The Antenna with a Secret: Rez Antenna Systems Recon 40 Coil

[@kumasu]

It's slick-looking, but wow: $300 for the coil, $75 for the tripod, $40 for the radials, $70 for the whip. Compare this to the WRC Silver Bullet Mini Take it Along package for $175. That's one expensive toggle switch on the Rez . . .

[@9999plato]

Exactly. There will be some who bite on the shiny new lure in the pond. They are fishing for those suckerfish .Vain, attracted to shiny things.

[@KD9ZHF]

I can’t justify it, but it looks sweet.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

There’s products out there for all budgets. The Rez and the WRC do the same thing, but a market segment prefers one over the other.

[@KD9ZHF]

@@KB9VBRAntennas I totally understand. The switch is a no-brainer, but why wasn't it done before? I'm tempted to add them to my WRCs. I really appreciate the innovation of the Ham Radio Community and Businesses!

[@revbikerbigd8664]

$300 is crazy for a 40m with a on,off switch coil ! $40.00 coil works just fine! Rich mans toy !

[@taylork7aie]

REZ never ceases to amaze. I get the “ruggedness” Chameleon is going for, and with prior military experience with Cha, no complaints. But Mike and those at REZ are really appealing to the visual side of me as this thing looks phenomenal and functional. Excellent video as well!

[@robmccray6360]

Yep, I got mine in the mail today. Looks like something SPECTRE's Blofeld would have stolen from the military to threaten to destroy the world with. An absolute work of art visually. Works as expected as well. The 40/20 switch is really convenient.

[@carlosroig5315]

REZ products look well engineered, professional, not something built in a basement or garage. Thank you Michael!

[@Francois_Dupont]

price?

[@carlosroig5315]

Price as listed in REZ website is $299

[@mfbengs1]

Exactly really no comparison. I looked at both this machined and feels and looks much higher quality.

[@Swoop180]

I would love to see him come out with an 80-10 meter screwdriver for mobile operations, hint hint!😉

[@DaDitDa]

The coil's #14 copper wire, wide spacing and relatively large diameter should provide a fairly high Q. Nice design.

[@rossbassette7518]

Connect a alligator clip jumper lead from the base of your Wolf River coil to the ferrule at the top of coil, and you will get a bypass of lower bands, and SAVE A LOT OF MONEY

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I’ve already done that and made the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2m8kJd6eKefrNE

[@Francois_Dupont]

300$USD for the coil only. LOLOLOLolol

[@oobihdahboobeeboppah]

Food for thought: Why have all the screwdriver manufacturers opted to elevate their coils atop a mast, albeit short, over a variable base loaded coil topped with a mast? Two reasons (and a few more I won't go into:. 1.) a coil introduces a lump of inductance & power loss just as the signal is getting out of the gate. That's like hobbling a horse just as it's getting into the race. 2.) By raising the tuning coil even a little bit, the signal is improved because a lower feed point Z resulting in better radiation resistance and take-off angle. It's really quite easy to put a mast of a couple of feet below the a fixed coil (I think Hustler has three if you like plug and play). Not sure if this one would be a good one for that because of the radial taps. That being said, we're not talking much more that a hobbled vertical and it'll work better too.

[@chrisnmichelle0218]

This is one of the nicest and cleanest looking antenna part ever made. The colors are perfect, and the build quality looks great. Love that they spent the time on the way it looks. It is still just a coil though, so I'll pass, but if I didn't have any, I'd probably do this one just for the cool factor.

[@TWOSU_NEWS]

Or you can just buy a screw driver

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

And, how would that benefit me for portable operation?

[@ChaplainDaveSparks]

Wow. Good job. I had to watch until the very end to see how strong the coil was going to be. That *HUGE* whip represents a lot of *LEVERAGE!* *73 de AF6AS in **_“DM13”_** land*

[@johnleonardelli_VE3IPS]

Nice add-on to my REZ Ranger80 which has a great review in the ARRL QST magazine. Stuff is built like tanks and yes having the best costs a bit more but its an investment

[@samcorp73]

Great video - especially enjoyed the first contact - my kids do not agree that I am now internet famous. No offence to you! ;-) - Scott (VE3ILW)

[@Real_Berserker]

Hello, Please try to make an antenna from a piece of wire 2 meters long. The antenna wire that connects to the transceiver or radio receiver, please connect a variable resistor R = 100 Ohm, and at the other end of the wire of this 2 meter antenna make a connector to which you need connect resistors for each frequency range. The resonant frequency is the purely active ohmic resistance of the antenna. When we lengthen the cable to tune the frequency, we increase the active ohmic resistance of the cable. When we shorten the antenna cable, we reduce the resistance of our antenna cable. A variable resistor is needed for precise adjustment to the resonant frequency of the selected frequency range. It is better to take tantalum resistors. A very good cheap antenna will be made from an alloy of nickel and copper, if 62-65% by weight of nickel is brought to a boil by induction current, and then 38-35% of copper is added to the boiling mass of nickel and immediately reduces the boiling point of nickel to the boiling point of copper, and when you get a homogeneous mass, then cool it - you will get a good alloy for the antenna.

[@Matthew-KN4QHQ]

Thank you, I really appreciate your reviews. They all feel balanced and you do a great job at answering the questions I have. 73 from the state of Georgia!

[@jackkelley890]

This looks like a possible upgrade to my MPAS 2.0

[@jackkelley890]

I really like the looks of that. It appears to be super high quality. I need to see my antenna collection and get it down to just a select few. This might be in the new lineup.

[@N4GW]

I bought this based on your review. I like to use my faraday cloth but could not get an SWR lower than 7:1. Any hints? I will try radials next time but was disappointed that my faraday cloth did not work

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

You may not be getting good continuity from the ground side of the antenna to the cloth. Either that, or your coax is bad. I've seen similar SWR values with bad coax and poor continuity. My recommendation is to check for continuity and add a jumper from the antenna ground to the cloth, if necessary.

[@kc6nfv746]

Has anyone tried to use as a mobile antenna maybe you should test this idea let use know if it does

[@johnleonardelli_VE3IPS]

I can also deploy it on the ground spike

[@thelandrethfarm4782]

You need to quit messing around and just get the (My go to antenna) set!!

[@wheeler7973]

That system looks great!

[@sxswutah-ww6dr]

Too expensive for coild only

[@robzelnick9341]

I have had this product for a few days, and I am pretty disappointed. I have tested it out with different ground plane configurations and find it very finicky and if you optimize it for the high bands, you get subpar performance on 40 and vice versa. REZ is making a big deal about the "switch", but that only starts the battle with the radials and whip which really defeats the point of what they are billing as a fast deployment, multiband, portable solution. It also does not work well on a magic carpet. It does seem to work the best using 33' ground radials, but like most POTA operators I have tended to move away from that configuration. I think REZ even acknowledges that the configuration is touchy since they recommend the use of their supplied ground insulator, which I suspect was a last-minute addition to the product because they recognized the issues. Definitely not worth $300.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

That's interesting, as I've had the opposite experience. I had issues with the 33 foot radials, but great results with the magic carpet. I also had no problem with setting the Rez base on top of the screen and getting good continuity to the ground side of the antenna. I have similar issues with the Wolf River Sporty Forty; that is poor response with the long radials, and great response with shorter radials and the magic carpet. I don't want to minimize your experience as it are valid. Ground conductivity plays a big part in base loaded vertical antennas. Here in Wisconsin I experience poor ground conductivity where I live and your conductivity may give a totally different response. One thing to watch with these antennas: Rez coil, Wolf River Coil, and others is if you are using an analyzer to tune the antenna and you can't get a good impedance match, check the (X) reactance and (R) resonance. Your impedance may be dropping below 50 ohms which manifests as an elevated SWR, but your reactance may be close to zero, which means the antenna is resonant and the load is purely resistive. If that happens, run with it, as you are at peak efficiency.

[@robzelnick9341]

@@KB9VBRAntennas One additional point of interest. I have used the magic carpet very successfully with just the 17-foot Chameleon whip, but for some reason it is not liking the Recon 40 even on 20M.

[@32_bits]

A nice solution. One difference to other coils with sliders is the 30m band is missing, so maybe the next version will have a 3 way switch, 40, 30 and 20m...

[@kc6nfv746]

Be nice you could make it a mobile antenna for are car kc6nfv is my call check the coil load on my qrz it's a multi band needed a 68 inch wip

[@KrypticPatriot]

Nice review.

[@frankwc0o]

I went to their site quickly, couldn't find the price. I'm sure it will be relatively expensive, but if it does 40, it might be a good buy especially if you don't need a tuner.

[@rezantenna]

Sorry there was a delay in the product going live on the site. It's up in our shop now. It's also available now at DX Engineering.

[@chrisnmichelle0218]

$299.00 on DX Engineering, looks nice, really well crafted with attention to details, but not for me at that price, but they really make a better looking product than Chameleon, Chameleon should take notes on how to make nice looking parts. (Granted it does remind me of my vape mod 😆)

[@9999plato]

You dont need a tuner with any of these coils. Wolf River makes a product with the identical function for under half the price. You know what they say, a fool and his money are soon parted.

[@chrisnmichelle0218]

@9999plato I just made my own with pvc and stainless steel wire, and a MFJ 17' whip, but you have to appreciate the style on this one

[@frankwc0o]

@@9999plato True. If you elevate the radial, you will get better performance. I was thinking, mobile on 40, not easy to do here in SoCal.

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

Ever tried an extender to get that coil off the high current point? Mark your radials.

[@ncoldmanoverland]

Rez looks legit. Love the look. But, love my sporty 40.

[@9999plato]

These people are synged if they think these can sell this at this price. The only thing they offer over Wolf River is a small convenience and better fit and finish. Wolf River looks like its home made, which it likely is, not to detract from their products utility. I suppose that doctors and lawyers will love this. The cork sniffer coil! OOOH AAAH I'm so impressed!

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

What’s nice is that there are products out there for all budgets and aesthetics. I can wear a Patagonia jacket but the Columbia keeps me just as warm.

[@9999plato]

@@KB9VBRAntennas No doubt. Perhaps you should package a carefully edited (for time) compendium of your videos of the different coil antennas you have shown and provide links so their choices are laid out for them. A greatest hits video so to speak.

[@robmccray6360]

Product already sold on the REZ site. Some left at DX Engineering, though. Better act fast.

[@nicd1826]

We made contact in this video Michael, that's the first time I have ever heard myself on the air! What an awesome surprise. I was so excited to log you, had no idea it was on the Rez. Seems like a great setup but outside of my budget. I'll have to stick with my WRC. 73 Michael! -KG5FLM

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Glad to get you in the log.

[@sk8crk]

no cap hat?

[@matthewmueller2506]

Rib Mountain! Burial site of Paul Bunyan.

[@N4GW]

Excellent review

[@wildbill1]

Nice!

[@turtlecreek4633]

73! w3rrm