End Fed Antenna Magic: Incredible Results with a VERY Long Wire Receive Antenna

A Full Demonstration and Exploration of How We Can Improve Reception. This is a full demo! Fantastic bit of science here - you will love it. Discovering the Amazing Capabilities of Predictive Science: I predicted some good receive ability - but I wasn't prepared for this. What else can we do to improve it again? Maybe we should transmit through it too! Please let me know what you think! Here's the links:
• Ham Radio Livestream o... - Original Stream these clips came from
• Fascinating VERY Long ... - Very Long Wire - Original video
73
Callum.
More videos:
▶️ • Antenna Modelling Antenna Modelling
▶️ • Tips and Tricks Tips and Tricks
▶️ • Antennas Antennas
▶️ • Live Streams Live Streams
▶️ • Commander World My Stuff
▶️ • Foundation Training Ham Radio Training

[@tyroncalta]

I believe you are doing more for the future of ham radio than 99.9% of the rest of us. Thank you again.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I do this for me - but it's fun to share too!

[@BenButler1]

Thankful you like to share.

[@BobHolowenko]

When I was a 15-16-17 year old I had an HF radio and I would listen during all of my down time and every single time I heard hams chatting about antennas, antenna testing, tips/tricks, debunking silly designs, etc etc etc. Your series of antenna testing videos are what I need! It wasn't until you tested the vogue LOG antenna that I actually decided to try it. Keep it up Cal!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Nice one Bob!

[@timdbl7804]

Nice one Callum! I once had a 1000 feet Beverage at 5 feet above the ground, pointing to the USA, in a field sloping to the north-west. I did some pretty good measurements, and it seemed that it was giving me about 20dB signal to noise advantage over my transmit vertical on 80m trans-Atlantic! It was lovely to hear the delight in the voices of the state-side guys with their "apple-tree" wire antennas! 😀

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, I'll bet that was a delight!

[@robertbatchelor908]

During Lighthouse Weekend we use a 400+ foot long end fed antenna. We were located on a cliff about 100 feet above salt water. The antenna was supported by a 40 foot tall flag pole in the middle. To date it was the best antenna we have used at this location. We were at the Horton Point Lighthouse in Southold, NY

[@raywells5337]

Callum, when you say the antenna faces the USA, does that mean the broadside length of wire faces SW or does the end of the wire face in that direction? Thanks

[@ccrraaiigg007]

Off the end

[@kazcat8096]

The wire has end fire as on 20m its multi wavelength

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Feedpoint is opposite USA..

[@michaelmendez5766]

​@m0mcx I have a 49.1 balum with a 130ft length of element , would it be possible to run another element in the opposite direction.

[@darbymathis7670]

A couple RX antennas I have is a 450ft loop on the ground, using a home-brew binocular torroid 9:1 transformer, and I also have a nearly 500ft beverage antenna, 7ft off ground, oriented towards Europe. I left my beverage "ungrounded", or without termination on either end, which enables it to be bi-directional on the RX signals. Both antennas are 14AWG stranded copper wire, and fed with 75ohm RG11 coax. Both are great tools in the ham radio tool box. My beverage, hands down, is my best RX antenna bringing weak signals to the forefront simply by reducing noise ratio from the signal. One TX antenna I use is an EFHW cut for 160m, 64:1 transformer, put up in an inverted-L configuration, also made of 14awg stranded copper wire.73 and thanks WD9M

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Lovely!

[@W1ZY]

Naturally, you are earth grounding the side of the transformer connected to the aerial wire. The other side of the transformer, leading back to the shack, is of course never earth grounded.

[@Toxoplasmos]

Being an End-Fed guy currently... I will now be buying a DX Commander because of your fair review. Thank You!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Have confidence :)

[@2metercrew389]

Ah yes the beverage antenna. For the medium wave Dxers a 1500 ft beverage is the holy grail… There’s only one antenna that beats the 1500ft beverage… That’s the QDFA Quad Delta Flag Array…

[@TFuzz58]

Cal I just had a conversation with a friend that has an end fed pointing east west and how he can hear Vancouver from his farm just outside of Moose Jaw. We didn’t understand why he could receive well along the length when we understood the transmit signal is strongest broadside to the wire. I still don’t understand but you just proved it’s not uncommon. Cheers from Moose Jaw Tim VE5THF

[@johnwilson3039]

One of the local hams was big into DX. He had DXCC on all bands. He ran 4 beverages N S E W. All were up about 4 feet with wooden stakes in the ground. Each had a termination resistor. Worked great. Another great video 73 Cal.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Wow

[@NickFrom1228]

When Callum started describing this I thought "Cool, a beverage variant, gotta watch this". But all band DXCC and 4 beverages. Wow indeed. That's dedication.

[@HamRadio2]

Well done - great info. I may try this on my hunting lease, which is ~175 acres

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Woah! Do it :)

[@frankcelentano1497]

Thank you for this video! I've been debating wether to try this or not at my home(we have an HOA so no towers or antenna on roof). I've got about 350 ft of fence BUT its not in a straight line. It resembles a baseball home plate with the longest straight run being 135ft. I noticed in your video that there was one section that zig zaged so maybe my "home plate" end fed might work?

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, I have a dog-leg.. However, we also need to try some shorter lengths. It would be fun to understand how small we can go on this experiment.

[@frankcelentano1497]

I’m happy to give it a try and keep you posted.

[@Stewart-HA5RV]

Nice one Callum, you might also want to run wspr on that antenna for 24 hours and see what shows up on the map!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

That's a good idea!!!

[@AndyAAzeroAM]

Inspired me to have a go at this, have the 64:1 built now, wire is ready. Just going to be 1 to 1.5 meters off the ground right now but looking forward to testing! *Now if it would quit snowing and do springtime that would be swell*

[@vk2lq]

There is a ZL running a 606m wire sloping down a hillside i believe he is in the ZLWRTC team heard on 20meters about 5 days ago

[@milosnovakovic4942]

Hallo. Keep up the good work. You are going to wright direction. Personally, had a chance to work with 9km long wire for couple of nights (working for telecom company which had just layed new route of air cable). Been working some crazy dx like i was local with them. If you like to research wire antennas a bit more, try horizontal angle antenna (2 wires in form of V, like a horizontal angle, some 9-11 wave lenghts of desired freq). ...have had some pretty good experiance

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Fantastic!

[@rayjones463]

the beverage antenna is very good and would work 12 inches off the ground

[@smartazz61]

Just thought I'd make a quick comment on this gentleman. I wrote to him once about something I don't even remember. He actually wrote back in under ten minutes. I had never previously written to him either. He's a very down to earth guy. Very innovative as well.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Glad you had a pleasant experience..!

[@MrFreddarama]

Your antenna is working well. I've never been a fan of endfed antennas myself. I've built 1000 ft loops fed with 450 ohm line and they seemed to tune a lot easier with the auto tuners and with low Rx noise. I had one at my HF station in Maui on the beach at 35 ft off the ground with 14 guage wire and it worked well for 1.8 to 7 MHz operation. I used fixed beams pointed to the US mainland for higher frequencies.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I used to love those auto-tuners. And yes, they LOVE big antennas..!

[@W7EDM]

I operate almost entirely portable. I've built and deployed dipoles, verticals and used hamsticks. By far, my best results have come from my homemade end fed and a 35 collapsible pole. I can deploy in under 10 minutes and work all of the US with very little effort with occasional DX.

[@stevetp81]

Callum, when I model this antenna, it appears that having it lower to the ground provides more gain at very low angles compared to installing it higher like at tree level. All very interesting. Thanks for your efforts testing this out. 73 -Steve KN4IQE

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I don't know how accuate the model is because we are SO LOW to the ground however, after the live stream last night, I was chatting to Mike and Roly and modelled it again and sure enough, roughly at 10 feet, I'm getting about 6-6dB. So maybe it's fairly correct..?

[@o00scorpion00o]

I get good results on my EFHW 49:1 , I have it mounted in a sort of sloping inv L, half is up around 55-60 feet and rest slops down to around 3 feet off the ground, I have the transformer there and grounded. It’s got a ceramic capacitor in the middle to increase resonance on 80m without having to physically shorten it which would mess up the other bands. It does 80-10m , I get good NVIS and good DX. Very happy with it. When propagation is good I’ve no problem having qso on 80m.

[@StianEklund]

Wonderful experiment and demonstration, really goes to show how much a quiet receive antenna helps. Not just signal to noise but it's also easier on the ears. 👍

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, exactly :)

[@kevinverville8608]

I made a 160m square up 4m fed with 300ohm twin lead for receive only. Absolutely fantastic!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Nice!

[@fromthehamshack-radionj4z]

if you can't hear them, you can't work them. Having a dedicated receive antenna is great. For everyday use the DX Commander is a fine antenna but this will help you chase that DX.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes John!

[@johnrees44..G4EIJ]

Absolutely brilliant and so enjoyable to watch. Every time you walk around a field with a reel of wire, sometimes in the cold or drizzle, you post a video, and it feels like we’re there with you! You continue to experiment with ‘things radio’, (which, as we know, is the purpose for which we were all granted amateur radio licenses), and you share your results, good or bad, with the rest of us, to increase our knowledge. For this, I thank you, and long may you continue to make these videos…73.. John..G4EIJ

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yeah, I know.. The colder and wetter it it for me, the more you enjoy it! LOL

[@gvii]

I've always enjoyed the older books, and not just on subjects like this. In the days before the internet and whatnot, it was more about making do with what you could actually get your hands on, as opposed to what you could afford. It is always neat to go through those old books and see the things that we have generally moved beyond and kind of forgotten over the years, but are still very valid and useful today. There's a lot of that "old school" stuff I learned over the years that I still find incredibly handy in my job as a bike mechanic, despite all the electronic doo-daddery they absolutely jam into those things these days. Very, very cool stuff. Really looking forward to see what else you dig up from the book.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes Thor.. We will try a few more!

[@BrokenSignal]

Turn it into a beverage antenna and you'll be impressed with the lower noise floor!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Indeed and I think in the video, we discussed doing that. Soon. Bits on order.

[@Westoftherockiesyourontheair]

Callum, does this have to be straight? I have been wanting to do one but I would need to do about 1/4 of the length one direction and the remainder in another. Pretty much an inverted L on the ground. I had planned to have this about 6-8' off the ground. Thanks for doing these antennas and for your help on my question!

[@Westoftherockiesyourontheair]

@@darbymathis7670 thanks Darby!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

So mine isn't completely straight.. If you like I'll make another video about my thoughts on this and how "kinked" the wire can be.

[@jim_w4jrm]

Wow... I'm about to put up a long fence around my property. Thanks for doing the experimentation. Really looking forward to following the progress.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Nice

[@ronmorella6541]

Another great video Callum. I only wish I had the room to do a160 meter end fed ( and a radio with a receive any jack). Looking forward to more testing. 73, N2IMB

[@DXCommanderHQ]

That would be cool!

[@nigelbrooks6756]

Callum I’ve just been researching a 160m efhw the info I’ve found says the transformer needs to have a 200pf capacitor and that a normal efhw 80 to 10 transformer will overheat due to lack of inductance , I’ve been wondering about running another wire from my existing 40m wire around my garden and not sure if I should get another 64 to 1 might just give it ago 👍,

[@DXCommanderHQ]

There is a small cap in this one, yes. And 64:1 is better for these lower frequencies.

[@davidw460]

I use (rx only) a waist high Beverage that is 40m long with a 9:1 and 450 Ohm termination resistor. This gives best snr for me on 20m long path to VK / ZL … I’m inspired now to try another roll of wire :)

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Oh nice.. We will ALSO be trying that..

[@shaunholland]

Just watched the video. Looks really interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing future results of your other tests with the long wire. I use a little over 40m of wire which was in an inverted L configuration 6 m high but recently added another 6m drop at the end which has improved the whole setup loads. I get out extremely well with a low swr on 40 through to 10 but still a bit noisy on the receive. Shaun M7HSA

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Nice

[@davidmessinger2784]

i'm in the center of Ohio and had a sched. with my father on Long Isand mornings for many years. I've tried several types of antennas. My best success came from a twenty meter dipole that is strung below the eves of my home. It is about 30 feet long and I can almost reach up and touch the feedline . It works best for contacting Dad on 40 meters!. Another oddball contact occurred on a CB whip antenna I tuned to 40 meters. I live below grade and the antenna was laying on the floor. I heard a station, called him, and he responded. I misheard his location and was shocked when he told me he was in Hungary!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

The fun of RF!! HAHA

[@JosephAnthonyJosefius]

I run a 80 to 10 meter 59:1 End Fed Half Wave antenna with about 132 feet long wire in a Inverted VEE up about 32 feet using a army surplus mast held up with a T-Post and rebar into the base wrapped with plumbers tape. I've had great results with this antenna, background noise is low. I also use a 20 foot counterpoise as well.

[@doesstuffoutside]

How important do you think it is to have the wire in a straight run? I might be able to run 90m to 110m wire in a loop around my lot at home, some on the ground, some maybe waist high.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

You will get a different result.. You might as well make a loop and use a 4:1 balun, low to ground.. You won't be directional though.

[@BushcraftTexas]

Interesting… I have been looking at doing a triangle. 40 feet up that is 1080 foot over my 5 acre lake. Thought being a receive antenna but I really would like a good transmit wire.

[@gordslater]

I used to work aurora and meteor scatter in the early 90s on a G5RV on 2m FM when it was in the "down" position for high winds. It ran North/South at about 2m above ground, it lay along the top of a old thin hawthorn hedge. Compared to a 4 element yagi and a 2 element quad up high it had load of gain. I recall experimenting with some barbed wire fence-tops too out on the moors, using a field gate to create a break at the feed point. IIRC I used croc clips to a chocolate block connector on the end of coax lol. Again, worked good for auroral if N/S, and I worked some 200km stations to the south that were completely inaudible on a vertical colinear on the car. That was the clincher, a long wire oriented end-towards the target station at 2M would produce nothing end-on UNLESS it provided good gain off teh end of the wire (needs to be very, very long in terms of wavelengths) Can't remember how i fed these long wires at VHF now - my mind i blank for matching arrangements. Age is a killer lol edit:I believe I used the original NEC on IBM PC XT to check out the pattern/gain potential. All DOS-based programs and quite a lot of hand-plotting of the output onto graph paper. MININEC made life easier later on. edit2: I recall seeing some graphs in an ARRL antenna manual, possibly in the beverage, vee or rhombic sections that gave a clue of likely gains. 30 years ago now, memory is hazy sorry.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

You took the words out my mouth...Age is a killer!

[@g4lmn-ron401]

Long time ago when I first licensed (1981) we lived in the arse end of nowhere in North Norfolk. I used two sides of a field, the barbed wire along the top of the fence, so 1 metre off the ground , as a V antenna, fed with ladder line into an ATU. I ran 20 watts and could easily get into the USA. (Then I moved to a flat in Brighton. Big reality check.) Where I live now there is a fence about 100 metres long, not far away but too far to run a feed ,so I plan to go portable to test that out. I am waiting for the weather to improve. Interesting experiments, something Ham Radio lacks in the modern era.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Ron.. I think this as a portable might be the way.. I need to do an on-the-ground test to see how fine it is for easy deployment.

[@srinivasnyayapathi9083]

I knew something like this would work magic, but never got down to trying it. Thank you for actually doing it. PS: BTW, I have seen this video about 7-8 times....

[@DXCommanderHQ]

HAHA!

[@thefreese1]

Wild ideas... but what do you expect from 60yr old man with a Mohawk...

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Indeed. 64 in 2-weeks!

[@thefreese1]

@@DXCommanderHQ 66 in 4 weeks... I now fit the 73 Ol Man ..

[@thomasperina2990]

Hello Callum: I love your energy as well as your continued strive for bringing us groundbreaking antenna information + the digital data thru your videos. Most hams think they know antennas but in reality it's what there buddy said or out of the ARRL HANDBOOK. O'l chap please keep on kicking it up, 73's , good health, 👍, God Bless. TMP, Unit 22 from N.J.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Erergy.. Yes, even though I might be wrong sometimes :)

[@Scotscan]

Superb again Cal! Your enthusiasm is contagious 🤠

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Haha.. You need to feel sorry for Wendy! :)

[@OctavMandru]

I experimented with a 49:1 and a wire as long as I could afford. The transmission is highly affected by the height, as expected. I used a very long fishing pole in the middle so it looked like an inverted V. Transmission and reception improved dramatically. Time and weather didn't allow me to continue experimenting but I have a 20m wire to install on top of my apartment, about 20m above ground. I have high hopes in this configuration

[@larserikhinrichsen1511]

just seen this vid, and as you also say...its magic.. Diversity-reception is something special for DX on lowbands.. here on my small lot, also try it often.. have a 25m lw, just 50cm agl, and on 20m could rcv canada on ssb, but no rx on 20m gp... cuagn on the bands vy73 de oz1fjb - ou2v

[@rayb228]

"Traditional Radio" ......Surely most should have read about the historic antenna but clearly not. Limited resource begets inventive thought .

[@nicksmit489]

Hi I am the typical low power 100w radio ham with an Inverted V antenna for 10, 20 and ,40m and like to play around with long wire antennas, based in South Africa. Thank you for these videos. Nick call sign ZS1NS.

[@Swede_4_DJT]

Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪 Your best comment ever. "Everything interferes with everything, It's the way it is" I will try it on my wife later.. On the plus side, if it doesn't work out i run away so its a win win for me 😂

[@pacodepoio]

Thank you very much for this video. I am very interested in 160m band, and I go to do it. 73 EA1DD - Paco.

[@brianfields4479]

Very interesting indeed. I experimented with a 40m bev, then un grounded the end into a end fed, 40m rx was fantastic compared to the vert into eu. I then in a smaller garden put it back up, only 20m long, still rx on 40m was better than the vert. Both 1m high. I look forward to your future experiences with this very fascinating ant.

[@va3hie]

Awesome stuff Cal. I'm just back into the art after a 10+ year hiatus. Working on getting it right this time. Happy New Year and thank you for the inspiration. '73 de VA3HIE

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Great!

[@johniedesk1]

Very low take off angle, physics says energy can neither be created nor destroyed, every antenna has a price for gain, right? Very narrow beam width and take off angle, Good stuff.

[@StreakyP]

want shed loads of cheap wire?... go to someone who uses lots of wire.... check out 1.6mm or 2mm aluminium wire on farmers suppliers used for electric fences... comes in 400m drums & is cheap as chips.... OK you cannot solder to it but just use a mains "wago" type quick connects to join onto it.

[@indridcold8433]

My secondary antenna is a, "straight," piece of wire extended across 12 hectares. I use it for receive. I can pick up aviation beacons across the continent sometimes.

[@hillbillytarzan]

I have a brand new 152.4m or 500ft spool of insulated 14 gauge stranded wire, so I guess I’m gonna have to see what I can do

[@allenshepard7992]

Hope you catch the wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverage_antenna China uses them for over the horizon radar, like the US and Brits used to do. Some background information nuke.fas.org/guide/usa/airdef/an-fps-118.htm

[@austieoutdoors9763]

wow 160m i have a 40m long endfed with 49.1 ballun and thats long so i can,t imagine your one wow m7byf

[@martydouglas1802]

land I have and wire is cheap! I am just considering what radio to buy but a long wire is a game changer. The snow fence is up and your low budget,long reach wire sounds like a good choice.

[@mikeraymond6822]

I have a 66ft wire on top of my garden fence with a 9.1 balun, its great for cutting the noise down on 40m and nothing else,

[@gaptastic]

I love the idea of having a separate receieve antenna but my radio only has one ant port. I guess I could use an SDR dongle but I their sensitivity is limited, no? Very cool video Calum, thank you for sharing!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Sorry about that.. MFJ do a field mounted switch option. Single coax to field. DC injected iinto COAX and away you go.

[@Joe-KN4IFI]

Nice Intro Callum. 73 Joe

[@Korbinian123]

For receive it would probably be best to have an amp directly at the antenna. this way you retain the SNR that you get directly at the antenna's terminals and can get away with a cheap coax for feeding

[@ww3ok]

I have a square loop on the ground, 40 meters on a side. I am always amazed at the clear signals when it works. Good show Callum. 73

[@paulchapman1175]

Hello calam I enjoyed your video and you have a set of drums in the background From paul chapman at east sheen 73

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I play every Thursday night (band comes around!)

[@michaelrosebud]

Excellent video DXC, it lends a whole lot of credibility to the fact that you can use a chain link fence, barbwire fence line on a farm, a railroad track, the options re limitless. It's great to see you involved in the experimentation of long wire for RX & TX. I believe you have touched on a new and advanced method of using home made or existing long wire antennas for ham radio...go for it my friend, can't wait for the next video....:-) KI4TOL 73s

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, we need to try just the fence next!!

[@paulkeeton6512]

Great video! Love seeing the two audio feeds in the headphones.

[@theElderberryFarmer]

Interesting stuff! So wild to see what a dead simple wire antenna can do! Take care and God Bless.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yeah! :)

[@edwinpd0sot503]

Especially well done Callum, this is a prime example why most of the contest stations use beverages/recieve antenna's, "Phat" example of a good tech example/educational story. Respect!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Good point!

[@sethalump]

Thank you for these insightful and informative comparisons! I've been thinking about setting up something just like this and now I'm even more motivated

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Do it :)

[@dodgydd]

This was actually exciting 👍👍

[@jerrym1183]

Am enjoying great reception on my BOG antennas here Callum, so simple and yet so effective, I run mine un-terminated such they are bi directional.... what a game changer. Is also fantastic for medium wave DXing as well, very effective BCB, 160, 80 and 40 meters. Having the pre-amplifier out there at the pickup point 200 feet behind the house helps out a lot as well... Fun stuff de KC2UT Jerry

[@DXCommanderHQ]

On the ground? OK, we'll also try that. Hang on :)

[@jerrym1183]

@@DXCommanderHQ affirmative on the ground..

[@KS0JD]

I think there is a way to make the beverage antenna directional depending on where you put the resistor.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, Beverage are a one-direction antenna..

[@robertharden4092]

I think you may have something with the placement of the resistor at a desired resonating place I will get back to you I’m gonna try some things you gave me a couple ideas thank you. KC9LRA. Bob

[@ths3900]

You love to play antenna. I wish I had that room to just have fun and try it.

[@tsetsefly4538]

Ive tuned a barb wire fence run into a Clansman 320

[@N1IA-4]

Fantastic demo Callum! Signal to noise ratio is much better on the long longwire. Same principle what I am working on myself - using a 6 ft privacy fence and installing a 203' longwire along the top, with a 100' counterpoise on the bottom of the fence. Hoping to use my FTDX101D and do diversity reception. Verticals tend to pick up more noise, but there are times of course when you'll lose them altogether on the wire like you demonstrated. it's back to the future for longwires! hihi. 73 de Scott W1AL

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes.. The problem recently though is that it stopped working! I think the builders cut the wire about half-way down.. I need to fix! :)

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

This is really interesting and very timely for me. I have 123m/400ft available to me for an end fed at similar heights to yours. This is in a straight line North to South. I can also go 90 degrees East West for 12.3m/ 40ft. My question is; which of your cables do I use? I think DX10 but would be glad to have confirmation. Also, If I could make a similar antenna but say 20ft high, would I use the same cable and would I need a support cable or wire for it? I realise I might need some intermediate supports. Thanks, Ace

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Ace.. I used what we call "Radial Wire" - we sell it and it's a whisker less expensive than DX10 too!

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

@@DXCommanderHQ Thanks for the reply Callum, I'll work out what I need and place an order, thank-you!

[@XPFTP]

1st ham i heard say it as ive said all the time.. amp is worthless if u cant hear them as they say. amps arint for you. they are for them. lol

[@jimgiordano8218]

Very impressive. I enjoy these antenna R&D videos. Please keep them coming. Can't wait to see the other heights and end grounded.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Thanks, will do!

[@arkyump]

I’ve often wondered what a real long wire would do. Great presentation.

[@bugdozer314]

Might check out VE6WZ's channel, has long wire rx, beverages, suspended above ground, w/ terminators. Multiple directions. Example vid: "The VE6WZ RX system, and Beverage wire lay-out using Google Earth.", kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZKzlKyYrNKCqac

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, I think we need 2 or maybe 3 Beverages in the end.. Need to test height above ground next.

[@sierge1]

Hi Callum, another great video bringing back what has been lost on our younger hams. You created more surface area to capture a few more uV's of signal with out added atmospheric noise. I can't wait to see you compare this with a beverage antenna. Also have you tried using the top wire of your animal fencing as a receive antenna? I used to use my sheep pen fencing with a tuner and was blown away with how quiet it was and how much added receive signal was present, it was great for working rare DX that sometimes was working under poor conditions or 100 watts. 73, Mike/K1EG.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Not yet - the fence itself.. Maybe soon!

[@mpatrickthomas]

I had a Drake SW8 several years ago,but had to sell it.😢😢.. I would buy a 50 ft spool of plain speaker wire and divide it to make it 100ft.I live in Mid Missouri which is a bad place for shortwave.I got that 100ft length of wire and tied a rock onto it and threw it high up in a tree.I could easily pick up around the world.I did alot of digital decoding...SSTV,SITOR,AMTOR,TOR WX FAX from coast guard and even news fax sent to ships from Japan and of course CW.I would listen to Andrews Air Force Base on 11175 USB very clear like it was next door.You could hear very interesting things on there.I had other SSB SWs in the 90s,much smaller than my Drake.They didn't realize that on Air Force One the radio telephone could be heard on it.This one guy who owned a shortwave magazine actually picked up Clinton talking on the phone and I heard them preparing at Andrews for Secretary of State Warren Christopher to land.Cant believe Clinton's phone was not scrambled.And on Christmas night and New Years night the dispatcher lady would chit chat with the pilots wishing them Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and just talk for a few.Shortwave was so much fun in the 90s and early 2000s.When the Govt shut down in around the mid 90s it was chaos,esp on the ham bands.People kept interfering with people talking by making whistling noises or blast music so they could not hear each other.Favorite pirate freq on weekends was 6.955 LSB.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Michael.. Fab stories, I loved this: "They didn't realize that on Air Force One the radio telephone could be heard on it"

[@MauricevdfHermsen]

I did a test with a 64:1 on a 250-metre-long barbwire fence at a height of 90cm and it went brilliantly.. Also on the 4ometerband p a lightning rod on a chimney 70 meters high... Also pefect! urbanTX-ing!! 73 de PD4TZ 44-11

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Lovely.

[@stevenplatt1411]

Calum, for your "long" wire End Fed receive antenna or a Beverage antenna, in general, the lower to the ground the antenna is the lower the noise received is, however, the low angle "signal" strength remains nearly the same........as a result, while the absolute signal level may be slightly lower closer to the ground, the signal to noise ratio is BETTER. I have a 580 foot bidirectional beverage oriented Northeast -Southwest (toward you from Vermont) that is only six inches off the ground. When I listen to a station in Europe on the beverage, while the absolute signal strength is usually is 25 dB lower than the transmit antenna (Full wave delta loop on 80meters and 40 meters) the signal to noise ratio is BETTER and clearly sounds better/clearer.......good luck with your experiments.........Steve. (AC1DR)

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Hi Steve.. I have just ordered some 400 ohm non inductive resistors to create some more.. Thanks for the comments..!

[@JAFO.]

If ever you visit California I hope we get to meet.

[@K6TJO]

I just bought a 2.5 acre lot with a chain link fence around the perimeter. I am going to try this technique. Thanks so much for the inspiration Cal! 73 K6TjO formerly of CA now residing in OK

[@thormusique]

This is brilliant, Callum, cheers! I've only recently begun to think about having a separate receive antenna. When I was knee-high to a hedgehog I used to string up longwires everywhere to try catching SW stations, and the occasional amateur operator. And despite the fact that I had no bloody idea what I was doing, I seemed to be able to pick plenty of low-level signals out of the noise. Fast-foward to when I got into ham radio, and once I learned about all these sexy new transmitting antennas, I just assumed (no doubt stupidly) that if they can transmit to the 3rd outer ring of Saturn, they should be able to receive anything! Turned out not to be the case. Anyway, this is really an eye-opener that takes me back to those wonderfully experimental days when I wasn't worried about being bloody precise or 'correct'. I happen to have a lot more land where I am now than I ever have before, so I'm really looking forward to trying some of these things out. I'm going to start with the LoG from your previous video (which you mentioned here at the end. Seems like it's way too easy to do, so I just have to try it!

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Great comment.. Yes, conventional wisdom IS that the transmit and receive antenna should be same.. But hey, why not move into the past! :)

[@thormusique]

@@DXCommanderHQ And if it works, then all the better!

[@chuckrann9784]

I’ve got over 200 feet from my tower to the back fence. It points directly towards Europe at about 60 degrees from Atlanta! However that run slopes down about -35 feet. Wonder how that will work.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

That would work, sure.

[@statesideqsod]

I've been using a "snake antenna" on 160m for years. I increased the length to 250 feet recently and worked 43 stations on the Stew Perry with only 5 watts from Massachusetts. (Both transmit and receive) The antenna sits on the ground but I was told to put it on top of some logs and that would increase the performance. Very nice presentation: Fantastic results.

[@ON7DCK]

Discovered your channel recently, very interesting experiments ! I'm lucky to have a a lot of free space at my QTH and since i'm fascinated by long wire antenna's I might try some things in the near future. Still not sure if I would try an endfed very long wire or a sky loop antenna ( seems the skyloop is performing even better or am I wrong ? ) 73 Pieter ON7DCK

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Skyloops have a lovely RX sound to them. Don't compare your RX with your TX though. Although there is reciprocity, a low-to-ground antenna can sound lovely on RX but not TX so well.. So make sure you test on both RX and TX

[@jackK5FIT]

I love the long wire receive antenna. If I only had the room. Is there a way to find when and where you will be on? I would like to try to make contact with my classic w/80m. My email is in my QRZ profile and Loki has my phone number. Thanks. Jack K5FIT

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Jack, OK.. So sometimes I might just come on.. THEN if you are a subscriber and you have the NOTIFICTIONS set, you will get an email 30 minutes before I go live - else, I am almost always on Friday at 12:00 UTC.

[@spemberton101]

With only a single core that 64:1 matching box isn't for high power. Needs another core or two. It looks like only two primary turns, so that would not create enough inductive reactance to work well at 160M, and would only be marginal for 80M. More turns or more cores are needed. Probably fine as a receive antenna though, especially on the higher HF bands.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes, I think a 3-core version for the next batch!

[@taglyons8430]

Good morning, I am interested in the difference between your 160 end fed long wire and a 160 terminated end fed long wire. I would like to experiment with automatic link establishment and 10 watts. I would have to make it through the bands very quickly so would need a non resonant antenna. Just my longings, as I have no experience, just trying to learn. Thanks for the video, I didn’t catch if you transmitted on it or not

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I have yet to install the terminated version.. But that's coming soon and we will be able to switch between them..! Regarding transmit, suggest a fan dipole or something similar to a DX Commander where you can do any-band in a "hands off" approach, using the RX antenna just for that. Most (some!) radios have a specific RX jack in the back.

[@jackwilliams608]

Call I’m,great video. I’m going to run 160m wire along straight fence and give it a go. What antenna are you using to TX on 160? Salud’ Jack W5QZT

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Actually, on 160m, I was using that! But I need something higher up.

[@robertharden4092]

Brother you did it you got your 3to 4. More DB with the long wire wow. Works great. Thankyou. KC9LRA. Bob. . Indiana.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yeah, it's truly wonderful..!

[@rickeaston3228]

What I would be interested in knowing is how an EFHW 160 meter antenna (with all their harmonics active) would compare with just a resonant antenna on a single band (not low to ground) during receive and transmit. It would not be good if someone would compare a horizontal EFHW with a vertical. Apples and Oranges.

[@DXCommanderHQ]

I think I have enough data to compare that already.. The problem with a VERY long end-fed is that you have a lot of weird lobes all over the place and at least with a vertical, you know where the RF is going.. RX though.. I love small loops - and actually this very long wire is fabulous.

[@9A4GEMilan]

Thanks for the best source of information about end fed antenna as well as on 'Beverage' antennas. Just started to experiment with long wire, but my backyard is small and neighbors are noisy (including my own house). So far, long wire antenna do not outperform simple dipole, but hope to rise wire as much as possible to get more out of it. Thanks again!

[@buttyboy100]

Excellent video Callum. I used 500 metres of electric fence cord as a Beverage at no more than 1 metre about ground, pointing at North America. The end was terminated in a potentiometer connected to an earth rod. The pot was adjusted to peak signals at the receiver. This was obviously a 2 man job, or at least man and daughter with mobile phones. The results were remarkable on 160 and 80, many local nets we audible in the US and Canada that were completely inaudible on my 160metre horizontal loop or 3/8 wave end fed for 160 (190 feet long, mostly at 40 feet high). It's great to experiment at minimal cost. The biggest expense was bribing the daughter to help me.🤣

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Fabulous story! Thanks for sharing!

[@NICKGAR7]

Interesting experiment for sure. I also like to refer to the older antenna books too. There are some interesting and simple ‘forgotten’ designs in those books. It would be very useful just to check and eliminate any coax feed differences between the antennas (perhaps swap them over and conduct similar experiment just to be sure one coax feeder hasn’t gone ‘soft’). I’ll keep watching with interest. Happy New Year! Nick M1DDD

[@DXCommanderHQ]

Yes Nick. Good idea..