Reel - POTA-ble Antenna Review

Check out this very novel antenna for portable operations on 40-20-15 and 10 meters.
NOTE: It is supposed to work on 40 meters too- but I did not check it's SWR there.

[@Sonicgott]

I just bought this antenna a while ago, glad to see some good reviews!

[@ryankc9oza118]

Been using this for awhile. Its a great little antenna.

[@Yavor54]

Raising the feeder side up higher than 5 feet will bring those SWR centers right up into the correct zone.

[@Yavor54]

Yup. You just need to reel it out and figure out exactly how much of the wire to spool back in (how many hand cranks) for low SWR on each band (including 40 meters)

[@dark30welderwelding11]

Bob …. You’re a real gentleman Not pulling back the curtain to reveal the “magic” this individual has put into this product. Bravo! You can always reverse engineer and build what someone else spent hours thinking and designing. Please try to honor the individual’s creativity someway.

[@Yavor54]

Thanks! My little Ham business (mic upgrades) has been going for 17 years now. A while back, someone reverse-engineered one of my mic upgrades and posted it. Luckily, it had virtually no negative impact. This antenna is a classic Ham invention and we need to honor it's inventor. Go for it dude!

[@toddpolson6024]

I have one of these too and it is my new go-to portable antenna when I have the space to deploy it. My first test of the Reel pota-ble EFHW was mounted in a tree about 6ft / 2m up. The antenna line was extended to another tree in an inverted L configuration maybe 25ft / 7.5m in the air. I used 25ft of coax with a 1:1 choke balun attached to the radio. I reeled back 4 turns from maximum and was aiming for the Phone frequencies on each band. Here were my SWR results: 28.3 MHz .1.1 SWR 24.950 MHz .1.2 SWR 21.375 MHz .1.0 SWR 14.300 MHz 1.2 - 1.3 SWR 7.225 MHz .1.3 - 1.4 SWR I too noticed that it was quieter than some of my other configurations. Getting the EFHW up higher may also help to lower the SWR on the lower bands somewhat. For portable work on 10-12-15-20-40m, I would highly recommend it!

[@lancewillard]

I never save money watching your videos. 😂

[@robertnagy2163]

I warn people....you hang out with me- you are going to spend some money. BUT- you are going to have a lot of fun!

[@mewintle]

This comment wins! Hihi

[@mewintle]

@@robertnagy2163I dated a stripper who always said the same thing. It was a truism.

[@1979Iceman]

If you put your mind to it you can figure out how to do it. That is if you like building stuff. If not that’s ok too and you can support fellow hams and their hard work.

[@Francois_Dupont]

you arent stuck on one band using a resonant antenna. you can RX/TX on all the lower band that are harmonics of that one. for example using a 40m antenna you can do 40,20,10

[@Yavor54]

Sure "Stuck" on one band. The thing is, if you have a great SWR with a tuner on a long hunk of wire, but nobody can hear you because your transmit efficiency is very poor (AND you are portable with lower power), then what fun are you going to have? A good resonant antenna with a little gain and 20 watts will allow you to have tons of contacts...where a "tuned" multiband antenna will result in very few contacts. This antenna will run on several bands without a tuner, but I would only run 100W using it portable.

[@Francois_Dupont]

@@Yavor54 no tuner is required, you can use any antenna on its harmonics with no loss. i am mainly QRP with only 1.2W and i am working country 2500km away daily easily. my two main antennas are a vertical multiband and a EFHW made for 40m. i can use both on 40,20,10m without any problem.

[@anthonyglaser929]

there are other videos of people using DIY versions of this and they always attach the feed line to the other end.

[@Yavor54]

Huh... that's interesting!

[@DK5ONV]

Beautiful 💯👌

[@enginedave]

I'm guessing its a metal reel and there's some sort of constant tension contact with the reel.. Do tell...

[@robertnagy2163]

Well, it has to have what is called a "Slip Ring" assembly. Good solid contact has to be maintained 360 around a metal contact plate. Same thing is done with electric windmills. I'm not going to dis-assemble it to find out how he did it. (It's the magic inside!)

[@kleinbiker1]

Did you say check the "swir" ?

[@Yavor54]

I did. If SWR was Polish, it wouldn't need a vowel.

[@kleinbiker1]

@@Yavor54 just say the letters. It’s an abbreviation not an actual word.

[@dannybryant4440]

What were your readings on 40 Meters

[@Yavor54]

It does work... but you have to reel in a bit to center the band. Truthfully, at QRP power levels, a wire antenna that has gain is a better choice.

[@dannybryant4440]

thanks Bob W5CI @@Yavor54