Broadband Antenna - is it a Fake ? Part 1

I wanted an antenna I can use for Meshtastic and also for wideband listening. This one was inexpensive but test results made me suspicious that it is a fake with no practical use.
All is revealed in this video.
For more info about Meshtastic activity in and around Brighton, UK see
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A much larger Facebook group is Meshtastic UK
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[@fdwantstowatch]

A good power splitter will be at least -3dB. Two bits of coax just joined could get grim.

[@fotografm]

Exactly !!!

[@eliotmansfield]

dont see any reason not to post a picture on the amazon add

[@mr_spoons]

The same "two of three" rule applies. 😁
That feedline is likely garbage for anything over HF. Probably 10 dB loss on that.

[@fotografm]

Exactly !!! Take a reasonable antenna and "improve" it by adding long cables of low quality.

[@bob_mosavo]

Thanks, Simon 👍

[@andrewgardner7104]

Good Audio.Thanks for your time and effort.

[@fotografm]

Thanks for listening

[@julianrobertson3303]

Excellent as always Simon .

[@fotografm]

Thanks for watching, Julian.

[@Mike-H_UK]

How do you keep an idiot in suspense? I'll tell you tomorrow!! Excellent video, many thanks. It's strange that they provide two cables because I can't imagine that anyone knowing enough to buy this antenna would think that a good idea!

[@fotografm]

Exactly. that's why I had to buy it to find out ! See you in part 2 ;-)

[@Phuong.Nguyen-]

Thanks for sharing 😊

[@fotografm]

Thanks for watching!

[@Peter_S_]

This is like a good cliffhanger. I suspect the feed is rubbish but does a true performer antenna live within this product, constricted by that feed? I guess we'll find out in the next exciting episode.

[@fotografm]

Stay tuned for part 2 :-)

[@2E0LMI]

I too would think that long thin coax cable is not helping signal attenuation. The long length of cable might also be helping with the wideband low SWR, and its values may worsen when you trim it short. I wait to find out in part 2 :)

[@fotografm]

Stay tuned :-) 73

[@purge98]

Could you set up the Y axis to show SWR?

[@jaymzx0]

I'm curious how it looks on a Smith chart. That's a big chunk of capacitance.
I've seen the double coax on some antennas that are supposedly for use with mobile network extender devices. One lead for TX and the other for RX. Doesn't help if they're both soldered to the same feedpoint, however.

[@fotografm]

Interesting comment. Too late for a Smith chart. I already chopped the second cable off...

[@johnwest7993]

Genuine RG-174 has 7.5 dB loss for 10 feet at 2.4 GHz, (as per the first loss chart I found on the web.) At microwave frequencies RG-174 is simply a long, flexible attenuator.

[@fotografm]

Indeed, that would explain why I thought the antenna behaved like a nice dummy load. I wonder if this is a deliberate design tactic or just ignorance from the manufacturer.

[@ubergeek318]

No link to the product?

[@zjzozn]

And how’s the signal from the saw? 😂👍

[@fotografm]

Probably better LOL

[@stuartmccloud307]

Cool vid buddy, thanks for sharing

[@fotografm]

Thanks for the visit

[@paulmitchell4421]

try feeding it with 300ohm twinlead and use modified tv balun to bring to 50 ohms or even a 75 ohm one

[@fotografm]

Thanks for your interesting suggestion, Paul.

[@paulmitchell4421]

@@fotografm it will be broadband with no feedline loss

[@fotografm]

@@paulmitchell4421 I hope you are right 🙂

[@bob_mosavo]

"...for those of you watching in black & white." 🤣🤣😂😂