Ham Radio - The original Miracle Whip antenna. Overview and some tests

[@annavictor8795]

My father, the late Robert Victor aka VA2ERY, was the inventor, designer, and producer of the Miracle Whip antenna. Sadly, he passed away in 2012. No one was able to continue operating the Miracle Antenna business, which is why you can longer find the original product to purchase. He had hands-on involvement in every unit that was produced. He would be happy to know that it hasn't been forgotten.

[@EntreeToAsia]

Hi Anna, I own two Miracle Whips - both models - and have had them almost from their conception. I had the privilege of speaking with your father by phone in Montreal one day in early 2010. I called him direct because I had several questions about the unit and he was gracious with his time to answer my queries. A short, but fascinating conversation ensued about the state of HAM and SWL radio at the time, and I was more than pleased to let him know that I, for one, was thrilled with the performance and portability of both antennas. I still use them and I can't imagine any scenario that would cause me to sell them. Cheers!

[@rogercobb3092]

Hello Anna, I have owned one since they were introduced and have used it for a receive antenna for my ICOM R75 indoors.

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Your father left a really nice legacy piece with which to remember him by and still very useful to QRP operators. Thanks for adding the backstory.

[@muffin_j_lord]

What a great little antenna. Served me well from a walkout basement home office with my 817, on a foot of coax and leaned up against a window. I'm down by Louisville and I've thrown all the way to Europe without taking it outdoors.

[@pietrogazzera5733]

Phisics is phisics. No other questions! Thanks for your efforts and your vid.

[@MatthiasLenardt]

Thanks for sharing. Always interesting see these comparisons. 👋73

[@vincecox8376]

I have had one for about 20 years, best portable antennae ever developed. I've talked around the world on same!! on my 817.. of course a dipole works better DA! The military needs to be using this antennae, it would give our ground radio's much more coverage

[@VA3OSO]

Good video. It's a miracle that this antenna works at all!

[@rogerwoodland2587]

that's why its good

[@davidj.wilcox6053]

A real Miracle Whip is hard to find these days. Even after all the negative comments those who purchased the real thing must be keeping them. Lots of Chinese knock offs but their construction is not even close to the real thing as far as their contact surfaces. Good video. Dave K8WPE

[@loughkb]

They were really well made, that's for sure. Thanks for watching!

[@gkushnick]

Hello Kevin, I too have the original MW. I have used it on Cruise Ships and Hotel rooms where you can't have wires hanging from curtain rods or on the floor when Housekeeping does their cleanup. I always have it in the ft-817 go-bag just incase the antenna of the day has a fail. P.S. I have found when possible a wire ground radial with an alligator clip to the ground lug of the radio increases the efficiency greatly with the Miracle Whip. 73 de k2gk, Gary

[@DumbledoreMcCracken]

Did you ask the captain of the ship if he would allow you to operate your radio on his ship?

[@cuban9splat]

Cool little gizmo. Love the name.

[@DavidGillooly]

Nice to see the inside of the unit! For digital WSPR and JT65 this would be interesting. But aas you say it is just a 4 foot whip with a inductor for matching so the radiation resistance would be very low. Still fun to see what can be done with it!

[@loughkb]

One thing I didn't mention, that others have reported to work. If you clip on a counterpoise wire to the ground on the yaesu, say 20ft or so along the ground, it improves the performance a good deal. Still not ideal, but nice and compact for taking out on the trail.

[@fineoutrick9789]

I had one and made a mistake by selling it. It was great for reception and to increase its efficiency, I added a counterpoise an clipped on some extra wire. It managed to bring the swr down with any length of wire that I clipped on. It was a great QRP antenna.

[@rogercobb3092]

I’m very glad I never sold mine! Still in perfect shape.

[@stanvieira7228]

You can use two uhf elbows to make an S type connection and get it out of the way to use rig control, or even rise it a bit to reach tuning knob. Still sturdy enough. VA3GTA

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

As you say, "you can't beat the physics" but it does help a little on TX and is probably more helpful on RX?

[@branhamj368]

Good video. I appreciate your teaching style.

[@mikemiles3068]

I have been trying to find one of these little antennas and I don’t think they are still manufactured. 73. KV5P

[@t.m.h.7962]

We used a variable load coil on a radio that we used in 67/68 in Vietnam. It was on a URC32, If my memory serves. It would put out 1000watts, we called it a full keg,(I don't remember why). Any way we had to load the coil when we changed freq's. We had to be careful not to run the tap of the end of the coil. It was loaded by a switch on the radio. It used a 30 ft. whip. The whip was attached to a base anchored to the ground. This was used in base camp for comm with Danang, We were just under the DMZ, bout a 100 miles north of Danang. Oh well just a short story bout using equip like that. Oh that was when radio's had tube's including PRC 10's and PRC 25's, they were back pack radio's. the tubes were small kind flat looking and had a metal/rubber coated strap to keep them from getting too much shock.\ Oh well CUL K 73's

[@loughkb]

Neat info. A 30ft whip can do well, lot's of capture area. The little miracle whip is just too short.

[@donselbe5812]

Have you tested this on 6 meters?

[@tonyridlen]

Kevin my question is will this miracle whip antenna work on a ICOM IC-746 PRO or is an all inclusive antenna just solely intended for use with the FT 817? 73. Tony RIdlen KC9QVE Kokomo,Indiana

[@loughkb]

It will work on any radio. The potential problem would be physical location of your SO-239 connector. If it's not near the top of the radio, you might have clearance issues. The other thing is you'd have to be VERY careful about your power output. They state it will handle up to 10 Watts. You go too high and it will burn internally.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

I had one when they first came out, alongside an 817. Blew the PA 2nd time I used it!

[@roberttoegel8304]

Well, my only beef with this video is that the coil is not a loading coil but a variable matching transformer. The idea is that a vertical is about 34 ohms impedance at the base and it goes up as you tap into the vertical. If a short vertical is treated as the top of a full quarter wave vertical, all you have to do is match that higher impedance to the coax. A short vertical will have a different impedance on each band. A variable impedance transformer allows you to match a short vertical on just about any band. Obviously, the lower the band, the worse it will work. No surprise here. Same as mobile antennas. I've used a homebrew version of the Miracle Antenna for years as a mobile antenna (with a 102" whip) and found it to be about the same as any same size mobile antenna with a smaller profile (no bulky coils). For what it is, it works great. And it doesn't require a counterpoise or radials although may work better with them.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I need an explanation of the differences between a matching transformer and a loading coil in an application such as this.

[@loughkb]

A matching transformer matches two different impedances. Like matching an antenna to a feed line. A loading coil goes on an antenna to introduce an inductive load to the antenna, causing it to behave like an antenna of a different length and has nothing to do with the feedline.

[@M0RSF]

I have owned an original Miracle Whip for many years and would never part with it. I have had some success with this antenna on HF SSB and VHF. 73 Chris M0RSF

[@nr3rful]

got mine about the same time you did. use it mostly just to receive.

[@unklewink]

One interesting thing I noticed about the circuit. When the inductor is set to the very bottom of its travel, the output of the rig is either very close or at a short-circuit condition. That can't be good!

[@loughkb]

With RF it's all about AC resistance, impedance, not DC resistence.

[@unklewink]

@@loughkb True. But when a wiper or switch position is touching common, you don't have much or any of either. (?)

[@michaelbradley8508]

Great video Kevin. I'm considering purchasing a 817 ND and am currently researching mobile antennas that could be used with it, thus your video was very helpful. Have you ever had any experience with any of the MFJ products that are compatible with the 817 ND? If so, how did they compare to the Miracle Whip? I was interested to note your box for your antenna indicated your Miracle Whip was made in Canada. If you Google Miracle Whip they have a United Kingdom Home Page. '73'

[@tehPwnzor7306]

I heard yer LM386 circuit start to whine around 0:21. Might be time for a new battery :)

[@gkushnick]

If you google Miracle Whip antenna you will come across some "Homebrew" projects that seem to work out. Not as Cute a package but workable non the less. 73 de k2gk

[@loughkb]

Yes, there's quite a few variations on the loaded vertical design. I went roundabout with it and put an optional whip on my home built antenna tuner. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWSofamdmqqgo6M

[@unklewink]

Did you try any bands, especially 80M with some kind of counterpoise?

[@loughkb]

Many times, back when it first came out. Performance was lackluster. And worse the lower in frequency. A shortened radiator is a big loss in efficiency. You cant fight physics.

[@unklewink]

@@loughkb Absolutely true, Kevin. But I was thinking more in terms of making it "friendlier" to the rig, SWR wise, to at least, make it more safely usable. Performance will remain what it is, no doubt.

[@bonniecrystal903]

KQ6XA here. I jointly hold the record with Wayne KL7FDQ for longest distance /Pedestrian Mobile "miracle-to-miracle" QSO on SSB, February 2003, at 750 miles (~1200km) 18 MHz. On 20 meters, the Miracle Whip (mW) antenna is about -10 dB down from a full size vertical. That means it eats about 90% of the transmitter power heating the little coil, so the FT-817 at 5 Watts is only radiating a half watt on 20 meters. See antenna test here: hfpack.com/antennas/shootoutvertical2002.html At 10 MHz and below it is much much worse; perhaps less than 1% efficient. The WSPR test shows how awesome WSPR is, rather than how efficient the mW antenna is. How does the saying go? It's a miracle if you can make a QSO with it.

[@kf4dcy501]

in general, it's a compromise for receiving and/or transmitting. but better than nothing.

[@loughkb]

Tuning on a receiving antenna is a small advantage. Like a pre-selector, there is rejection of RF energy that's out of the range you're tuned to. For example, on a short wave radio, if I were listening around 6 mhz, the rejection of local AM broadcast would help the sensitivity of the receivers front end. But it wouldn't hold a candle to even a modest wire antenna up in the air.

[@larspregge6420]

cool intro

[@kf4dcy501]

cool device. but only for qrp. the wires in the inductor are too thin and it's shellac probably not suited for higher voltages. but still cool.

[@loughkb]

Yep, it was designed to match to the 817 which is 5 watts max. Although they state it can handle up to 10 watts.

[@thuff3207]

I thought small loops killed these small antennas.

[@al-ug3qb]

is ssb dx possible with it indoors?

[@loughkb]

Possible, yes. With a good band opening, 20 meters maybe. 15 and 10 meters more likely if they're open. You can't fight physics. When it comes down to it, you have a short radiator that's a fraction of a wavelength. The matching network will make the radio happy, but the radiator itself won't be very efficient. Modes that don't require a lot of signal, like CW or FT8 would up your chances of success.

[@roberttoegel8304]

Yes, I worked into Europe with 20 watts using one indoors.

[@buddyvegas717]

Worked a Calgary station from Wisconsin on 5 watts in my living room

[@mikeatthebeach]

Looking for a Replacement Whip for it Any suggestions Mike

[@jimawhitaker]

Great video, an interesting little antenna. Now I don't feel so compelled to pay the $140 for one to test myself thanks. 73 de n8xyn

[@radioactive8772]

Would you be willing to sell it? K7WHN

[@loughkb]

It's long gone.

[@Johnyrocket70]

Counterpoises

[@barndweller4573]

I purchased one (Used) many years ago, it was JUNK. I threw it away.

[@skymac50]

Don’t transmit and tune the Miracle Whip at the same time. You’ll blow the finals. I speak from experience.

[@loughkb]

Or just drop your power down to a minimum before tuning. But you should always initially tune for a peak in noise on the receiver to get close.