End-Fed Antenna Setup!

Curious about end-fed antenna? Join James KN4NEH and Jim N4BFR, as they explore its design, benefits, and setup for optimal performance in your ham radio setup. Perfect for limited spaces and portable operations!
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[@newsles2]

On the initial issue of getting the antenna up there, I note many YT vids make relatively light of this, but it took me several weeks off on/off attempts during weather breaks to eventually establish one, and I was ultimately forced to settle for the lowest large limb I could reach (about 25/30ft off the ground), making it more of a sloper, albeit ending up randomly around 41 ft long between the feed point and the isolator, which led me to use a 9:1 unun instead, thereby 'accidentally' creating a random end-fed. I haven't been able to test it for transmission yet as (seemingly thanks to the current ARRL meltdown) my license application still hasn't been sent to the FCC over 2 weeks after my exams, but it receives well and I got HF transmissions from all over the US before the bands deteriorated. I even hooked it up to my VHF/UHF Alinco radio during the recent geomagnetic activity and was actually hearing a VHF FM net on the east coast of the US (I'm on the west coast). That was unexpected. Or was it actually a linked repeater system? I'm new to this so who knows. Hopefully it will work well on transmit once I can actually use it for that. But to come back to the initial point, tennis ball launcher cool, but most will resort to a slingshot or maybe a weighted throw-line and it must be emphasised that it can be difficult to get your line where you want it - in my case about 25 ft higher than it eventually was. Mind you, this may also have been aggravated by the nature of the tree (a tall honey locust. They are gnarly). Good luck though to anyone who attmempts it. Hope this annecdotal info based on personal experience was useful. Les.

[@HamRadioPrep]

Thank you for sharing this experience! I'm sure this is going to help a lot of people that may experience similar issues

[@AlvinMcManus]

Good video on getting your wire up in the air. Well, my 66ft EFHW is a sloper between an 8ft pole and a 20ft steel pole at the other end. Such is what you do when you don't want to run 200ft of coax to the feed-point just so i can get the wire up in my giant oak tree which is the only available tree on the lot. It works pretty good this way as the SWR for 40-20-15-10 are all below 1.8:1 and I can work Asia, SA, CA and eastern EU with this and my barefoot FT710.

[@HamRadioPrep]

Hello Alvin, thank you for sharing your experience with your EFHW!

[@nickl3872]

Jim and his toys haha , nice launcher!

[@DennisMathias]

Why not put the balun (unun) at the house? Shorter coax run. Also, you called it a dipole. I wonder if that's right. Isn't it just an end fed longwire? Anyway, you guys are masters at production. That SO-239/PL-259 just knocked me out with the graphics.

[@nealwhicher6915]

I put a feather in my hair and a bow in my hand tie a fish line to the arrow. Cheep and it works

[@JoeMcCohn]

W końcu ktoś to pokazał krok po kroku

[@fasnuf]

4:00 lightning hitting that wire? LOL it's vapor.

[@KI7JOM]

My problem with using a tree is many places around me won't let me use trees for antenna support. I have to use a mast almost all the time

[@unwin42]

Remember to waterproof your coax connections.

[@HamRadioPrep]

Excellent recommendation! Thank you 🙂

[@blairsmith201]

I use a 40M EFHW but I have to mount it backwards. I run it out of a 2nd story window about 16 ft up and that is were the Balum is. The end goes to a wood fence in and is about 6ft off the ground. It works but would it be better to have the balum on the low side?

[@HamRadioPrep]

Hello, I don't think it will make any difference to put the balum lower. But it would be interesting to do that test and see if you see any change, then you can share it with us 🙂

[@Krebzonide]

I thought end-fed meant it's purpose was ending the feds, not being fed from the end.

[@theramblingsoflarry9290]

That is all good until someone sees you and calls the cops for you shooting a gun in a park

[@chipfornaris]

1st you said end fed, then at the end you said end fed dipole? So, which is it, where’s the shack? You never showed how it was hooked to the radio. Typical, too fast, not complete. You need to take a step back and do better 😊

[@HamRadioPrep]

This is a snippet from our HF Master Class course that covers many of the other items you mention. We thought sharing this might be helpful to some folks. hamradioprep.com/hf-masterclass/