New and Improved! Chameleon LEFS 4010 EFHW Antenna

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Save 25% on the LEFS4010 with the Chameleon Black Friday special. Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY25 November 22-29, 2023 (US and Canada only). Shop now: chameleonantenna.com/

[@jessgypin-ko5ds]

Wow! ? 25 off of 225 for a balun and a piece of wire! What a deal!

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

@@jessgypin-ko5ds 🤡

[@chuckfinley858]

Once again Michael showing a product, using it in a practical manner and giving a Synopsis of that product! Whether you like the product or not I've always admired the way that he gives us a genuine overview of whatever equipment he shows us! Thanks Michael! KF4SNJ.

[@miket7184]

14:51 - I'm honored to have been one of your 4 contacts on 15 meters! 😆 Mike - ND7E snowbirding it in Arizona!

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

You messaged me and said you had a hard time recently hearing my signal. With the exception of yesterday, our last three or four contacts were QRP.

[@miket7184]

@@KB9VBRAntennas The best contact was yesterday on 15 meters while I was at K-1065, Pacacho Peak St. Park about 40 miles northwest of Tucson, AZ. I'd just set up and saw your activation and made the contact. I was running 100w with my Yaesu FT-891 and a 17' whip on a tripod with 4 - 16' radials. Conditions were great and I got about 45 contacts on 15. I looked up that contact from your video, and it was when I was back in Idaho. Keep up the good work!

[@JamesHindsW5ATJ]

Great video Michael. I watched your video on the Chameleon Lightweight End Fed Sloper (CHA LEFS) last night and ordered one today. Stay warm and Happy Thanksgiving. 73 de Jim

[@ehayes5217]

The scenery & background music made ur activation with that interesting antenna quite pleasant; good job!🤓🇺🇸

[@robertofernandez-x9p]

Thanks!

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Thank you for your support. I really appreciate it.

[@Thomas-ZET]

Nice video, just ordered one from HRO will use it on my 891

[@MikeN2MAK]

Love the Alton Brown unitasker reference! That's need to incorporate the dipole and EFHW into the same winder.

[@walteredwards544]

I really do like the concept of this antenna. I'm hoping they come out with a 80-10 version like its big brother does.

[@chuckfinley858]

It may be a simple matter of wire length to get you on 80m.

[@mdouble100]

Well done. I have the big brother of the LEFS4010 which I really like. However, this new smaller lighter system looks excellent, and like an antenna I would like to have. Thanks for the demo.

[@gabrielguzmann1ufo905]

Great Video Michael (KB9VBR}, this will be a great addition to my EDC Radio setup! 73's de N1UFO

[@m9ovich785]

Thanks Mike. The only flaw I'd see with that over time is the Ears created out of the PCB material. Mike M.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Yep. The PCB is thick, but if you drop it you know what will happen.

[@K3JRZOnTheAir]

Been running running QRP for the past few activations. I might be sticking to it... 73!

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

QRP does add an extra element of challenge. Plus the pile-ups are smaller.

[@DavidKirwanirl]

Wow just looking at the map of the USA, being able to talk Montana and Pennsylvania too almost one side of the country to the other with 5W so cool.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

With good propagation and an efficient antenna, you can do amazing things with just a few watts of power.

[@tortoiseoverland]

And as always, excellent video. Trying to get you tonight, just a nogo. Happy Thanksgiving.

[@The3DPrintingWarrant]

Great video ! Enjoyed it. Did you put the choke at the radio or at the antenna? Also how do you know where to put the choke?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

The choke should always be placed near the the feedpoint of the antenna. The purpose of the choke is to reduce common mode currents from traveling down the outside shield of the coax.

[@N4GW]

Great video

[@boydmasonlake1995]

Did i miss 40m? Qrp on 40 is the rea test

[@Rusted_Link]

Where's the affiliate link for that box in the beginning of the video?

[@mark12.31]

Did the guy asking if the freq was in use ever hear you? When it first happened I was like dang how rude but then I remembered you were QRP lol

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I think he heard me, because he quickly moved along after I called CQ a couple times.

[@enginedave]

What are you using for a common mode choke and how far down the coax is it?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

The coax has an integrated choke and it was at the feed point.

[@enginedave]

@@KB9VBRAntennas oh so you used a counterpoise

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Ah yes. The 'counterpose' argument. I see where you are going with this.

[@enginedave]

@@KB9VBRAntennas oh cool an EFHW doesn't need a counterpoise? Ill have to try it. I had no idea you could put the CMC at the feed point. Thanks

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Common mode chokes should be placed near the feed point unless you want to use your coax as a radiator. There’s no consensus if an EFHW needs a counterpoise or not. It’s an unbalanced antenna but it is also a half wave. You can go either way and they have performed well for me with and without the counterpoise

[@EB61469]

Does it matter if the balun is near the forrest floor. I hoist the entire balun up into the tree and then stake the ring on the opposite end of the wire into the ground.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

It really doesn't matter. I've used this style of antenna with the feed point low and the feed point high. Both work well, do whatever is convenient for you.

[@bill2705]

Michael, is there any significant difference in having the feed point on the low vs. the high end of the slope? The instructions show hanging the feed point high, you're running it the other way. Thanks.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Unfortunately, there isn't consistent guidance on this. Chameleon recommends mounting their feedpoints up high as an EFHW antenna shows the highest current at the ends. This is supposed to allow for the best RF transfer. But high currents are are both ends of the antenna, so in reality, it doesn't make a difference. Another advantage of mounting the feed point high is if your coax doesn't have a choke on it, then it will become part of the antenna, acting as a counterpoise. But if its choked, then you have no advantage and might as well mount the feed point low. I've mounted the feed point both low and high and haven't seen much of a difference in performance. For QRP operation, I prefer a low feedpoint as then it takes less coax to get from the antenna to the transceiver.

[@bill2705]

Thanks, Michael, for your detailedresponse. Makes sense, especially the shorter coax run for QRP.

[@sxswutah-ww6dr]

Looks like a nice antenna but not at $250 with coax unless they are sending me one to test at the off grid cabin.

[@tortoiseoverland]

What is the bean bag you are using Michael?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Its a Weaver Leather Products arborist throw bag: amzn.to/3QU30h3

[@gregorysmith3097]

Looks like a nice antenna, but sure seems like a lot of money for what you get.

[@BunnyMcHusky-cg1tj]

Would you recommend this for CW such as on a Cricket 40 ?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

The antenna did have a good amount of bandwidth and it covers both the CW and phone portions of the bands.

[@BunnyMcHusky-cg1tj]

Thanks so much.

[@enigmarbs2886]

You can easily build an endfed by yourself...no magic with it. You just need the pcb (~2$) , an FT140-43 core (~5$), 3feet of enamel wire, 65feet of lightweight wire and some stainless steel hardware... Total costs about 20-30$ . And...there is a lot fun in homebrewing👍🏻 73 de DG4RBS

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

Perfect - send us a quote for 500 units for a product IDENTICAL at the one presented by Michael and we purchase from you for $20/each MADE in the USA of course - No Chinese!

[@davejensen8119]

Why do people always post messages like this about building your own antennas? Of course you can, and for some hams that's the fun of it. But the comments are NEVER realistic about what it costs to build and the time it takes.

[@johnk23705]

Looks like a decent antenna. It should work as well as any other EFHW or Dipole, but at $175.00....hold onto your wallet. There is no special magic in this antenna. I can build the same antenna for under $40.00 with quality parts/wire. I can buy an antenna that will work just like this one for far, far less. And as to using it as a dipole, who wants the weight of a 49-1 transformer at the center point, especially when going lightweight portable. Another highly overpriced Chameleon product. Hard pass, but thanks for showing what is out there Michael. There are many other quality portable antennas out there for a far better price. This antenna is not a good value even with the 25% off special being offered.

[@johnwalton5824]

John, I'd love to have a parts list and instructions as to how to build one like you mentioned. JohnW

[@johnk23705]

There are many good videos here on youtube on how to build a EFHW and Dipole antennas. Pick up a KM4ACK EFHW antenna. It's about $35. It's a kit and comes with all the parts and instructions. Easy to build and you can upgrade to better antenna wire if you want to. It will work just as good as the Chameleon antenna. Easy to add connections to make it into a dipole.

[@imahamjim]

U got that rite. I built mine fer about $20.

[@bob-N4REE]

Not to mention yet another $75 for some hi-loss coax and a few ferrite beads.

[@davewhite7679]

The spotting page will always help the hunters dig your QRP signal out of the weeds, but when you're getting lots of 57 and 59 signal reports, the HF propogation Gods are doing their extra special magic.😃 KZ9V

[@jamesgeorge1709]

I can't believe people would pay $175.00 for this antenna when you can build one yourself for $25.00 or less. How can the justify that much. It better work perfect.😮😮

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I don't make any justifications in regards to the price in my antenna reviews. it's up to the viewer to decide if the item is worth it to them. Yes you can build an antenna for less, and I have videos on my channel demonstrating that. Yes, people will purchase the antenna for $175, either because they value it differently or may not have the wherewithal to build their own.

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

I already sent that to a previous comment but I'll send that to you also: Send us a quote for 500 units for a product IDENTICAL at the one presented by Michael and we will purchase from you for $23/each MADE in the USA of course - No Chinese! Lead time 3 weeks no longer!

[@turtlecreek4633]

73 w3rrm

[@bruehlt]

It appears that Chameleon is making the marketing rounds on the hamtuber channels. This is the third or fourth video I've seen in a week for this antenna. I wonder what balun design they are using under that heatshrink? Previous Chameleon designs have used very inefficient, broadband transformers. There are a couple of really good youtube channels that have been testing various different ferrite mixes and balun designs and have presented data to back up which balun design and mix are the most efficient for an 80-10 EFHW. I wonder if Chameleon just copied that design (I've read that is what they did for their other EFHW antenna transformers in a few articles online). In any case - $175 is nuts for this. You can get much better antennas for less.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

This video was released back in November, so you can thank the algorithm for bringing it to your attention. I'm glad you found it and will stick around the channel. As for the antenna itself, I've always said "an end-fed half wave is an end-fed half wave" There isn't a whole lot operationally that you can do to differentiate one from the other in performance. Differences are based on their looks, how they setup, and radiating wire choice. Videos more recent to my review have indicated that certain windings or toroid choices may have an effect, but those gains are still only marginal. The classic T-140 43 ferrite along with the 14/2 crossover winding are ubiquitous for reason: it just plain works.

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

Maybe you should actually read the description of the product on our webpage instead of spreading falsehoods. Anyways - thank you for you 💩 comment!

[@Zerkbern]

At 5:50 to the right channel drops out

[@45auto]

Interesting but I don't see much of an advantage over having a separate dipole. Not enough difference to make a difference, at least for me. Keep up the good work. U-rah-rah

[@russellhayes911]

Thanks for the video. 73 KE4GTQ