Oops...the Alpha Delta DX-EE can't be the Reference Antenna (

Oh dear, I was excited when my Alpha Delta DX-EE antenna arrived from DX Engineering. Great, I thought, up it goes. Well, then came the testing. The results clearly show that this antenna does not properly cover 40 meters - only about 20% of it without a wide-range tuner. So it can't be the station reference antenna. See the details in the video. I'll keep working on it.
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[@wushock92]

Experimentation can be one of the most gratifying part of this hobby. It can be the most frustrating as well. Great demonstration of the latter. No worries, Dave.

[@wushock92]

@Alexej Svirid He tried something he thought would work and found out it wouldn't. That's the experiment. Doesn't matter if he bought the antenna pre-made or bought the pieces to make it himself.

[@rorboy3200]

@Alexej Svirid sizes are the best for

[@Cooldaddycars1]

Dave, love that you take us through all the good and bad. I really love your videos and appreciate your testing, reviews, and honest opinion. No crow necessary to eat!

[@jedi_mario]

Well, that’s okay. Thank you for admitting a mistake. I am still watching and am excited to see the series.

[@urlgrey]

I've struggled with 40m on this antenna for years, and I really appreciate your thorough explanation!

[@presidentspilot]

Mr. Casler, I am SO SORRY that you have found yourself being human!! LOL! You are so FANTASTIC,.. in spite of knowing that!! God Bless!!...and thank you so very much for ALL that you do for us!! It is like having a mentor right there in the room with me, answering EVERY IMAGINABLE QUESTION of related practicality about esoteric facts concerning antennas!!

[@bruc33ef]

Thanks for your honesty, Dave. Enjoyed seeing you on the panel at Quartzsite.

[@frankmckinley1254]

Ak5FM, Frank here; I installed the DX-CC about nine months ago and had no issues with that one. For a fan dipole a bit pricey but thought I would give it a go. So far it's been doing quite well.

[@jptucsonaz8503]

Hi Dave, I have found over the past year and a half that the 80-10 meter Off-center-fed I acquired from one of my fellow club member who builds them; that it functions outstandingly! The only issue is that it does not tune to the 15 m band, nor 60m. It works fine on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 12 & 10. It was $110 & is 45 feet on one side & 94 on the other. I have the center mounted 30 feet up on a wooden utility style light pole & the short end at about 20 feet (attached thru synth line to a 16.5 ft pipe) & the long end is down to about 12 feet attached to a tree thru more synth line. On this antenna, Dave, I have talked to Perth & S. Africa on SSB; and all 50 states, all 7 continents (incl Antarctica) & made nearly 2800 FT8 contacts in just over 2 month, with 98 DX countries/entities so far. I also have a 17 meter fullwave horizontal loop which works extremely well on 17, 15, 12 & 10 & rx on all bands (very quiet!)

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@BartVanAllen]

I have a similar situation, a wee bit higher and have found that I need to wrap it in a sorta "C" shape to even fit it in my small yard, and it works great on all but 15 & 60. However, with the external tuner it works OK on 15, I suspect from that wrap around changing something, and 40 is 1.1 - 1.2 across the band - that is excellent so I bypass the tuner on that one.

[@RCRadioShow]

I was not surprised that you found the narrow 2:1 SWR bandwidth on 40 meters. It's a trap antenna on 40 meters. I have had the big brother DX-CC up at two different locations and it works well on 40 meters. The 2:1 SWR band width covers most of 40 meters. On 75 meters as you would expect the bandwidth is much narrower, about 25 kHz or so. I have it trimmed to resonate in the lower end of the 75 meter phone portion. The antenna is physically well made. I had it strung in a flat top configuration between the house and a poplar tree with all the weight supported by the ends. That means the antenna had to support the weight of the RG-6 coax and the antenna itself. I called Alpha Delta about installing it that way and they said no problem. They were correct. It survived a wind storm that overturned the poplar tree and it broke only the support rope, not the DX-CC. I did have to repair it one time. The flexing in the wind eventually caused one of the connections to the center insulator to break. That was an easy fix after dropping the antenna. When I moved I reinstalled the antenna between pine trees. I decided to add a 17 meter element in parallel with the other elements. I just supported some 14 gage wire elements with parachute cord below the other three elements. It worked great and did not detune the antenna on the other bands. I had trim the 17 meter element a little shorter than the standard dipole formula calculated. I used my Array Solutions antenna analyzer for that.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@lenperkins5724]

Dave, I ordered the DX-EE fan antenna after listening to your presentation a couple of times. It arrived March 3, overnight. I will make it work if possible. I’m glad to hear it is well constructed . When I sell my Professional Accordion I plan to buy the Icom 7300. Len AD8FK

[@s_linz]

Me too. It came so fast I cracked it open tonight, built it, and to my horror, saw this video. Jiminy...

[@margaqrt]

The new general could just take a couple hours on a Saturday to build 20m and 40m fan dipole, using the same so-239. Or she could spend half the time and build the David Casler 40 meter new general dipole and feed it with TV twin lead. That'd work pretty good on both bands of interest. She's going to need a tuner anyway.

[@rossw9764]

I have a small yard and have been using the DX-EE with great success. Can’t wait to hear what you recommend as an improvement.

[@davecasler]

I think we'll end up with something longer.

[@timbacchus]

I have been a plane owner since 74 and in emergencies of the past have carried a Police repeater in the plane so they could communicate during a bad time. Plane is a 59 Cessna 150.

[@davecasler]

A great example of public service!

[@mikeklemens8970]

Glad you tested the alpha delta dipole on film to show us where the characteristics of bandwidth are. Not a mistake unless you choose to keep it with such low bandwidth. On 40 meters it would be nice to have at least 100 to 150Khz to work with below 2;1. Mike N6IMY

[@tommybewick]

Dave I see most comments recommended an OCFD. I had one, that later broke, and i have to say for a wide band including 20 and 40 it is a good way to go, of course a tuner is required. I talked to Navassa island on 10 watts ssb on mine! 😁 I bought mine off eBay user mapleleafstudio with the optional vertical radiator.

[@bobcollyer181]

I am currently using The Alpha Delta DX-CC, (80, 40, 20, 10 meter fan dipole). It has full length wires for 10, 20 and 40 meters and loading coils for 80 meters (these are loading coils, NOT traps) same as DX-EE. These are meant to be used where space is limited. A full size dipole for 80 meters would be at least 130+feet, my DX-CC is only 82 feet. Shorting a dipole by means of loading makes the bandwidth narrower. I would suggest the Alpha Delta DX-CC, if you have the space, as it has full band width on 40, due to its full length wire on 40 meters but would also add a narrow band of 75 meters as well. Thanks for the video, 73 K4ECA

[@j.kevinhunt147]

The "trap" is also a loading coil; this is how the antenna can be so short.

[@DrHWO]

Dave, I know you are disappointed, but this is an example of how things can go in amateur radio. The clear and analytical approach you adopt is an education in itself. To keep in with the ethos and guiding principles of the series, it might be worth considering the Hyendfed 4 band 100 watt classical which runs around $130. They are well built and have a good SWR range across 40 and 20 with good band coverage (and 15 and 10 thrown in). Very simple to erect (sloper, inverted L), It is 66 feet long and has no traps. I have no commercial link to the Dutch company HyEnd, but as a user, I have found their products to work well. Just something else to consider. 73, 2E0HWO

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip!

[@DrHWO]

@@davecasler I know that in a previous MFJ video, you had all sorts of problems with a similar setup when you needed some mystical power to elevate the matching box from the ground at different frequencies. All I can say is that all EFHWs weren't borne equal. On a personal note, you perform an amazing service for amateur radio, for which we are all most grateful. 2E0HWO.

[@JDHood]

Unless you are trying to constrain overall length, why not just build a simple, full length 40/20 fan dipole?

[@lenperkins5724]

JD Hood 👍

[@davecasler]

I did build a 40m dipole and did a video about it a few months ago. A 20m dipole would be straightforward also. I haven't tried combining them as a fan yet.

[@CharlesM-dp4xe]

One should note in some cases that distance to ground may be important. I live on the edge of an ancient impact crater and the ground here is heavily laden with obscure minerals and metals. Now you might think that could be a good thing but couple that with moving subsurface waterways and you have several problems including severe lightning issues. Its almost reminiscent of an electrical dead zone. Cell phones Have little to no tower connection, static is off the chart and background radiation is 3 to 4 times the norm. I cant have a "Single" reference of any kind. Although my back yard is over 70 acres it makes no difference. I have to have separate antennas and they all have to be over 30 ft high to get any efficiency at all. Consider your geological structure and composition as well. It's just a suggestion / thought. Thanx for your review and video !

[@davecasler]

Sounds like the Bermuda Triangle on land! Where are you located?

[@CharlesM-dp4xe]

@@davecasler I'm located in central North Carolina near Willow Spring. We've been here just over 10 years. I live on a tobacco farm and there is an old impact crater to the southeast of the house. The ground here is great for agriculture but terrible for radio of any kind including cell services. Its not quite like the Bermuda Triangle "lol" I suspect the ground is saturated with metals of many sorts. There's chunks of iron and magnetic iron all over the place. We get lots of people here hunting for arrowheads and meteorite fragments and even they complain about heavy static on their HTs ... We just deal with it.

[@jaylijoi2060]

I have an Alpha Delta DX-B sloper. I couldn't get to match well enough to work with a tuner. I was primarily looking for 80, 40, 30 to complement my beam. I finally ran it through my antenna analyzer and found that it did have dips, but not where they should be. I tried adjusting and tuning band by band, but finaly came to the realization that 40 meters was not going to work. Definitely a design flaw. I sent several emails to alphadelta, but they never responded. The company appears to be as flawed as it's products.

[@davecasler]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

[@curtmyersk2cwm477]

Excellent, thanks Dave. Curt WA2JSG NJ

[@HondaGoBwaaap]

Interesting to hear about the issues with the DX-EE. I have a DX-CC and because it doesn't use the coils for 40m I have great coverage over the band, but it would be outside of the price range you were looking at.

[@thomasstandley6309]

It will be interesting to see how the MFJ antennas do and I do appreciate your explanation of the issues with the Alpha Delta.. I have a shortened 80-10 Windom OCF largely because it fits in my very tiny zero lot line yard albeit on a dog leg arrangement. It certainly isn't perfect but it works (sort of). The point being that given all the variables involved in getting an acceptable antenna up it is really difficult to do a one size fits all and you are demonstrating the need to adapt when necessary. 73, NK5J

[@jwd270]

I bought this antenna about 6 months ago when I setup my first HF station, and went through the same cycle of excitement and disappointment. I ended up lengthening the 40m sections a little bit to put the minimum SWR in the FT8 region, and just use it for digital. I found building a simple full sized 40m dipole was very inexpensive and didn't require any special tools other than a nanoVNA for tuning.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@RCRadioShow]

You could probably just parallel a full sized 40 meter dipole with the DX-EE especially if you ran it at a right angle.If you had interaction between the DX-EE 40 meter section just unhook it on the outside of the trap on each leg.

[@mikelopez8905]

I have the DX 80 OCF It's 1.5 :1 on 80 meter and about 1.1:1 on 40 meter. No tuning needed on 40 meter and a little on 80. Probably works well on 20m too. But I'm not on 20 meter. This is my first antenna and my only one. Works great !

[@vironpayne3405]

40m doublet is frequency agile on higher bands with feed line trimmed to odd 1/8th wavelength of window line fed thru a 4:1 or 9:1 balun and coax.

[@Rems61]

I bought the alpha Delta DXCC 80-10 meter dipole. I must say I had the same problems. On 40 and 80 meters I have very little bandwidth. I spent hours trying to get it to work, it doesn't. I have a Yaesu FTDX-3000 and I have just finally resolved myself to keep the tuner on all the time on those 2 bands. I did finally get the upper bands to cover the whole general portions below 2-1, but it was a fight. It is well Built, I'll give it that, but a pain to adjust. I have to live with it as I am space limited, if not I would have different antennas for all bands.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@graywolf1911]

I am using an OCF dipole, 160 meters through 6 meters with a 4:1 Balun and about 150 feet of LMR400 coax to the tree line. Luckily I had two trees over 280 feet apart. It works very well Dave. So if you use the 40 through 6 meter OCF, you should do very well with SWR. I have not had to use a tuner. Show me a man who says he has never eaten Crow, and I'll show a man you has never done anything either.

[@francisboudreaux3880]

Dave, anytime you place a coil or trap in the dipole it shorting the band width.

[@NickJungels]

Dave, I'm using an end fed half wave from myantennas.com. I have the 80 meter version, and it works really well for me. Only having a single feed point is really convenient as well. Something to consider.

[@gtg590x]

I also run the 80m version EFHW - straight to a IC-7300, no external tuner, and get great coverage of the bands. The end fed design made installation easy. I just hung the box under the eaves of my house and tied the wire out over a large tree in the yard. Basically invisible too if you have nosy neighbors or an HOA.

[@GarretLarson]

I have that antenna and I don't like it. so much RF coming back to shack.

[@jimjordan2209]

If you remove the traps and the 40 meter wires then add a set of wires for 40 meters as another piece of the fan you should have what you are looking for. The OCFD might be a good option too. I have a 160 meter doublet with a ballanced line tuner.

[@cg9952]

Mine works fine from an apartment balcony. My 7300 tunes it just fine.

[@johng7rwf419]

Good call Dave...

[@1crazynordlander]

Go with the Myantennasdotcom EFHW-4010 or EFHW-7510 but I have an external tuner. I think it is inevitable that a new ham will need an antenna tuner.

[@davecasler]

Yeah, I'm beginning to think that too.

[@randman32]

I bought one last summer and put it up but my performance was not good because I couldn’t get it high enough. I decided to do a 6BTV vertical with 36 radials. It works great on 10, 20 and 40. 80, not so much but I just put a tuner on it.

[@timg5tm941]

Shame about the antenna. For multiband youd be better off with an end fed half wave fed with a 49:1 or a good old doublet. 44 feet or more will get you on 40m when deploying a doublet.

[@BartVanAllen]

Agreed - that is what I did in an earlier home and fed with 300 ohm with a tuner - it even tuned on 80 but the vertical worked best there.

[@James_Bowie]

A number of reviews of the DX-EE on eHam.net say that it's not good enough on 40m. The trap coils look flimsy to me. I can't see that setup enduring adverse weather for too long. IMO, such traps need to be weatherproofed.

[@davecasler]

Looking at the traps up close they're pretty sturdy. Wrapping them with anything will change the traps' electrical characteristics. But you're right--long term, weatherproofing would be helpful.

[@carln6ckv8]

Hi - I have a Alpha-Delta DX-CC the 10-80 meter version. I have it set up as an inverted-V. It is full length on 40 meters and works great across that band. It is trapped for 80 meters and needs the help of a tuner. I have had good luck with it.

[@davidray4128]

Use a vertical. Hustler 6BTV is very good on 40m. Dipole may be quieter though.

[@anthonyrosa5006]

I'm pretty new to ham but couldn't you just make the 20/40 wire longer? Aren't those bands related harmonically? If the antenna was rigged horizontally would the SWR on 40m improve? Would a 35 foot height help?

[@Bdub1952]

Is that a feather I spot in your teeth, hi, hi?! Well handled, sir. By the way, I've been using MFJ's 2010 OCFD for two and a half years in a sloper configuration with my Kenwood TS440. I couldn't be more pleased with the performance and value. It's a winner. 73, N7BWB

[@JohnSmith-bb2np]

A couple videos back you said you were going to show us how to make a mast, and I was really looking forward to just that part alone today. I would give someone your right arm to make a good and comprehensive video showing new and intermediate hams how to make a few kinds of masts for our antennas that don't require a small tower of course. Locally the ham shows don't sell those surplus aluminum poles anymore because you can get more from metal salvage than what they charge to sell them. That's what they are saying, but I don't know. I have been given one of those 21 foot chain link fencing top rail and added 5 feet of PVC to the top for more height and hardware support for the dipole and a 1/4 wave ground plane 2 meter antenna crowning the top. I really do wish someone could show us how to construct (if we can't buy) a good mast or pole we that could start with, and some ways to support them. I use the RCA wall mounting antenna brackets to support mine at the edge of the roof, and have made it a hinged tilt over mast anchored in the ground with concrete. It took me a few years to learn how to support my antennas this good because no one showed me how.

[@davecasler]

I promised a mast video and I shall deliver one!

[@scottb5662]

We are very fortunate as US hams because we have so many frequencies! It's hard to cover them all! I think this is why tuneable antennas like the Steppir and screwdriver mobile whips are so popular. I know this is beyond your $ for this project. I think you will need a full size 40 and full size 20 in the fan parts you have. W0KU

[@che59v]

Dublet is the way to go.

[@glenmartin2437]

Live and learn, or not! Thanks for the effort and report. N0QFT

[@jamescoffey5225]

FWIW I had a W8AMZ 80-10m OCF dipole that worked very well in inverted A configuration even though not hung in the most optimal position (apex at 26-ft & one leg between to homes). This dipole should be free and clear of structures! Had 22 ft of RG-8x from the apex to a RF-choke and then about 70 ft of RG-8X running into the shack. The 22 ft section of RG-8X was supposed to "influence" a lower angle of radiation for DX, but I don't know how well this worked given the low height at apex of the OCF dipole. I didn't work much DX with this antenna. Previously I had a 80-10 m G5RV strung between two trees at about 35 ft and I got DX out the kazoo operating barefoot with a Yaesu FT-450D. The OCF dipole had a SWR

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Good points.

[@dennisperkinson3756]

Hi Dave. I always enjoy watching your videos. Have you considered using an 80 meter doublet fed with 450 ohm ladder line and antenna tuner as a reference antenna? Simple in design and bandwidth wouldn't be an issue. If yard space is a problem, the ends could always be moved around as necessary to fit the available space.

[@davecasler]

You've identified the key issue--should the reference station include an external, wide-range antenna tuner. I'm not quite ready to do that yet, but I will if it looks necessary.

[@lenperkins5724]

Was the reason you passed over the BuckMaster just price? Or because it is OCF? How does BuckMaster tune so broadly w/o loading coils and traps?

[@davecasler]

Price, mostly.

[@markmarquardt8016]

I am a beginner with this stuff and ordered the DX-EE. It came in the mail and I was looking forward to setting it up this weekend. I am concerned about the Corona virus issue and hope that by having a ham shack set up I can get a better picture of what is really going on around me. My home is very rural and isolated. I will send the DX-EE back but want to put up something else soon. Everything else is in place and ready to rock. Just need the antenna. Help Mr. Wizard.

[@davecasler]

I'd suggest a homebrew 40m dipole.

[@zoercn]

Hello dave, what a great review about trapped dipole but i did a homebrew trapped dipole and it work great using only scrap materials..but i have a problem in 20m it does not have much power even I tuned it in a tuner but the 40m is working great...Ralph, DV4RNX

[@Thermopylae2007]

I recently put up my DX-EE as an inverted vee and had the exact same experience regarding 40m bandwidth. In that configuration it is not difficult to untwist the ends attached to the insulator and lengthen or shorten as required to adjust SWR, but set up as a horizontal dipole would not be as amenable to adjustment. My internal tuner won't handle the full band on a Yaesu FT-2000, though my external tuners on other rigs (TS440S and LDG tuner for FT897D) seem to manage okay.

[@davecasler]

The LDG tuner should handle it very well.

[@Thermopylae2007]

@@davecasler Indeed, with the LDG it not only tunes across 40m but can also do the entire 80m band, though the antenna's transmission is compromised on it. I frequently used it on 17 and 12m as well, so with a wide ranging tuner it can work as a decent base antenna.

[@SuperIndomitus]

New ham. Got the IC-7300, the Samlex 1235M, and I had the antenna in my shopping cart but didn't buy it!

[@davecasler]

While waiting for the reference antenna to sort itself out, put up a homebrew 40m dipole. I did a video on building one last year.

[@cuban9splat]

I have the DX-CC 80 through 10 meter fan dipole from Alpha Delta and it works great on all bands except 80 meters. I ran into the same issue you did but on 80 meters. It only covered about 300 KHz bandwidth on 80M. The other bands work great with full band coverage. Although 10 meters does not quite cover the entire 10 M band but I don't use the FM portion at the high end of the band. My big surprise is how well it works on 20 M. I also have a home brew OCF with one 90 foot leg and the other 45 feet. I think you will be surprised at how well the OCF dipole works once you get it airborn. 73 DE K7RMJ Frank

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@sphexes]

Hi Dave, Scott W8XDX here. I'm not sure if you have any videos about creating and using a pulley system for a tower. I'm sure it's not rocket science, but some direction could help. Thank you.

[@anthonyrosa5006]

I'd love to see a homebrew antenna with a build video.

[@mrmomb]

That antenna can be improved by less loading and longer wire after the coil. I am not a fan of the solid wire though. With only 20 feet above-the-ground and the capacitive ends much closer to ground, no 40m antenna is going to perform satisfactory not to mention the frequency shifts because the average height is less than quarter wavelength above earth. Your experiment, again proves that physical size is King. Whether vertical or horizontal, we need a quarter wavelength per side. I enjoy your videos, 73 de K2LED.

[@LCARAHAMRadio]

A little disappointing that a product from Alpha Delta performed so poorly on 40M. I'm about to make a linked-dipole using the Alpha Delta-C component and several insulators. I'll let you know how it goes. It should be fine since I'm turning the lengths myself. KY4BDP LCARA

[@jaredstyles]

Have you tried the 404-ul antenna? That's what I have for my station.

[@billvet6]

I have the DX-LB-PLUSS. VERY disappointing! Esp. on 160 meters. Planing to replace it with a Buckmaster OCFD.

[@ryanr.7568]

I have DX-CC it’s fantastic on 40m but suffers the same issues on 80 it’s very narrow. Other then that it’s a great antenna. All Hf antennas are a compromise

[@RCRadioShow]

I have the same comment on the DX-CC. Great on 40-20-15-10 but narrow BW on 75. I have tried a G5RV, Carolina Windom, and a random length dipole fed with 450 ohm ladder line. I will take the DX-CC over all of those.

[@willfernald2521]

for multiband you can't beat 80m off center fed dipole, mine is resonant on all of 80, 40, 20, 17, and gets 10/6 where it counts... no tuner!

[@davecasler]

What kind of bandwidth do you get on 80 meters? Do you use it with a tuner? I'm quite curious.

[@willfernald2521]

David Casler just the internal tuner in radio. It is most resonant in digital section on 80 but less 3:1 on the whole band, very good all of 40, dead flat on 20, less than 2:1 on 17m, I haven’t had a chance to use it on 10 or 6 but it does tune with the radio in the voice section of those bands. It’s a good starter antenna because it gets so many bands and lets you move around and play on them. 20 and 17 great daytime bands. 40 good all around band and later into the night 80 is a bit better than 40. Thanks for all your KZbin videos you helped me pass my general and extra exams so thank you sir!

[@Mxyzptlk21]

I had the same problem with 40m on this antenna. It wasn't up long.

[@DominicMazoch]

A 40' Ant for 40M. What were they thinking?

[@M0RMY]

Dave have you considered a DX Commander all-band vertical? It is low SWR across all bands from 10 to 40m and inexpensive and fun to own.

[@davecasler]

The DX Commander is frequently mentioned. I wish I knew someone who lives nearby who has one I could look at.

[@JamesOrcutt]

I picked up the alpha Delta DX EE ..gonna give it a try as a fanned inverted V ..backyard is 16 deep 33 wide

[@kd5inm]

Please let us know your results

[@JamesOrcutt]

@@kd5inm will do. It might be some time tho . Having a tuffshed install in backyard first ..wife will be happy to move my radio setup out of the kitchen..73

[@colinsnowphoto]

I have this antenna but have it set up horizontal at 21 feet. I live in a very crowded neighborhood. I get much better results than this. It works very well without a tuner across the 20 meter band. With all other bands it does need an external tuner. Some are narrow, yes, but still I get great results and make lots of international contacts on 40 and 20 meters with 1K power.

[@davecasler]

The more I think about this, the more I think we'll end up with an external wide range tuner in the reference station.

[@scottmiller5859]

Hey, Dave. I’ve been watching several of your videos recently...what a wealth of knowledge. Do you have a preference on the type of wire used for dipole (l.e. gauge, stranded vs solid, insulation material, etc. ). Any help is appreciated. 73s

[@davecasler]

Stranded wire is easier to work with but not essential. I just use THHN wire from Home Depot. Cheap (well...it is copper after all, so not too cheap) and easy.

[@Scott-K7sce]

one thing i'm thinking on working the 40mtr segment is the size of the wire seem small to me, maybe up the wire size do some improvement

[@davecasler]

Wire size slightly affects the antenna's bandwidth, but not much.

[@jeffminnick5209]

I have an OCF that does 80 thru 6 (80 and 6 needing the tuner of course) but have had great luck with it and i believe you will enjoy it as well...by the way i am also a licensed private pilot as well and someday if i hear you on air we can talk about flying or antennas lol Good luck learning to fly Clear skys and 73 Jeff de WD8JM

[@davecasler]

Thanks!

[@krystlih]

I see a few people on here recommended the end fed half wave from MyAntennas, I can get behind that 100%. I built my own rather than purchasing from them. Probably cost me about $60 in parts. Check out Steve Ellington’s KZbin videos about constructing your own if that’s a path you want to go down. I currently have it setup as a sloper up about 35-40ft. I’ve talked all over Europe, South America, west coast of US. In the wee hours of the morning I’ve heard Australia but they haven’t been in the General portion of the band so I haven’t tried to make contact. On FT8 on 20/40 meters my signal nearly crosses the globe.

[@krystlih]

For reference my QTH is Central Florida

[@krystlih]

Also I run an IC-7300 for my station.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip.

[@BryanHaviland]

How about a simple ZS6BKW (optimized G5RV). It's a great option for resonance on multiple bands.

[@R2AUK]

MFJ-17754 cant be a reference antenna - it doesn't even has a balun, not mentioning static bleeder! There will be nothing left of the reference station in no time. There is a great antenna Radial D2040, although I don't know whether Radial ships it worldwide www.radial.ru/catalog/antennas/dipole/d2040/eng/ I would suggest to purchase a 1:1 current balun and make a 20m/40m fan dipole. As an alternative it's possible to make a trap dipole, here is a nice instruction degood.org/coaxtrap/ Personally I've built 20/40/80m version and was very happy with it, it was not that difficult to construct. Traps can be purchased on eBay as well. 73 de R2AUK

[@billlamm4688]

I rather like DIY antenna building, and I have an antenna tuner.. my yard, however is very narrow from north to south but plenty long east to west.. my dipole does great north to south.. what can I do to get better east west coverage.. currently I have a rope up to 30+ feet in 3 trees (east to west) I am thinking vertical but I have heard a bent (in the middle) dipole may work (give or take some compromise)

[@av-ji9qy]

Hi Dave Does the Dxcc antenna have the same issues with the 40 meter band?

[@MaricopaJeff]

Eating Crow.... Never happened to me, well since yesterday...

[@TheRetiredtech]

Dave are you sure that is a trap, I think it is a loading coil using the impedance to isolate 20 from forty.

[@davecasler]

It's both. It's officially a trap, but it also acts as a loading coil.

[@RCRadioShow]

@@davecasler Correct. They act as a trap on the higher band and a loading coil on the lower band.

[@s_linz]

Having jumped the gun and bought one (I opened the package and built it right before your video came out!), what are some ways to work around. So far, I've seen 1) Cut the coil and lengthen the 40m wire length ; 2) add a balun (not sure how effective this would be but if it protects my shiny new 7300, that's something), 3) add an antenna tuner.. I also noticed that the user manual recommends a so called "ugly choke." Did you do that? is there any chance that will help? Are any of these others viable?

[@s_linz]

Also I've seen a reference to adding a counter poise, which is sort of what the effect of the ugly choke is, I think... Thoughts?

[@s_linz]

Your original suggestion of shortening the 40 m section to tune the center the ssb part of the band is the lowest hanging fruit and probably where I should start...

[@davecasler]

The choke won't affect the bandwidth much. I have an MFJ choke balun I was going to try. I may yet try it with my 40m dipole.

[@BartVanAllen]

@@s_linz The "ugly choke" and a counterpoise are for the same purpose - remove the radiating currents on the coax outer conductor to remove (or at least minimize) RFI that it radiates otherwise.

[@s_linz]

Got my first hf qso on 20m. 40m is way out of tune. I put it up in the rain because I was so desperate to get on the air. I seemed to be able to pull in 40, 80, and even 160 using it though. I went ahead and bought an antenna tuner. We'll see how that works...

[@bigguyprepper]

Can’t remember the last time I was this early, thanks for another great video!

[@gac5329]

How about the source of the Samlex power supply deal you mentioned in last weeks live Q&A

[@davecasler]

Yes, I'm working with them on something.

[@andrewhofstedt6176]

Try the dx commander all band verotically.

[@VI_Radio_Guy]

I have an Alpha Delta DXCC 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 set up as an inverted V with a peak mount at 34ft and both ends at 12 feet as the instructions state. Mine has the loading coil on the 80-meter band and has the exact same issue it is so narrow on 80 I have to choose what area to use it. I can use all other bands perfectly, I have worked over 90 countries and all 50 states on several bands in digital and SSB with it on my old 7300 just not many on 80. -- 73 de Chris NO7E

[@davecasler]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@daveward1484]

The "little things" are spreaders.

[@jrlepage]

Any chance you could look at the DX-CC model?

[@davecasler]

Probably not at this point. I've accumulated so many wire antennas that they're literally lying all over the backyard.

[@johnevans7554]

20/40 fan

[@harryr.6744]

Dave, I found the series on reference station confusing. I doubt that many new hams would be able to understand a lot of it, since it is not at a beginners level. Your video uses a Rig Expert Antenna Analyzer. A novice might think he needs to buy one. In addition, the main criticism I have is you didn't include an antenna tuner in the reference station. That is a big mistake in my opinion, since as you showed in this video, that antennas designed to work without antenna tuners, may not work as the buyer anticipates. So you should include an antenna tuner in the reference station. Also include a simple to use Antenna Analyzer as well. Finally, if this series is really intended for beginners, then you should be introducing an antenna that is simple to use and install without a lot of fuss, that will be sure to work well. I think that rules out most multiband antennas, they are not simple to get working properly without an antenna tuner. .

[@davecasler]

All valid points. So far the only two elements of the reference station that are in place are the Icom 7300 and the Samlex SEC-1235M.

[@bangkithutajulu8851]

trapped antenna have narrow bandwith compare with non trapped,hi

[@lyfandeth]

Its supposed to taste best if wrapped in bacon then baked. Don't worry, I'll get you Papal Dispensation on this one. Just this once.

[@frankmckinley1254]

The MFJ OCF seems to be good from a ham I know that has one.

[@davecasler]

I've got one on the way.

[@lyfandeth]

This morning's Peanuts showed Charlie Brown, pretty much all trussed up in his kite string. Sound familiar?(g)

[@jeromemckenna7102]

I think mistakes are a better learning tool than successes.

[@koldark]

David, look into the MyAntennas 40-10 or 80-10. No tuner needed on most bands. The 80 gets weird with it not working well on the 75-meter phone bands, but if you want to focus on 20 and 40, then I would do that. A single wire, end fed so placement is easy. No counterpoise, and basic grounding required. They can be home-brewed, but at about 150, the price isn't bad. myantennas.com/wp/product/efhw-4010/

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip.

[@brianknox7527]

There is no need to eat crow. Antennas are like real estate. Location, Location, Location. Your ground, height and 10,000 other vars will give different results. KK4BK

[@mikelopez8905]

brand name is Radio Wave. Think I ordered from Giga parts. KI7EQP

[@chesty1369]

Try out the myantennas.com end fed. Have thousands of qsl' on mine. Pretty forgiving antenna. The 8010P model.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip

[@jeromegrzelak8236]

A 3 2 1 with a tuner is still 3 2 1 sorry kg6mn

[@mikethees6434]

I looks way short even with a trap

[@wireworks616]

A real ham would fix the antenna. Add some wire.

[@michaelfogarty3239]

Maybe check out Cal site M0MCX DX COMMADER might have something to suit. 73

[@reallybadaim118]

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