dishes, but he is interested in what I do here with antennas etc, so he has no problem installing them for me. I could do it myself, but, I don't like heights, especially going up ladders :-)
Hi I have a anytone 588 4m fm only radio and a 4m/2m handheld there’s a parrot in tring you can use on 4m fm I’ve never used 4m ssb but can listen on a aor dv 10 scanner good video
MB7FM is on low power at the moment, but I can hear it here around 5/9+10dB. Yes, it can get weird when listening to your own voice back. What's even stranger is when you work someone through it who you can hear simplex but they cannot hear you simplex. Meaning I hear them twice. lol.. I have started monitoring 70.450 FM now I have this antenna up.
@@TechMindsOfficial I went up Dunstable down with a cb,2m,70cm,4m radio and called on 2/70 got nothing called on cb and got a few locals called on 4m and got a guy 56 miles away
Yeah, here in No. America, That band is smack dab in the Ch. 2 to 4 TV Channels, as a matter of fact the top end of the 4M band is the end of the VHF low tv band. ooops!
In the UK we used to have VHF TV, the old 405 line black and white system, but it was turned off in 1985. The "new" 625 line system was never on VHF, only UHF.
I absolutely hate waiting for items I’ve ordered, too. Can’t wait til the day Star Trek Replicators are a reality. For those not as nerdy as I, replicator is just a 3D printer on steroids. Converts Energy into whatever matter you might require. Counting the days til that launch
It shouldn't be much different. It just means you pay the VAT in your own country instead of the UK (20%) VAT. Shipping would be the same regardless, and yes, shipping prices have become absurd, but then again, they mostly always were.
Ohhhh just before the contest I was calling CQ, i could hear someone very faint and only could hear what they were saying using headphones. They were some mileage away though. Were are you located?
Cray Valley RS - Greenwich SE London has a regular 4m FM net each Friday evening at 8.00 pm on 70.425 - all welcome Dave Shaw G4NOW CVRS - Publicity Officer
![YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Missing Everything [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dTYeMZGzOzw/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice to learn about 4m - even though we can't use it here in the U.S.. What I'm most impressed by though, is that you have an "antenna guy". I didn't know that was a thing. Considering I'm getting older, and was previously seriously injured in a fall, I need to find one of those.
Most people in the UK still have a TV aerial and maybe a TV satellite dish, so there are people who specialise in that sort of thing, people with ladders.
suspect a “roofing guy” will be an alternative as well
I have a TV station on (North American) channel 4, right in the middle of all of this, plus lots of telemetry/SCADA/etc. in the 72-76 MHz band.
I used to do a lot of TV DX, mainly by Sporadic E. You never knew what you were going to pick up!
We also have remote control aircraft and hearing assist in that 72 to 76 MHz range. Ch4 is 66 to 72. There's a 4 MHz gap between 4 and 5.
People are posting DX catches on RUclips now. One was live streaming! I remember using tapes and 35mm cameras to prove I got Cuba, Canada, etc…
An analogue tv station you mean ? It's amazing to me that there are still some analogue tv transmissions on air in late 2024 ! Some in Russia also
I was on in the contest, just to the south of you. Antenna was a 2 element Moxon built from 20mm pvc conduit and 1.5mm solid copper wire. I’ve also made a J pole from 450 ohm slotted ribbon cable, that I’ve used /P with my ex army Clansman 352. 73 Nick G0OQK.
I probably heard you and most likely have you recorded in my IQ recordings :-) Just didn't make it in to the video though as I had lots to choose from. Cheerss!
Look, the Brits have 2 magic bands.
It's magic if you can find anybody on it.
@@MirlitronOneno, it’s a miracle
Nice, glad the antenna is working well for you. I am very new to 4m. Only have an old reprogrammed ex-pmr Ascom SE550 on FM at the moment. The Swindon SDARC group have a 4m net every Wednesday at 19:30 to 20:30 UK time, 70.400 MHz FM, vertical polarization, if want to try and listen out for them.
I wish all antennas were built like that one. Nice and thick(😅) and all the parts included. Thank you for the review, another band that might open up to the world!
4 meter would technically be a feasible HT band. 6 meter is probably the limit for 1/4 wave antennas that won’t break your radio or wrist in the wind. 4 meter would be great in the mountains.
I made a video on a 4M handheld quite some time ago now, and I made a great contact while on high ground. It's a shame it isn't available worldwide really, but I guess 6M is close enough.
I do a 4-m activation once a month portable in Co. Antrim. Antennas I use are: 1/4-wave mobile whip, J-pole, folded dipole and yagi. I have recently acquired a moxon that I hope to try soon. Rig is Icom IC-7100 and Messi & Paoloni coax. Works well and we average about 10-12 callers, including Scottish and Cumbrian stations.
I made a 4m flowerpot, it works great and flat SWR across the whole band. I only use it up the hill though as there's no 4m users anywhere close.
Yup, flow pot antennas are great for these kinda bands. Cheers
I’ve got a 13m pump up clarke mast on the side of the house, which allows me to play with different antennas without getting the ladders out
Oooohhh I need one of those!! Literally need one!
@@TechMindsOfficial i will email some photos of my one to you
Great to see someone reviewing a commercial 4M aerial now there are a few to choose from. I notice Moonraker also do a 4M aerial with a fiberglass raydome so it looks like a 2M/70cm, anyone had any experience of it? Thanks for the review, I do like the construction method with the securing screw going through the threaded sections!
I hope your antenna from the same manufacturer/distributor is durable ... I bought a "double discone" a few years ago and it seemed nobody has ever tested the antenna long term outside, because the isolating plastic got bad and allowed water to get right into the inner conductor of the air-cell coax, because there was also no seal in the socket, messing everything completely up electrically. I remember, they also had some issues with the center conductors material, which was so flimsy, it broke into two pieces when inserting the connector. They were nice enough to send me a new part, which was technically the same poor design but it didn't break because I was sensibilized and ultra careful. Anyway after the water incident I had to remove the entire cable and install a 30 year old discone that used to be outside for solid 20 years on top of my former 15m tower, which used an ceramic isolator plate and was made by a German ham and semi professional antenna designer who sold it for peanuts on a flea market in the early 80's. The metal parts of the double discone from the UK were well done stainless steel with clean threads but the isolating interconnection between the cones center parts with the cheap plastic components seemingly only designed for indoor operation, which is ridiculous to be sold as a proper outdoor antenna. I hope the long term experience with yours is better.
The way they attached the radials on your 4m antenna is also an odd choice, putting a lot of unnecessary load on the plastic if I saw this correctly. Keep us posted if it makes it longer than a year outside in the sun and wind. Some PVC falls literally apart when exposed to sunlight for longer periods of time, which is normal when outside in the open.
It’s all cheap Chinese crap unfortunately. Not built to last.
Half the legs have fallen off my double discone in the uk
@@26KE185 That is a matter how tight you screw them into the head or did the thread wear out over time?
@@n1vca from memory i tightened them as hard as i could its probably the fact that its been battered by wind...i need to have a 'ladders' day and repair...theres things growing in my gutters too due to the pidgeons under my solars 🤣🤣🤣
Old good verticale antenna you can't miss with them. I have cobweb antenna for 4m and work's just gtrate allsow. 73 and all the best from me🍀
Well that was fun I like 4M and it needs more love , Ive got a "flowerpot" antenna that I've had up for a while it's unfortunately underused but I did get some one fronm Slovinia on it so yes DX is eminantly possible !! If you've got a FT710 then go for it!
I only have a 4M HT, the Anytone AT-288. Therefore I can only do FM, which sound great for local signals. All the local 4M nets are all vertical SSB, so I cannot join in at the moment. It's on my game-plan to get a proper 4M-capable rig (or a downverter if I can source one). Thanks for reminding us all about the "Friendly Band"! 73, Jan M7HNK
I like 4 metres. I put a 70Mhz element on my Cobwebb, that worked OK, but it succumbed to some strong winds. At the moment I have a T2LT, that works well.
Had 2 ariels past 2 years from moonraker worth the dosh
I miss 4M. Back in Blighty (I moved 25+ years ago) there was quite a crowd of us doing it mobile. Here in the US we don't have the 4M band. I did gain 220MHz and 902MHz,
How active is 900Mhz over there? 1.2Ghz only seems active when there is a contest on.
@@TechMindsOfficial Both 220 and 902 are very underutilized. So much so that there is pressure to convert 902-928 to a cellphone band. 220 gets used for repeater linking quite a bit and there are a few repeaters there too. There are repeaters on 902 but the source of hardware is rapidly drying up. Used to be that you could get a Motorola GTX900 for $50 and simply update the channel entries but they are getting very scarce.
Hi Mat, great effort and as you said you got on 4 meters on the right momen LOL. I only made two contacts on 70 MHz with a small quarter wave vertical I made from pieces liying around. At 9:25 in your video I noticed that your end fed wire was not there. Any plans coming up? Cheers, Phil ON4VP
We had the tree removed at the end of the garden, so had to take the EF down, but it's back up again now :-).... Well, in terms of upcoming antenna builds and testing, I do.... One if a HexBeam from a new supplier and I also have a multi-band vertical to build. Plus a mobile HF antenna but that one would require me to leave the house away from my shack lol..
Have you given up on Meshtastic ? it looks like the antenna you have removed was the Mcgill 868MHZ
Not given up as such, just moving antennas around. TBH, I got fed up with people using Meshtastic in aircrafts which just filled up the node list with nodes that I would never reach. Totally pointless in the real world. If I ever need off grid comms, I have a ton of gear I can work with lol... Will most likely put it in the loft sometime soon. I still have a Paradar Yagi pointing north, and connected to a node in the shack, it's just not powered on right now due to moving things in the shack. Well spotted though, you are a True OG of my channel :-)
You do use an antenna installer. I was gonna ask that but rewatched the video and just caught that.
Is that a UK thing? I google it here in So California and I get handyman ads and such. I don’t want just some guy up on my roof for all kinds of reasons. Are they terribly expensive?
If anyone reads this and is in the South West United States and can recommend someone, I’d appreciate it. Thanks for the video.
To be fair, the guy is local to me, he mainly does TV antennas and Satellite dishes, but he is interested in what I do here with antennas etc, so he has no problem installing them for me. I could do it myself, but, I don't like heights, especially going up ladders :-)
Hi I have a anytone 588 4m fm only radio and a 4m/2m handheld there’s a parrot in tring you can use on 4m fm I’ve never used 4m ssb but can listen on a aor dv 10 scanner good video
I've had a QSO on the Tring Parrot repeater. A bit of a strange experience listening to my own voice again, waiting for it to finish.
MB7FM is on low power at the moment, but I can hear it here around 5/9+10dB. Yes, it can get weird when listening to your own voice back. What's even stranger is when you work someone through it who you can hear simplex but they cannot hear you simplex. Meaning I hear them twice. lol.. I have started monitoring 70.450 FM now I have this antenna up.
@@TechMindsOfficial I went up Dunstable down with a cb,2m,70cm,4m radio and called on 2/70 got nothing called on cb and got a few locals called on 4m and got a guy 56 miles away
@@2j4ez I was at combe hill when I done my 4M handheld video. Dunstable Downs about the same elevation I think. Great spot for DX contacts.
Yeah, here in No. America, That band is smack dab in the Ch. 2 to 4 TV Channels, as a matter of fact the top end of the 4M band is the end of the VHF low tv band. ooops!
In the UK we used to have VHF TV, the old 405 line black and white system, but it was turned off in 1985. The "new" 625 line system was never on VHF, only UHF.
I absolutely hate waiting for items I’ve ordered, too. Can’t wait til the day Star Trek Replicators are a reality. For those not as nerdy as I, replicator is just a 3D printer on steroids. Converts Energy into whatever matter you might require. Counting the days til that launch
Remember back in the day when you had to order everything by mail. 6 to 10 weeks delivery time. How things have changed.
Wonder if this antenna will tune up on 10 meters as a quarter
wave?
Try 40Mhz, 8M band... I've worked lots of EU, NA, and been heard in VK and NZ..
That’s another £38 spent then, thanks 🙄😄
Let's use it anyway
Mmmm just below the bottom of the Japanese car radio band ?
How much
Would you mind lending me your antenna guy ?😀 I will make the necessary settings for my FT-710 soon and give it a try.
Contact your local TV aerial / Sky dish installer. He'd probably jump at anything slightly different. Mine did.
It's that the air band!?
No
Nope, it's the 4M 70Mhz band. Airband is around 120Mhz AM.
Air band? Civil airband is 108-137MHz.
Given 6m band is dead most of the time, what's the point? I have a six element 6m Yagi up and have virtually no contacts with it.
We are near / at the top of the solar cycle. 6M is going to suck. Once the sun starts to settle down again 6M propagation will return.
Nice, er, not so nice since we cant use 4m band here in the US
We have 222 but no radios
Well who uses 900mhz ham band and also make an video about expert sdr v3
It's a shame that those who live in the European community have become impossible to buy in England... taxes, duties and shipping at absurd prices!
It shouldn't be much different. It just means you pay the VAT in your own country instead of the UK (20%) VAT. Shipping would be the same regardless, and yes, shipping prices have become absurd, but then again, they mostly always were.
@@paulsengupta971plus Duty! Can be a lot depending it the item and can sometimes double the price
@@brendancooney9401 Not really. It's about 2 or 3% I believe.
@@paulsengupta971 no that’s Europe to uk, the other way, uk to EU, it’s 10% minimum and up to 50%.
@@paulsengupta971 and then the fees to collect the duty can double the duty!
Explains why I’ve heard you on 4. I can hear you faintly but you could hear me replying
Ohhhh just before the contest I was calling CQ, i could hear someone very faint and only could hear what they were saying using headphones. They were some mileage away though. Were are you located?
im only a g7, whats the size of a quater wave at 4m ?
I haven't typed it into a calculator but at a rough guess, a half wave on 4m is 2m, and a quarter wave is 1m! :-)
What's the preferred mode of operation on 4m
All modes!
70.450 is FM calling and around 70.200 is USB. But yes, all modes are supported.
Thank you for the info
Essentially, FM for vertical operation, and SSB for horizontal beams.
There are some packet modes about.
Cray Valley RS - Greenwich SE London has a regular 4m FM net each Friday evening at 8.00 pm on 70.425 - all welcome
Dave Shaw G4NOW CVRS - Publicity Officer
I think the chiltern hills are in the way for me to receive this, but I will give it a listen next friday, cheers!