Enthusiastic Steve: NEW Apollo HF Multi-Band Antenna for HAMs, Amateurs and CB radio users.

Hello from Enthusiastic Steve, in this video I will show you the result of around 4 weeks of research and experimentation to achieve a vertical HF Multi-band antenna, for portable or home base use.
It does not require a separate tuner and for its size it has enhanced properties over base loaded designs. This is NOT a dummy load on a stick, it works and works well.
Just take a look at the WSPR reports and the 2 surprise stations I got a report back from.
This antenna I have optimised as best I can and I have shared a sketch with dimensions for you to also experiment with and build one for yourself, maybe a radio club project?
Comment and let me know how yours turns out.
Thank you for watching, as always please share, like and subscribe, take a look over my other radio related content (over 70 videos on my channel) if you enjoy radio, any part of the hobby then you should find a video to suit.
All the best from Enthusiastic Steve
(Notable words: Antenna, Apollo, Space, NASA, HAM, Amateur, VSWR, SWR, CB, UKFM, SSB)

[@fotografm]

The Apollo is great ! Thanks for publishing the design. I tested it today and found it easy to match on ALL amteur bands 7-30MHz since the SWR presented to my N7DDC AT-100 tuner was always within the tunable range. This was not the case with my half size W3EDP vertical which presents an infinite SWR at 14MHz. I think I need to do some tweaking there !

[@W6IWN_Radio]

Thanks for experimenting and taking the time to make this video to share! Much appreciated 👏 💐

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@W6IWN_Radio Thank you for your comment, much appreciated. Regards Steve

[@AlvinMcManus]

Good video, however a link to the pole and maybe a PDF of the schematic or build instructions/plans would have been really nice. I may like to tinker, but I'll use a tested piece of equipment long before I'll try to dream it up on my own. I do lack a certain amount of imagination. 73 de kn6zvi.

[@14KiloWhisky]

At the end of the video, you have a schematic

[@IanValkeith]

Brilliant. will give this a go in my postage stamp garden :) - thanks for the video Steve - Ian M7FUP

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@IanValkeith Thank you 👍

[@trevgale3635]

Hi Steve, Many thanks for sharing this great video. I will certainly be trying one of these, I want to get back onto 80 and 60 mtrs, and hopefully this will be the aerial that I've been looking for to achieve it, I will let you know my results and how I get on with it. 73, de Trev, m0but.

[@andymay5633]

I might try to make one of these , maybe shorter 'cos I never venture onto 80m so a 40-10m coverage will be adequate. Thanks for the info.

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

As long as the wire is not a resonant length on any of the hf bands it will work. 👍

[@fotografm]

Thanks for the great video. Will definitely give this a try soon ! Am looking forward to comparing it to my half size W3EDP vertical which I am building today.

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

Having some great feedback. Handy hint, if using a analyser to check vswr, antenna must be off the ground and tested via the coax feeder, without the vswr may appear raised. Hope that helps for those building one.

[@mimetype]

Dual purpose antenna/fishing rod would be cool!

[@crfsparky4338]

Question from a newby, RE-I just used insulated speaker wire, is that one single cable or an pair of cables. I will now find and watch your video on the 9:1 Unun.

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@crfsparky4338 it could be either. You need to look closely at the ends to see if it is just a single wire has a outer under the rubber outer. If it is 2 wires just use the outer wires. May be a little thing if intending to use any more than low power through it. Good luck, thank you for your comment regards Steve

[@johntyler4222]

I can see the drawing but have you any other details of the coil. What diameter is the former that it is wound on and is it just a method of putting more wire in a smaller space so that it doesn’t need to be too long or does it give a certain inductance? If so have you measured the inductance or have any idea what you are aiming for? Thanks, John.

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@johntyler4222 i wound the coil many times before i got a satisfactory result. I do not have measuring equipment for inductance. So aim was to put19ft 7inchs of wire in a coil with small gaps between windings, air gap, the 19ft 7 inch of wire when wound around the fibreglass pole 14ft from the bottom took up a total length of 17 1/4 inchs. The pole is approx 1 1/4 inchs diameter at the point of winding. A 9m pole works or longer. The aim was to achieve the longest length of of random wire on a short pole and to use an inductor/coil to assist in tricking the antenna into thinking it is even longer plus to raise the current of the rf wave away from the base. Hope that helps. It took me a lot of fettling but result is it works well, and am hearing others are successfully making their own. A tip, use a coax feed with a choke 5 to 10ft back, this will help to achieve the vswr required. Regards Steve

[@charleseyres2969]

Waiting for your drawings-thanks for the video!

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@charleseyres2969 it is in the video. 👍

[@G4VYC.]

Very impressive Steve. What is the power rating ?

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@G4VYC. 200 pep with the unun, other unun's will allow a higher power with the appropriate wire gauge.

[@ianliston-smith7921]

I expect an extendable black carbon-fibre pole is not recommended? How much loss is there in a 9:1 un-un?

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@ianliston-smith7921 carbon fibre is conductive so not a good idea to use for this project. Any fibreglass pole 9m or over would work. You get a little loss with any unun/transformer, but not that noticeable, they are widely used. Make your own or purchase one from a branded supplier. I have never had a problem. I did a video on this unun, it is still on my youtube channel, cant miss it. Big red unun on title screen. Thank you Steve

[@brucejohnson3090]

Could you please tell us the WSPR app you used ? thanks

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

WSPR TX found it on googple play apps. Very simple, hold near radio mic, move about till you see the radio tx start to fluctuate, alc around 80ish, should work very well. Regards Steve

[@brucejohnson3090]

@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV Thank you, will try to find it

[@trevorwashbourne3253]

What is the total wire size also u say you have coiled it how many feet have you coiled

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

Pause on the sketch towards the end, all the details you need are there. Coil length both wound and unwound lengths plus wire lengths above and below the coil. 👍

[@trevorwashbourne3253]

What sort off wire did u use also what power can u use please send me measurements

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@trevorwashbourne3253 power is limited to the unun used, the ldg one can do 200w pep. I just used insulated speaker wire that i had laying about. Use a thicker gauge if you were looking to run at high power through it. All my tests were done at less than 5 watts pep.

[@trevorwashbourne3253]

Were these contacts to North Pole usb phone

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@trevorwashbourne3253 no they were part of the wspr tests, it demonstrates where your antenna has been successful sending the rf, if more power was to be used those signals could quite possibly follow the same paths using voice ssb modes. .

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@trevorwashbourne3253 all tests were conducted at under 5 watts pep, i have made voice contacts across Europe using the antenna and only 10 watts pep voice ssb.

[@johnlew5972]

Is it one continuous wire?

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@johnlew5972 yes, one wire, just a random wire not resonant on any band and a coil/inductor to optimise length on a smaller pole plus to raise current flow higher off the ground to optimise output. 👍

[@johnlew5972]

@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV Current flow? (where the energy/ signal flows from?)

[@johnlew5972]

Thank you for the response.

[@spanner1036]

What length pole did you use ?

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@spanner1036 this was a basic 27ft roach pole, a standard 10m or a 9m pole will surfice.

[@spanner1036]

@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV thanks Steve. Also as your using a 9:1 does this need a counterpoise ?

[@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV]

@@spanner1036 the results on screen are without a dedicated counterpoise, i believe this design will happily work without one, i noticed no real difference when i added wires ground mounted. Bit it may use somevof the feed coax as its counterpoise, hence a choke of some description 10 to 15ft down from the unun. Try it with and without, there are so many variables what does not work for me may do for you. 👍

[@Ploggy.]

🙂👍