NEW! Recon 40 High Performance Portable HF Antenna Coil

[@kchaney56]

For a dummy newbie like me just working on my license this is perfect, I have watched soo many videos and the thought of fiddling with my Antenna like they show puts me off. But just flip a switch and either lower or raise the telescoping antenna to get it all. I am all in on that. Thank you for this video. I know this antenna system costs a little more but I think we all know that if you wanna play you gotta pay, at least a little. You get what you pay for.

[@putteification]

Wide band, low Q in the coil, low efficiency? Would like to see some field strength comparisons with some other antennas.

[@ve6wo]

I was thinking the same thing… whenever I hear someone say an antenna is “ridiculously wide bandwidth” my mind always translates that as meaning “low efficiency”. A 50 ohm dummy load is ridiculously wide band, but…

[@rezantenna]

Far field strength comparisons would absolutely be the best way to compare this antenna to others. The wide bandwidth on this antenna is because we don't need much inductance (approx. 7uH) to load the the 17' whip for 40 meters. If you put a much shorter whip on and left the coil active you'd see the bandwidth Q tighten up near resonance. A great example is the SWR curves from our Ranger 80 antenna. With our 9.3' military whip the narrowest bandwidth Q is on 80 meters with max loading. Move up to 20 and you can cover the whole band. However the antenna is not more efficient on 80 meters for obvious reasons. Coil modeling suggests the coil Q is around 475

[@kchaney56]

Time to start saving my pennies, I want one. That switch is the bomb.

[@N9LOB]

I talked to (REZ) Mike at Hamvention and told him the selling point for an older ham like me was not having to get down to move a coil ring up and down to tune. Standing and moving the whip up and down is much easier. Looks like you (MRD) Mike agree, thanks for the review.

[@rezantenna]

I recall this conversation! It was nice meeting you at Hamvention. 73!

[@amnchode]

So, this is just a really nicely done, high quality, $300 Sporty Forty w/a built-in bypass switch...and correct me if I'm wrong, short of 30/40M which did use the coil, the bandwidth capability for 20-10M was all on the whip...is it not? The switch would have bypassed the coil on the high bands.... That said, If I was running as much power as it can take, I would consider it, but the most I'm pushing is 50W portable....a WRC Mini for less than 1/6th of the price will cover that. I will admit, though, it does look really nice and extremely well built....and that whip looks like it is on point, and it *is* priced competitively....

[@rossbassette7518]

i have a extremely overpriced Omega Seamaster watch which keeps great time and looks really good. The watch I wear on my wrist is a $20 Casio digital watch which also keeps really good time. Both of these watches perform their primary function very well. The REZ is unique with its high quality construction along with a switch allowing you to bypass the coil. But , you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it. I also bought a similar 40M coil designed for the same purpose as the REZ, however, it was about $50, or less, with shipping

[@chublez]

All I got from that is yer a fool that doesn't wear his Seamaster. Put it on, that's the point. I can make a coil on pvc myself it won't be near as enjoyable to use. Heck for less money a DX comander doesn't really take much loger to setup and you don't need to tune between bands...not every purchase has to make the most financial sense.

[@Banjoman-p7t]

​@@chublezif all you got from his post is that he doesn't wear his seamaster then you have a lot of nerve calling him the fool.

[@bluegrassdan]

Hi Mike, I’d love to see a comparison between the Recon 40 and the Packtenna End-Fed Random (9:1) with 29 feet of wire. Both antennas would be set up in a vertical configuration from the ground, using 40 meters as the primary band. It would also be helpful to see how they perform on 20 meters and 10 meters as well. If you’d like to include the MPAS 2.0 with the extension and whip, that would be fantastic. A simple three-way switch for ABC comparisons would be awesome. I think just switching between the three of them on receive, without using a tuner, would be sufficient for the test. Thank you, Dan KM6CQ

[@DarkShadowCustoms]

One of the guys in my club brought his Recon 40 to show off at Field Day. He didn't use it at Field Day, but at least I was able to see it first hand. It is definitely a neat antenna, but at the price point it will be a while before I can afford one.

[@bradcfi2]

From SteppIR titled, "RADIAL SYSTEMS FOR ELEVATED AND GROUND MOUNTED VERTICAL ANTENNAS" As more radials are added the impedance of the antenna drops, over perfect ground a vertical is 36 ohms. If you put up a vertical with a poor radial system you usually get a good match because the ground LOSS adds to the 36 ohms to get you at or near 50 ohms, but with a big drop in signal strength.

[@willian.direction6740]

Mike if I was to do a park in my mobile could that antenna be screwed in the bull bar intead of the tripod.

[@hamradiotube]

I don't know what a bull bar is but sure.

[@willian.direction6740]

@@hamradiotube Bull bar/ Roo Bar Aussie term for the bar on the front of the vehicle where Spotlights or antennas can be mounted. We mostly hit roaming Bulls or Kangaroos on our outback roads hence the name.

[@hamradiotube]

@@willian.direction6740ahh ok. So long as you can get a good ground to the car so it can act as the ground plane it shouldn’t be a problem.

[@dougdukes1039]

Just curious if you could see any difference between using the radials and faraday cloth?

[@greyman5590]

Recon 40: Hey watch me tune up on 40 meters! ATAS-120: Hold my beer

[@MrSportsphoto]

Did you find it to work better without using the Insulating mount? I wonder if that might lower the amount of radials to use?

[@Private290]

Another great video, Mike. I truly enjoy your content and the brevity. Would one need a tuner with this antenna? I’m still learning. Thanks

[@hamradiotube]

No, you do not need a tuner. Other than on 30 meters as I demonstrated.

[@Private290]

@@hamradiotube thank you, Mike.

[@stahpit1971]

Looks awesome so far looking forward to some testing on it

[@scottgarvy]

But how does it actually work? 👍🏻

[@tobyticehurst]

That’s one of those antennas you would stare at whilst operating, distracting you from catching an incoming call sign 😂. “Sorry, iv got some visual QRM this end can you repeat your call”

[@Ammed_KN6STX]

Great video!!!

[@christophersmith1155]

i wonder if it would be good on 11 meters. you skipped 27mhz.

[@mclovengarcia2883]

Can be used for gmrs ? Thanks for your time.

[@greyman5590]

No it cannot. This is for HF frequencies. GMRS is UHF

[@TrzCharlie]

Thanks Mike, great review brother.

[@hamradiotube]

Any time!

[@ryank5tar]

that is a beautiful coil

[@KD2UDR]

Looking at the Tarheel Designs dipole i have a small village lot with no place to hang antennas .. looking to mount it on a roof tower ...

[@hamradiotube]

That'd definitely be an option. I've never used that but I saw it at Hamcation.

[@KD2UDR]

Yea i saw it on your page along with few other guys .. hoping someone does a video .. probably have to wait till next year to get it being on limited income it takes me time to acquire the things to play with​@@hamradiotube

[@ST1300Jim]

That amount of bandwidth with a 40m coil loaded vertical makes me think it’s lossy. Any on-the-air performance testing, especially with comparison to a reference antenna? A dummy load has great bandwidth and SWR, but lousy performance.

[@paulKJ5GKK]

Thanks for this. Maybe they'll be at Huntsville Hamfest. Love your content.

[@alvarogaitan2529]

thanks Joshua terrific job great

[@hamradiotube]

You bet, Tony

[@W5MYR]

@@hamradiotube Yeah, like Leon said: thanks Steve! 🤣

[@justinmoyers1179]

Tripod should be tapped so you don’t need the extra puck. Looks like a good kit.

[@CheekyMiner]

That thing is fire. Out of stock, damn.

[@DaDitDa]

The Recon 40 appears to be a low loss, high Q coil -- which is a good thing.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

What you don't mention, is that it's a complete pain in the arse to have to constantly get the metre out to make sure that you're resident when switching bands. That's the major drawback with this approach to antenna design; switching bands is not seamless and takes a while as you have to disconnect the radio, connect your rig expert, get it into a suitable range and then reconnect your radio again. I use a very similar system to this in the UK and I do find it a bit of a ball ache if I'm honest.

[@shanerorko8076]

You don't need to do that. If you know roughly the height the whip needs to be, you just move it there and let the 3:1 tuner bring it in. Antennas don't need to be spot on, anywhere in the 3:1 range is fine. Yes some radios don't have an internal tuner, in that situation you're likely SOTA with a small radio, so an EFHW is going to be a better option. But even my FT-817 has a small tuner available, called the LDG Z-817. It can tune 10:1 so you could use it on this antenna 15m, 12m and 10m all as a 5/8 wave.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

@@shanerorko8076 My FT891 has no tuner, so it's a pain.

[@shanerorko8076]

@johnratcliffe6438 So, without a tuner, you really need to use an EFHW for a multiband antenna for portable use. Evil lair electronics has some good videos on how to build a really good EFHW that is bang on from 80m to 10m.

[@amnchode]

@johnratcliffe6438 Who needs a meter? With my whip, I sat down and tuned each band. Once each band was tuned, I marked the whip with a Sharpie (could probably score it, as well....or both). Is it perfect...no, ground conditions will always change that. However, it is close enough in the ballpark to not hurt the radio, and then you can just tweak it from there, if needed...

[@shanerorko8076]

@amnchode yea exactly, too many people get caught up on perfect SWR, which isn't needed. The only thing you should be concerned about is if the SWR is causing the radio to drop its power. If this is happening, you need to bring the radio in to a SWR so the protection circuit stops tripping. Like I said, if you have a 3:1 internal to the radio, close enough is good enough, the power will still radiate, then you can just get the dimensions close, so you get the radiation pattern you want.

[@BryanDaniel42]

oooh nice. i want one!

[@mickeyred]

I'd just like the whip

[@PendejoRyan]

Sweet Georgia Brown

[@slappomatthew]

I love this design I just wish it wasn’t so pretty and about 1/2 the price

[@SurvivingTheApocalypse]

Or spend a quarter of the money and get a Mad Dog Coil 40.

[@gabrielguzmann1ufo905]

I like 😮

[@robmccray6360]

Got it, love it. That it looks like something Blofeld would steal from the Pentagon to rule the world, doesn't hurt either.

[@JBud1911]

NICE, I want this antenna Thanks, John KR6BJ

[@dylanschulz2404]

Lol is this one of the videos Jim was talking about? Get out your vna and sweep it to see the reflection coefficient and I bet you won't be as impressed with it.

[@AzPauly]

Looks sweet, but at $540 for the whole kit and kaboodle, it's not gonna happen..for me..

[@kryn-jw4dx]

Good job - you promote amateur radio, but recently there has been a harvest of all kinds of "inventions" but everything is based on a wire rolled into a roller and two plates acting as a capacitor - that's one thing, and secondly such coils should not have such large "plates" of the capacitor at the ends. There are much simpler methods of forcing any whip to work well.

[@jptrade8575]

If you're a ham you can build your own. The design has been around for over 40 years. Its as basic as it gets. A tapped coil.

[@truckinguy92]

Although it’s very well constructed, at $300 it’s a tough pill to swallow. With today’s economy the way it is, it’s way out of a lot people’s budgets. It’s a nice paid promotional review though.

[@hamradiotube]

Paid? When did I get paid? As I said in the video, this antenna was loaned to me. Maybe pay attention? See what I did there?

[@TheTdub]

The whip kinda looks like a knock off of an Alpha Antenna whip. Which are absolutely BAD @SS!

[@Martin_PA0KGB]

out of stock.

[@rezantenna]

DX Engineering has plenty!