Lightweight End Fed Sloper Antenna?

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

Great video! Soon we will be sending you the WARC dipoles option for the 4010 which cover 30M - 17M and 12M.

[@OH8STN]

Thanks and that would be greatly appreciated.The dipole option is incredible! 73 Julian oh8stn

[@webanon]

Thanks for the look. I've always been drawn to the Chameleon gear. It's a bit out of my price range right now, but they had a good sale last Black Friday.

[@OH8STN]

Indeed. I am especially drawn to these new lightweight man-portable offerings. I can carry more of them, for alternative antenna option in the field.

[@The3DPrintingWarrant]

@@webanon Have you looked at their Blimished section? It offers the same great antennas at a great discount. I've gotten a few things from that section.

[@The3DPrintingWarrant]

Great video! I've learned so much from you while stationed here in Japan. Thank you, and I'm looking forward to the next video.

[@tommartin2335]

Fantastic video,Thanks all the knowledge you bring to us!!

[@OH8STN]

Thanks for the kindness. You are very welcome. 73 Julian oh8stn

[@mrkopecky]

Thanks for sharing. You always are answering questions I wonder about.

[@craigmatheny9099]

Great video. I think I will add the 8010 LEFS to my 705 manpack. Thanks Julian!

[@OH8STN]

705 manpack? That sounds incredible!

[@Ammed_KN6STX]

I have the antenna, but I like using its Big Brother the LEFS 8010 EFHW antenna. I get phenomenal performance from that antenna. My antenna of choice lately is the CHA TDL raised up on a 25’ mast insane performance. Give that a try sometime.

[@OH8STN]

Thanks. I also have the CHA TDL. Perhaps it is time to look at it again since I have the camper to deploy with. It has incredible performance, but too heavy for extended man portable trips. Thanks for reminding me it is here. 73 Julian oh8stn

[@off-trailseeking3965]

Nice! I used the LEFS 8010 recently while at a campground and was really noisy. CHA TDL was a lot better. What are you using to get the bugger up to 25' if i could ask?

[@redman840]

From what research I have done,and from experimentation,I have found that an end fed offers better performance when the feedpoint is closer to ground,and the radiating element elevated.With the feedpoint closer to ground,it allows you to use the coax as your counterpoise.I also wonder how the performance would be if configured as an inverted vee?

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

@@off-trailseeking3965 Did you put the transformer at the base or elevated at the top? With top elevation - you greatly reduce man made noise which are terrible when you've generators, inverters, solar panels and such at the campground!

[@Ammed_KN6STX]

@@redman840 I agree!!! I ran the radiating element on the LEFS 8010 up in the air on my SpiderBeam 40’ mast and results were nowhere near as good as having the radiating element 5’ off the ground and my 50’ of RG58 coax as the counterpoise. I had the inline choke at the radio. Chameleon makes superior antenna gear.

[@JuhaTapioOlkkonen]

I have this antenna. I noticed that it is a bit short, by looking at the SWR charts. I added extra 30 cm wire and got the SWR below 1.5 on digital modes. Try it out!

[@OH8STN]

Indeed, I've noticed the same thing. I think it's set up for the US band plan. What wire did you use?

[@JuhaTapioOlkkonen]

@@OH8STN Just some random speaker wire, crocodile clips at both ends. That makes it easily adjustable.

[@OH8STN]

@JuhaTapioOlkkonen 🙏👍

[@RonanCantwell]

I'd be interested to see the results with the antenna the other way round (i.e. feed point at the low end) as a lot of lightweight poles would struggle to support the coax and transformer at their tops.

[@OH8STN]

That's an excellent point. The only reason I haven't done it was I had no way to get my telescopic Pole to stand on its own in the field. It was so easy just to strap it to the Caravan. I'll try to turn that configuration around and see if I can get it done the way you asked. 73 Julian oh8stn

[@RonanCantwell]

@@OH8STN No huge rush, Sir 😂. Excellent results with the setup you were using. For portable ops, I normally run my end-feds in an inverted V configuration on a 6m pole. It's not ideal, but it's quick to set up and works fairly well.

[@Chameleon_Antenna]

Performances should be about the same - because it's a half-wave antenna and the maximum current (max RF output) is at the center of the wire!

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

It really shouldn't matter as the high current point on the fundamental will be in the middle of the wire.

[@RonanCantwell]

@@Philip-KA4KOE true. Might get a bit funky on the higher bands though.

[@SeamasterSig]

A big thumbs up for a very informative video! I have the 8010 LEFS, which is presumably comparable in performance, but with a heavier gauge wire than the lightweight version. I am currently using just the main 4010 section set up in an inverted V oriented north/south with an RF choke with the peak around 30 feet and the ends at 7 feet on tall garden stakes so I can walk and mow beneath it. Even though the manual doesn't suggest this configuration, I've been getting great results mostly all across North America, but Europe as well, and I even had a CW QSO with an Australian station recently (I think around 10,000 miles from SW Florida to Queensland). Just the 4010 section exhibits very low SWR or is "resonant enough" for an internal tuner on every band from 40m to 70cm except for 60m. My RigExpert has even shown decent results on 160 and lower, although my radio doesn't go below 80m. I'll have to dig deeper into the data that the RigExpert provides to see if it performs better as a sloper or inverted V. I've had great results with it set up in NVIS configuration and also set it up recently as a sloper with similarly excellent results even with the feed point near ground level, but the weight put too much strain on the mast - a 12m Spiderbeam at full height - for long-term use. My previous attempts with this antenna as a sloper using the trees in my yard weren't as successful; I chalk it up to the trees not being tall enough, as in my experience it performs better the higher you get the elevated end up in the air. The most practical advantage of the inverted V configuration is that it distributes the weight evenly so the mast isn't bent over at all. However, that strain on the mast wouldn't matter for a POTA activation or even for a few days at a campsite. If I didn't already have the 8010 LEFS I wouldn't hesitate to buy the lightweight 4010 version.

[@Jed-q2q]

Great video! Thank you.

[@OH8STN]

You are very welcome and glad you liked it! 73 Julian oh8stn

[@w9awx1]

Should try the 8010 model

[@HazMatMedic911]

Another great video!

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

That thing looks like something I would have found in my parts box, with the "magical" wire that somehow wraps itself all around everything?😜

[@FreddyNietzsche.]

Hi Julien, You mentioned that your Carbon Fibre Pole was from Gigaparts, did they deliver to you on Europe ? Or do you have an alternative method ? Enjoyed the video by the way.

[@OH8STN]

Thanks for the kindness. They delivered that order to Europe. CF mast and IC-705. 👍 73 Julian oh8stn

[@stevesummersell_K4WXX]

I just discovered the Chameleon 8010 and boom, you have it covered already with the 4010. I assume you’re not running an ATU with it. How do you know which direction to orient the wire (N,E,S,W)? Also, how the eyes?

[@OH8STN]

Thanks🙏 No ATU for 80, 40, 20, ~15, 10, or 6m. WARC bands will need ATU on 8010. The 4010 has dipole connectionsfor a WARC band kit.. 73 Julian oh8stn

[@bntravelin2]

out of curiosity how did you end up in Finland?

[@OH8STN]

Honey trap 😉

[@jakeM6LSC]

Hi Julian Thanks for your videos I think it would be a great idea if you made one of these antennas yourself instead of always promoting chameleon antennas.i think you could build one much cheaper and it would be just as efficient

[@turdferguson2863]

*E P I C*

[@OH8STN]

Thanks. The antenna was better than expected. 73 Julian oh8stn

[@lavenderlilacproductions]

How did you add height to the gigaparts mast? I've got one shipping soon.

[@OH8STN]

I bought a telescopic fishing pole from a sporting goods shop. Added the sections of the fishing pole to the top of the CF mast where they fit. Naturally, there were leftover pieces of the fishing pole.

[@bodstrup]

While WSPR is fun to run - I have a hard time relating the results to SSB. You may get nice high return values - but for me - SSB contacts from Denmark to Australia is a challenge. And a question - I have both the LEFS 40-10 and 80 -10. But not currently the space to fully extend the 80 -10 at home. Have you compared the efficiency of these two types of EFHW antennas - will doubling the lengt of a 40-1 (making it 80-10) - improve efficiency at say 15 meters ? More wire - but same amount of power … ?

[@OH8STN]

I get your point, but there's no WSPR in this video. Since 15 meters is the 5th harmonic of 80 meters, the antenna will naturally resonate on this band, with good efficiency. At the 5th harmonic, the antenna should present a reasonable impedance, which should allow for effective transmission. Keep in mind, the efficiency of the antenna on 15 meters will be influenced by factors such as the quality of the matching network, the height of the antenna above the ground, ... Just give it a try. 73 Julian oh8stn

[@MM0XET]

Looking good, it’s a bit expensive for what it is

[@OH8STN]

Perhaps a great option for those who want to save their time, and just get something which works out of the box.

[@ThePapaMike]

Thats a lot of money for a wire and a balun. How would you describe the advantage this antenna has over a cheaper antenna or even a DIY EFHW?

[@OH8STN]

@ThePapaMike I'm simply showing the tests and the results. How someone reconciles the cost or better, the value, is entirely up to them. There was a time not too long ago where I didn't enjoy building DIY antennas at all. Depending on the price, the value was messured in the savings of my time. Awesome question but the answer is different for everyone. 👍

[@mlhogan1]

Nice video, appreciate the time to show all the bands vswr.

[@ke8mattj]

To play devil's advocate: convenience. Having an antenna you know works and is cut to the proper length ready to go on a short notice like an emergency is a major time saver when time is of the essence. Also, not everyone is handy. Having to make the housing for it, measuring out the wire, cutting it, winding the toroid, soldering the connections (this is something I'm terrible at), etc. can take a lot of time and sometimes patience. Now to turn off that mode: I think it's just better to learn how to diy if a situation happened and you know how to compromise and make contingencies. It's also why I'm a major fan of tuners: in a bad situation, you can string up just a random wire or clamp onto a rain gutter, and still initiate the contacts. Sure, takes time, patience, learning, and it can take up extra weight if you use a rig without one built in, but it's doable.

[@PauloNeuenschwander]

Hej Julian! Nice video. I like this kind of more technical content. Usually I use a EFHW antena here at home. It works fine for me. But never tested data modes tough. It's what I'll try next. 73 de SA5PEN

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

Its soooo heavy.

[@OH8STN]

Compared to a dipole, yes. Compared to other EFHW antennas with similar characteristics, not so heavy.