A very comprehensive video on this antenna. I appreciate all the details that you included. Especially the use of the rig expert to show where the dips were on the various bands.
@sreekumarg6 ай бұрын
Nice Video. Thanks for taking great care when shooting the video. Perfect
@DK5ONV Жыл бұрын
Beautifully built, Steve. 💯👌
@kn9ioutom2 жыл бұрын
GREAT SIMPLE ANTENNA !!!
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
We plan to use this antenna again for Field Day 2021 with my club. We had excellent results with it at Winter Field Day.
@johnpawlicki11844 жыл бұрын
Used a ZS6BKW as my main antenna for well over 10 years. It was homebrew and installed flat top with the end wires drooping down a bit. I run CW primarily so things seemed to match better. 80 was fairly narrow and needed a tuner when moving to SSB. Moving I needed to change because my feed point situation changed. Good antenna. 73,JP, K8AG
@davidbrennan53 жыл бұрын
I am thinking about using this for my first antenna, I am concerned about how the ladder line would hold up in winter/high winds supporting the coax. I am thinking a small cord ran parallel with the ladder line would help for strain relief. How high should the center be? would 20-30 feet height be enough?
@craigguinn54232 жыл бұрын
Nice build sequence and testing, appreciate the detailed video. W4MSK
@fernandoares90323 жыл бұрын
Great video Steve. It was very easy to follow the build up
@ronmolihan55033 жыл бұрын
Thanks Steve I like it.
@REKlaus3 жыл бұрын
You really need to clean and re-tin that soldering iron tip. Nice video. Thank you.
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
Yea, I know . This is an old iron I used back in the day with the slot car hobby.
@danielsensing43434 жыл бұрын
Great Video I have used this antenna for a few years now Steve Hunt G3TXQ sk wrote to make a ZS6BKW cut a dipole resonant at 5 mhz. Fed with coax then remove the coax and put 41 feet of ladder line on it and trim the ladder line for lowest swr at 24.950 and it will be good.
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
Good info.
@donaldsmith30483 жыл бұрын
THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION!
@dsonyay3 жыл бұрын
I love the out takes :)
@marklowe74313 жыл бұрын
Education and humour all in one. Nice work.
@richardchambless124 жыл бұрын
Hey Steve, great video. I made one of these earlier this summer. My first contact was a VK3 on 25 watts FT8, so it’s a keeper! I look forward to a video of you testing it in the field. Rich KM4TLR
@hamradioportable16304 жыл бұрын
Testing it out in the field is on the to do list. Steve Ad4xt
@joaquintall51803 жыл бұрын
Steve, you are much too humble! I have bookmarked the ZS6BKW KZbin videos and yours is, by a wide margin, the best of the breed Why? Because you took us to your driveway and showed us the wire cuts, the dimensions of the elements, and the window line. The other videos just show us a completed antenna and the ways they hung it from trees, push-up masts, etc. I was surprised at your telling us that you had to trim more than 2' from each leg for resonance in each band. Question 1...Would you conclude that this is typical for all ZS6BKW antennas, or peculiar to your location? I've got rocks, sand and clay at my QTH! Really poor soil. Question 2... Do you think that a "reflector wire", about 6" off the ground, directly under the ZS6BKW, the length of the antenna, might help? My take off angle should be quite good, but I am trying to squeeze every bit of RF from both my rig and my antenna. I have ordered the center insulator from the ebay link you provided. Thank you! Going to order some 450 Ohm window line, the balun and the 14 gauge wire. Would a 12 gauge wire offer a bit more bandwidth? Will shop for some nylon hardware. Last question...since you posted your video do you have any remarks, or updates that you have discovered in the 6 weeks or so since? Again, yours is the best of the videos out there and I think you for taking the time to respond to my post! Vry 73 de
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind words. Yes different types of soil and location will have an effect. I see this as I go portable to different locations. Most of the time it's very slight. But I'm here in GA. I would not worry about a "reflector wire" at the start. Just hang it high as you can. I plan on giving this antenna a good test at Winter Field Day 2021 in a couple weeks with some video to report back with. Thanks for watching. Steve Ad4xt
@ronjoseph7973 Жыл бұрын
Short the window line with a 50 ohm resistor just before connecting it to the 1:1 choke balun and it will bring the VSWR on 80 meters down to less than 2:1 across the band.
@new_comment2 жыл бұрын
For what u pay at Fastenal for nut and bolts. You could buy the prebuilt antenna off Amazon........ LOL Would it work to just run my ladder line straight to my tuner wire lugs? Thank u for this in depth video!
@hamradioportable16302 жыл бұрын
Going straight to a tuner would turn this antenna into a non-resident doublet. Which are good antennas. It just requires another piece of equipment. Thanks for watching.
@fredarmantrout93252 жыл бұрын
When you attached the ladder line to the center mount, I believe, that the intent was to possibly trim out one section of ladder window then bend the ladder line and pass it through the two larger center holes then bend them out and solder them to the antenna wire and not bolt them in at the holes. This would let the ladder line openings match up with the raised portion to more secure the ladder line to the center insulator. Then with the side wires you can solder them to the leads from the ladder and not need the bolts or ring connectors, one less place to have corrosion. If you leave a small loop you can solder the wires and slip over some sealing heat shrink to seal it all up. Just my observation as the EBay listing for the insulator does not give any specifications or instructions.
@hamradioportable16302 жыл бұрын
Good idea Fred. This only comes out to play for FD and WFD. Steve Ad4xt
@cdburgess75Ай бұрын
How did you get it up in the trees?
@alflores42208 ай бұрын
Is it true the coax cable going from the ladder line to the antenna tuner must be very short? I was told 5' to 10 feet max. If that is the case, this may be a deal breaker for me. i can't set up the station that close to the backyard facing walls in my house. I need around 50' of coax to make it to the room I use. What do you think?
@hamradioportable16308 ай бұрын
Use whatever length you need. It will work fine. I use this one at FD and WFD. Different coax, works well.
@MrTdionne3 жыл бұрын
This may be a silly question but things I have read about the ZS6BKW antenna suggests that the length on each side be exactly 46' 8 1/2" long. Does anyone know if this includes the amount of wire needed at both ends to loop thru the insulators and tie/attach to insulators? Thanks.
@TrevorWeston-vc9zq29 күн бұрын
Nice !
@francisboudreaux38804 жыл бұрын
Thanks, I’m getting ready to build one. Glad to hear you can trim it up the band. How does it preform 60 meters?
@hamradioportable16304 жыл бұрын
Not sure about 60M. I plan to use this antenna for Field Day and maybe WFD.
@gravestonemyth3 жыл бұрын
I'd be really curious how this antenna would work with a 4:1 balun instead of (or in addition to) the 1:1 balun. I'm planning to design something using a 300-ohm antenna wire for POTA and SOTA. I planned to use a 4:1 to get a closer match to the coax.
@GabrielMontesdeOcaRider2 жыл бұрын
9:1 es lo correcto ya que la antena trabaja con 450 a 500 ohms.
@RC200092 жыл бұрын
The ladder line is the matching element for this antenna "system", which allows the antenna to have a 50 ohm impedance at the coax connector of the 1:1 current balun. If you used a 4:1 balun it would NOT WORK, because it would defeat the purpose of the ladder line matching element. With a 4:1 balun and the matching ladder line section connected to the dipole, you would wind up with an impedance of 12.5 ohms at the coax connector. This would result in a mismatch with the 50 ohm coax and you'd have all sorts of signal loss at the desired frequencies.
@genepierson17282 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing. Did you use a 4:1 balun? And do you run it through a tuner before the radio?
@hamradioportable16302 жыл бұрын
It's a 1:1 balun. Just a touch up with the internal tuner if needed. This is my club's go to antenna for FD and WFD.
@RC200092 жыл бұрын
The ladder line is for impedance matching. The ZS6BKW is designed to give you 50 ohms at the end of the matching section of ladder line on most HF HAM bands. So there is no need for a 4:1 balun, only a 1:1 current balun.
@Jmart21114 жыл бұрын
Nice Video Steve , thanks de KN4SWS
@hamradioportable16304 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the watching. I plan to test it out soon.
@davidryeburn40102 жыл бұрын
You worried about metal screws in the two locations on the insulator disturbing the ladder line. At frequencies no higher than the 10 m band I don't think they would have much effect. I would use brass ones, though, not steel. But even steel screws shouldn't do much harm since if the antenna and feedline are well balanced the field halfway between the two feedline wires shouldn't be that large. The worst the screws would do would be to put a bit of capacitance across the feedline at that point which might affect the tuning a slight amount. I think the main reason people say not to bring ladder line near metal objects is that if it is done in a non-symmetrical way, with say a metal roof gutter nearer one wire than the other, balance will be affected and losses can occur. But your center insulator is nice and symmetrical. David VE7EZM and AF7BZ
@hamradioportable16302 жыл бұрын
Thanks David for that detail explanation.
@alvarogaitan25293 жыл бұрын
thanks my friend nice job terrific 73 from kb2uew
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
Many thanks!
@michaelmartin59954 жыл бұрын
Well done!
@hamradioportable16304 жыл бұрын
Thanks
@JohnHill-qo3hb3 жыл бұрын
I wonder how much a plastic cutting board is at the Dollar Store, could use that to make several centre insulators and possibly at the ends of the antenna too. Stay safe, 73, VE7KKQ
@greyfox23473 жыл бұрын
You a Pro. Cheers
@paulhastings31093 жыл бұрын
thanks need give this one a try. what would be with 4-1 over 1-1. ladder line 450 ohms
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
The 1:1 works just fine. Save that 4:1 for a full wave loop if you have room. Thanks for watching.
@paulhastings31093 жыл бұрын
@@hamradioportable1630 Yes I have room for a loop. Don't get on 80 m all that much or 75. I work a lot On 40 m. the feed the loop you the corner or 1/4 wave from the from the corner
@RC200092 жыл бұрын
The ladder line is part of the antenna design and it is for impedance matching. The ZS6BKW is designed to give you 50 ohms at the end of the matching section of ladder line on most HF HAM bands. So there is no need for a 4:1 balun, only a 1:1 current balun.
@JayN4GO3 жыл бұрын
How does the ant do on 30m? 40,30 and 20 are my go to for Cw. Have you compared it to efhw antenna with a 49:1 ?
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
I'm not sure on 30m band as I'm on ssb most of the time. I do use an EFHW 10-40 most every time portable. I use the zs6 for our club field day and winter field day. More room and taller trees. I may have to do a comparison at WFD coming soon. Thanks for asking. Steve
@americaswayout44893 жыл бұрын
I have a g5rv that I never liked because of so much feedback of CMC so I'm thinking of cutting it to this size, you did not mention 15 meters or even 12, curious what they did? Good job on the video etc Thanks
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
I plan on a big test with the antenna at Winter Field Day 2021 very soon. This will be our main SSB station antenna. I should have some video to share. Steve
@1boortzfan3 жыл бұрын
Nice wire antennas. It's getting to be a lost art.
@n1kkri3 жыл бұрын
What about the performance compared to a dipole on a specific bands.
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
Ken, I would expect it to be about the same. The advantage here is the multiband performance without an external tuner. It worked great for our club on winter Field Day this year. Steve Ad4xt
@n1kkri3 жыл бұрын
@@hamradioportable1630 Thanks, I once built a off center fed antenna and even though it offered a lower SWR on certain bands it didn't out perform the same length of wire fed with 450 ohm balance line going into my MFJ-993 auto tuner. The off center antenna still needed my antenna tuner to get the SWR below 1.4 so my IC-746 would output full power. I might one day try and build ZS6BKW antenna for testing. Thanks, Ken
@stevenlawhon36953 жыл бұрын
Try 47ft8in 80m should show a lower swr
@forgetyourlife3 жыл бұрын
I would cover the zip ties with electrical tape so UV rays don’t age them. Should be good for a long time after that.
@hamradioportable16303 жыл бұрын
Yep, you are correct about that. Thanks.
@medo1233453 жыл бұрын
👍
@jimmack67444 жыл бұрын
There is a version of this antenna that is designed to fit in smaller areas. Video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6rTq6imjs1mq9k