The Marvelous 10/20/40 Half-Wave End-Fed Antenna.

[@michaelhiggins7365]

Great explanation of the End Fed Half Wave antenna. I just bought the Trail Friendly 10/20/40 from LNR and can't wait to try it out on my KX3. I learn so much from you Gil and so appreciate your finely crafted videos. Thanks , de KM2U.

[@АндрейДенисюк-ш7п]

Hi Gil. On lower frequencies that coil works as 'load coil' making the wire longer than its physical lengh. We could see such coils in the base of shortened verticals. On higher frequencies it works as a high impedance trap and cuts off the wire beyond the coil making the wire shorter and resonant on higher frequencies.

[@desmobob900sssp]

Thank you Gil. I enjoy your videos very much. I'm new to amateur radio and QRP. I have a Xiegu G90 and have been having great results with a SOTAbeams linked dipole, making contacts from the northeastern US to as far as Ukraine, Slovenia, Lithuania and Poland. I wanted to try an EFHW and, after watching this video, I ordered the EF-10/20/40 MKII, now sold by Vibroplex in the US..

[@RadioPrepper]

Good choice, I have one, my first antenna.

[@Ron_C]

I have the trail friendly version from LNR Precision and I absolutely love this antenna! Thanks for including real on air usage!

[@npc9352]

Are you using it for SSB? If so, how well does it work?

[@RadioPrepper]

Yes. Very well. I once made a contact with it from Florida to Estonia using 1.3W.

[@pd9rd]

Just this week I put up a 12 meter pole with a straight down vertical EFHW made by HyEndFed 200W for 40/20/10 meter. SWR was not bad out of the box but after trimming 7 centimetres SWR is between 1:1 and 1:1:5 on these bands. So no tuner needed. Now all I need is DX conditions😉 Anyway, thanks for your videos Gil. They offer a great in site into the world of HAM Radio. 73

[@recumbentogiro26]

I like to replay your videos because at first, I understood nothing you were talking about but as I learn more, I understand you better. Thank you.

[@RadioPrepper]

I should make an end-fed basics video... Thanks.

[@stevejones8665]

Hi Gill Hope you are keeping well..Thanks for another very interesting Video 👍👍It amazes me how after a break of 20 plus years from CW I am still able to understand both sides of all the QSO, s you had, i guess it's a bit like riding a bike you never really forget what you have learnt...I am hoping to get back on the air very soon and you have inspired me to try making an EFHW and who knows it may become my favorite Antenna which up to now has been the Inverted V.....Cheers all the best Steve.

[@RadioPrepper]

I often use an inverted V for 80m, no choice there and the easiest way to manage 132ft of wire. For 40m or below I use the EFHW, unless I want to use NVIS on 40m.

[@steveinkentucky]

P A R is Par, as in Dale Parfitt who is the designer and original manufacturer. I have 3 of the EFs and they are great antennas. I just had a tree take down my OCF in a storm, and I'm thinking of putting up the Quad.

[@georgewashington7444]

Gil. Awesome blast from the past. I am finally getting on the HF bands via CW mode after a year of study/practice. Last week I used the RBN to determine if my station and Morse sending was decipherable. To my astonishment yes it was! I just picked up a Par-Endfedz Trail-Friendly and of course who else to come to on YT for guidance! The harmonic on 20m was worth watching alone. I learned something there! “73”

[@RadioPrepper]

Awesome 😀

[@alannorthdevonuk763]

Hi George. Good name. Wanted to say congratulations on getting airborne on CW. I'm on week 14 of my study/training. Slowly getting there and sometimes I seem to go back several stages. Good luck and enjoy. .

[@wadepatton2433]

I've now constructed and have working properly an 1/2 wave end fed. They require a 49 or 64:1 transformer, and I'm using a 1/2 wave on 3.550 length of wire (don't know exact measure, near 134'--I trimmed to lowest SWR at 3.550mHz) The wire is sloping from point about 60' above ground, fed and grounded at transformer at 5' high. Fed with 100' of coaxial cable. The radio (IC7300) tunes it from 6m-80m even into 75m (with lots of freq ranges needing zero matching, but keeping the tuner engaged keeps it simple). I have to match it for 160, but this can also be done with a transformer bypass (and then would need radials and such as 1/4 wave on 160). Love it love it love it! 73 de W1ADE 73

[@RadioPrepper]

My favorite too now!

[@Redhawk03a]

Realllly like your videos my friend. Thanks for the great information

[@AlpineWarren]

Gil very nice video. I enjoy you videos as you do a wonderful job explaining the technical areas of Ham Radio in an easily understandable way!

[@RadioPrepper]

Thank you!

[@mikes6844]

Hi Gil, forgive me as I’ve only just discovered your channel and just a few words to say how useful it’s been. I also have an original PAR 40/20/10 end fed and by coincidence I was using it yesterday. I’ve formed my own group BYOTA, Back Yards On The Air with a considerable membership of 1, me. Seriously I’m doing a lot of QRP and experimenting in my garden during lockdown and having a lot of fun with 5 watts. Conditions don’t seem that bad, with a little patience and a bit of perseverance I manage to get quite a few contacts mainly on 20. Thank you for your vids, I enjoy them and get a lot of inspiration from them. Just wish my CW was better. 73 de M0AZE Mike.

[@RadioPrepper]

I think there are a lot more members in that group than you think ;-)

[@daveryan2148]

Great video! Enjoyed the different rigs you used.

[@mikemiles3068]

Good video❗️I love HWEF antennas and using CW accents are not near as hard to copy as voice.

[@bobleck2528]

Yes I used a 8 cell foil kite and had many QSL:s with my long wire antenna. Many times the kite was almost vertical. One time I had a small PIXIE on a big DELTA kite but the line broke. I copied that beacon for the next 15 hours then it faded. It drifted EAST so I guess over the Atlantic since I am only 32 miles from the coast :-) Had fun 73 BOB AF2DX

[@peterarmitage5357]

Hi gill, i was inspired by your HWEF antenna, so i ivè set about making one, my design is for multi band end fed, 40/20/10 here is the spec, a=wire, 1.85m b=wire,10.1m L=loading-coil 34uH.. Tube size for trap= 20mm x 250mm long. 63turns of wire. i will try it with the QRP LABS QCX RADIO. i will get back to you with results. best regards.

[@RadioPrepper]

Excellent, please post it on radiopreppers.com!

[@ruskeeblue3580]

I just asked a colleague to see if we could go out in the field this weekend and play with his Par 10/20/40 antenna. Worked really well. I even got a few contacts. Difference was , we used his Elecraft KX2 . It is an awesome radio. This combination was very good. Do you find that you get lots of rejections , meaning , during pileups or just responding that no one can hear you? The receiver worked great, I could hear the stations , only I could not work them. It seems that for every 4-5 I tried to reach, the other end could only hear me once. Also, I did like that just about everytime I called CQ, I did get a response with the Antenna / KX2 combination . I was on 20m and 40m

[@RadioPrepper]

Sometimes... I avoid pileups. Best is to find a lone caller and reply to his call. I suspect people prefer to reply to strong signals, so calling does not work as well as replying to calls.

[@andyh5978]

Thanks Gil, nice video with a bit of everything, makes me want to make that final push needed to get my morse up to a useable standard and get myself up onto the South Downs and make some contacts!

[@RadioPrepper]

You only need to get to about 15wpm Andy, that's useable.

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Well put together video, you have convinced me and I'm building and EFHW although I don't have a lot of height. We will see! Thanks.

[@RadioPrepper]

Let me know...

[@mdouble100]

Very cool video. I am very impressed by the many dx cso's using low power. Small light packable radios have clear advantages when in a true survival situation, especially when stealth is important. The point you make about the use of cw is not lost on those who might like me have yet to master the skill. It might be useful if you could do a video on various translators for those of us so disadvantaged.

[@RadioPrepper]

+Marvin Double I haven't mastered it yet ;-)

[@alvarogaitan2529]

congratulations on terrific video 73 from kb2uew

[@dogfishheadcase3954]

Great video. What was the small straight key you were using, around the 7:30 mark? Thank you for posting this and the education.

[@AVEXHomeCinemaTechnology]

Hi, looks interesting - can you use a tuner with it for out of band use (eg 80m, 6m etc ?)

[@RadioPrepper]

+AVEX Home Cinema Technology 01455 234857 No but you can try different half wave wires depending on the bands... Probably limited to HF. I used mine on 15m with a tuner though, that worked.

[@hectorquintas9045]

Merci pour vous información. Excellente video.- 73 CE4RWS

[@brunocdt2765]

HI Gil ! J'ai modifié ma EndFed elle était un peu courte (16.20 m) je l'ai rallongé de 4 m ce qui correspond à une half wave sur 40 m (à peu près) . J'utilise toujours le transfo 9/1 . Avec les 25 -30 W du PRC j'ai à peine un petit W de retour ,après ça semble rayonné puisque sur 7 MHz je me vois sur le SDR de Hack Green. Ma question est la suivante : terre ou pas terre ? Le transfo au sol ou un peu en hauteur ? Je vais bidouillé un autre transfo et faire des essais quand j'aurai mon MR 100 ! Ce sera plus simple ! 73 de F4DNP .

[@RadioPrepper]

Bonsoir. Pour un fil d'une demi onde il faut un 49:1.

[@brunocdt2765]

je vais commander les tores,par contre j'ai reçu mon analyseur ,j'essaie d'installer les drivers sur le PC portable,mais galère ! Pas de lien entre l'analyseur et le PC . Il y a une astuce pour les drivers ? Je tourne avec un ACER Extensia sous Windows 7 . 73 de F4DNP.

[@RadioPrepper]

Je vais regarder pour les drivers...

[@kazcat8096]

i just made my own it works very good

[@charlieb.4273]

Thanks Gil. I’ve been thinking of a portable 40m antenna. How is the SWR, do you need a tuner? Do you need a certain length of Coax for the counterpoise?

[@RadioPrepper]

Hi, no tuner needed, but the antenna works best when straight and away from "stuff," which it wasn't in the later part of the video. It also works better with a longer coax cable, 25ft. With a shorter coax a short counterpoise might be needed. I use mine just as is, no counterpoise and usually don't need a tuner. SWR is usually below 1.5:1.

[@kb0roc]

It would be nice to show the specs of the trap so we could build something similar, also its great that you luv that antenna but many of us are home brew antenna builders and want to build our own

[@RadioPrepper]

I don't have the specs but I have seen schematics online. A quick search will no doubt turn up results. Also I have plenty of videos describing building end-fed antennas 😀

[@kb0roc]

@@RadioPrepper Im busy watching all you r videos. You explain everything very clearly. I see you review the KX2 and KX1 lots. There are lots of very nice QRP CW only radios, I would like to see what you think of the mcHF M0NKA and their clones. Ill be watching!

[@RadioPrepper]

Hi thanks. I don't have an mcHF.. Probably a decent radio, though I am not a fan of large color screens..

[@minnesotanature]

@@RadioPrepper I like my TR-25 dual band CW only 5 watt portable. Yhats why I like ur vids. More sgealth n prepper oriented!

[@deltafour1212]

I'm looking to do 40M CW only. So you're basically saying, with the LNR Precision or any 10/20/40 HWEF antenna , you can just throw the line in the tree, hook it up to your radio (in my case the FT 817) and you can transmit and receive CW without the hassles of a tuner, analyzer or SWR?

[@RadioPrepper]

+deltafour1212 Basically yes. That antenna is also shorter than a 40m half wave wire because of the trap.

[@davel831]

Hi Gill happy new year. what do you wind your par end fed around? Hope to catch you soon again on the bands . Dave M0GGK

[@RadioPrepper]

Thanks. A clotheline winder. Happy new year!

[@walshgeo]

Gil thanks for the video. 73 George KB3WAQ

[@porkyfedwell]

I assume that the "trap" is actually a loading coil, since a loading coil is the only thing that would allow the antenna to be significantly shorter than 67 feet.

[@RadioPrepper]

I think it's both.

[@1000000volts]

Hi i was considering making a elevated quarter wave mono band 40 metre vertical with four tuned radials . The antenna is 33 foot long and will be about 10 foot above ground . would i get better results if just run this half wave from the top of my antenna to the ground and forget about the ground plane idea .

[@RadioPrepper]

Hi, hard to say... It depends if you want regional communications or long distance. For regional, a horizontal antenna would be better. The quarter wave should work fine, and the more radials the better... So those antennas aren't best for portable operations. Your vertical will have a slightly higher angle of radiation than the half-wave end-fed. The PAR 10/20/40 has an inductance, which is used for 40m, otherwise the wire would be of course 66ft, say if you used a 49:1 or 64:1 transformer, so more likely would have to be installed as a sloper, not the best for long distance. Since the PAR is about 45ft, it can be practically vertical, better for long distance. There are a bit of losses in the inductance but I think it will be made up by the lower angle of radiation. Your best bet of course is to try both. The ground under the antennas will affect them too, so I would be hard pressed to bet on one or the other. I would give the advantage to the half-wave end-fed, but I could be wrong...

[@1000000volts]

@@RadioPrepper Thanks

[@n4lq]

I saw a banner scroll under your screen saying "Though a 0.5 wavelength counterpoise helps in some cases"... Really? .5? That's another 1/2 wavelength. I think you meant .05.... Anyway there is no technical reason that that bit of wire would do anything at all since the coax shield is many times more effective at supplying the tiny bit of displacement current needed. The .05 number comes from older designs that had parallel tuned transformers for single band operation and no other counterpoise therefore a short bit of wire was required for the displacement current. This has been confusing many many people and it just keeps on going. Thanks Prepper!

[@RadioPrepper]

Thanks for the info. I did mean 0.05. I will mention that it does not apply to the newer design in future videos so that this is no longer spread around. I certainly never had to use a counterpoise with a 49:1 or 64:1 transformer.

[@n4lq]

@@RadioPrepper Thanks... I always enjoy your informative videos. The .05 thing is like playing Wack-a-mole.

[@robertlundstrom8061]

So how many microH does the coil have and how many pF does the cap have? How come a 49/1 unun is not needed?

[@RadioPrepper]

I don't remember the theoretical inductance value; no meter... It is not an EFHW but a quarter-wave vertical...

[@RadioPrepper]

Oops wrong video, no idea, but it is still an impedance transformer..

[@k2icc]

Do you need a balun such as the MFJ-915 to protect the radio from currents?

[@RadioPrepper]

If it was higher power yes... In this case no , but it can avoid finger needle pricks if you touch an unpainted part of the case...

[@caulktel]

Great video Gil, EFHWs are my favorite antennas.

[@Ei2iP]

Gil, so your preference this antenna or myantennas version of end fed antennas?

[@RadioPrepper]

I like the PAR because it is smaller, but max power is 25W.

[@patoborq]

Thank you Gil, for subtitle the cw qso. 73 from Patricio ca3pdb

[@karlanovakova220]

the "weird" station at 11:55 repeated numbers 4-2-5 in russian

[@jimguelde4068]

Oh no!!!! It must be instructions to influence our election again. Whooop! Whoooop! Call Chuck Schumer.

[@timg5tm941]

These are underrated and misunderstood antennas by many ops. Great to deploy portable where you get dipole standard performance from a smaller and more convenient footprint.

[@RadioPrepper]

Indeed!

[@AlpineWarren]

How well does an EFHW work on an inverted V configuration?

[@RadioPrepper]

I tried it, very well.

[@AlpineWarren]

@@RadioPrepper thank you! I have a 28' foot fiberglass pole I would like to try that out with. 👍

[@morayr6]

Gil if you were using the clansman you wouldnt have needed to try twice for some of the contacts :) Pare end fed is great antenna

[@RadioPrepper]

+Moray Macdonald That's for sure!

[@AdamosDad]

I notice while using the Pixi I notice you were holding a fountain pen, most people these days would not know what it was. I watch you all the time, you have given me some great ideas and confirm others. Stay safe.. 😷 Hope to make qso 1day KD9OAM

[@RadioPrepper]

Definitely. Hopefully propagation will be improving soon..

[@MrCharleyb]

hi my friend just a quick question i recently built a 9:1 unun what is the best length of wire to use ,thanks in advance continue to make good videos i am a subscriber my name is oscar my call is 6y5ho

[@RadioPrepper]

Hi, it's in this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqupaJV6pNaefZY

[@peterarmitage5357]

Hi gill, enjoy the videos, i agree EFHW are very good for field work, plenty of trees in my part of the country limoges, keep up the good work, PS please type ALLO ALLO IN KZbin AND WATCH? YOU SPEAK JUST LIKE RENNA. BEST REGARDS

[@RadioPrepper]

LOL, will do!

[@jimguelde4068]

I have a PAR 20 meter end fed that I used for the first time today. Sub optimal conditions and location. First contact was Atlanta, Georgia... 1,800 miles. They said I was hotting them with a 5-9 signal.

[@RadioPrepper]

Great antenna though.

[@jimguelde4068]

@@RadioPrepper Indeed it is a good antenna.

[@steve7931]

Hi Gil, great video and very informative, liked the little Soda Pop. 73 Steve M0ZSM

[@RadioPrepper]

Yep, great little rig, I need to put it in a case asap!

[@rogerbirchall9037]

I’m having a problem to buy one ? Please can you give me a link ?

[@RadioPrepper]

It is now sold by Vibroplex.

[@joeym6730]

What pole is your antenna hanging from?

[@RadioPrepper]

Spiderbeam 12m.

[@joeym6730]

@@RadioPrepper Thank you!

[@WiltshireMan]

Hi Gil, I think I will give the halfwave endfed a try on my next outing. Great video. Ofcourse I read your American callsign fb but won't mention it as you had it blanked out. If you want to try a qso on 80 anytime just let me know. I am quite active on 80 CW and France is just local:) 73 Sandy g0vqw

[@RadioPrepper]

We'll try some time :-)

[@1479andy]

Great vid thanks

[@carlosheckler4181]

I really appreciate your videos. Where can I buy this antenna? PY3NA 73

[@RadioPrepper]

I think Vibroplex sells them now..

[@carlosheckler4181]

@@RadioPrepper TKS.

[@martinvanek5951]

FYI - Now sold by Vibroplex. www.vibroplex.com

[@geoffbrown.antennamanufact7038]

Understand how it works, the last section is an inductor not a trap, first leg is 14Mhz resonant half wave and also full wave on 28MHz, the last section is just an inductor for 7MHz, no capacitor is involved...Geoff Brown Rtd Ex G Whip Antennas, now commercial www.rfcomms.co.uk

[@TridentMissileTech]

I use endfed I made. I use it as a sloper. 6 ft to 41ft. Any one know what angle of radiation is lower. An endfed wired vertical or as a sloper

[@RadioPrepper]

Vertical, for a half wave wire.

[@prestonshute7243]

Gill you might try removing the original wire for that antenna and connecting a 30 meter wire and see if that will work. 73 wd4dda

[@RadioPrepper]

+Preston Shute It definitely should, and I will most likely try it some time.

[@vk6op648]

love qrp, nice job Gil.

[@RadioPrepper]

+VK6OP Thanks!

[@MauriatOttolink]

Great videos Monsieur Gil, as always. Je vous remercie bien! But why go to these sites to Buy (?) a piece of wire cut to length? Can't folks, beg, borrow, buy or scrounge a bit of wire and cut it to length themselves? Dammit all this is HAM RADIO? Why not empty a room totally and bring in a clever devil Arty Farty, theme designer .....and have him emote a meaningful Fung Shui station with mindful examples of a HWEF antennae. I make mine with bits of wire from a lawn mower which sliced its own life line . I split it into two so the HWEF changes colour in the middle. I buy my XYL a brand new kitchen, high quality wooden cutting board ( keeps her happy.. Gives house points to me!) and I scrounge the battered old plastic cutting board to cut up as insulators. I use grass strimmer cord or 12lb pike strength fishing line to string it up! Coax and PL259 are the only real radio things which I need! Dammit all.. We're supposed to be confounded Radio Hams, aren't we! Hmm. CLEARLY NOT!

[@ravenzachary]

Thanks for posting! Can you add a link to the actual antenna for sale? It looks like LNR has several listed that might be this one. Thank you. UPDATE: I think it’s this one: www.lnrprecision.com/store/-p39885475

[@RadioPrepper]

That one is the trail friendly version, same antenna, just lighter. I used to have the wire and trap/choke to use with another tuner. I would buy that one today because of its smaller size. Mine is the EF-10/20/40MKII.

[@fredericpeltier6916]

Tu est vraiment très fort Gilles CORDIALEMENT FRÉDÉRIC Et encore merci pour l antenne 49 pour 1 je l'ai fait avec un toroid de 240 avec du fil émaillée de 1'5mn Sur une canne à pêche et un condo 100pf 10 000 V très spectaculaire pour mon environnement de la façons d'où je me situe Je m intéresses de très près sur ton site De 14 PAPA FOXTROT opérateur Frédéric du département 62700

[@fredericpeltier6916]

240-43

[@RadioPrepper]

Super! Merci.

[@kb0roc]

Have you tested any indoor QRP antenna's like Magnetic Loop antenna's? I would be looking for one for indoor use, Condo or Apartment or Flat! The closest I have seen for low power is the Alpha loop from this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJutc6qshspkhNU

[@daddy3d1972]

The weird transmission was numbers in russian. 4-2-and i think 6 was the last number.

[@RadioPrepper]

Thanks!

[@hectorpascal]

Presumably one of the well-known "Numbers" spy (?) transmissions?

[@valentinr9uid201]

Correct! Just saying numbers in Russian 4, 2, 5.

[@daddy3d1972]

How do you ground the coax shield? I plan on building a half wave end fed antenna using an unun but i am scared about energy following the coax back to my hf radio.

[@RadioPrepper]

Hi, I rarely do. When needed I use an RF choke.

[@daddy3d1972]

Also will this antenna work at 100 watts?

[@RadioPrepper]

Yes, and then some :-)

[@bobleck2528]

Yes I used a 8 cell foil kite and had many QSL:s with my long wire antenna. Many times the kite was almost vertical. One time I had a small PIXIE on a big DELTA kite but the line broke. I copied that beacon for the next 15 hours then it faded. It drifted EAST so I guess over the Atlantic since I am only 32 miles from the coast :-) Had fun 73 BOB AF2DX

[@RadioPrepper]

Great. Did you use the antenna wire as the kite line?

[@bobleck2528]

No,I have 3,000 feet of kite line get the kite above where air flow is smooth 5 to 800 feet then i tape the wire to the lie then at times use thin low loss cell phone coax 85 feet long. When running a beacon I let all the line out wtth the tiny pixie way up there. BOB AF2DX

[@RadioPrepper]

Geez. Interesting! Last question: what's the strength of the line?

[@bobleck2528]

Really dont know but I can not break it with my hands.Got the line and 8 foil kites from a China lady on Ebay. Kites are 8 cell with equalizing cross ports. In a 40 MPH wing these kites will life a brick with no problem. BOB AF2DX

[@RadioPrepper]

Thanks, I definitely want to try a kite with a Zepp antenna for 80m...