Is this the worst antenna for portable use? - Comet HFJ-350M Toy Box

I just want to know if she is actually putting up an antenna ?

 

Please remember there can be a very big difference between resonant and efficient! Most of these youtube antennas for portable use can be resonant, but their efficiency is very low. Even a Mag Loop antennas, if you build one 3 ft diam that can do 40M thru 15M or 10M, the efficiency on 20M may be 70%, but on 40M it is around 15%. The sad thing is, that is possibly better than some of the small portable antennas being pushed at hams these days.

For the antenna in the video, if you are going to put out that much wire for a radial/counterpoise, why not put that much up in the air, and have a way better antenna!

 

I'm thinking it's click bait.

 

Isotron syndrome.

 

^ THAT THERE

 

Indeed! When I saw that ridiculous 36" radiator and 66' counterpoise(!) for the 80 meter experiment, I literally laughed out loud and thought the same thing. And who in their right mind would operate 80 meters for a SOTA activation?

 

Fear and Loathing in the Adirondack Mountains

September 27, 2017 - I was somewhere around Albany on The Northway when The Fear began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit panicy; maybe I should pull over and inventory the car..." And suddenly there was a great rushing sound as all the fresh, clean air got sucked out of the car and was displaced with desperation - the sharp hooks of which set deep in the psyche.

First, apologies to Hunter S. Thompson. Second, it wasn't that dramatic or bad. However, it wasn't pleasant. You see, I had just realized that in the mad rush packing and loading out for vacation, the box with all my antenna goodies never made its way to the car. And I was way too far from home to turn around to retrieve it.

Yup. Everything. Pre-measured and cut lengths of antenna and counterpoise wire, tape measure, spools of mason, hemp, and other lines, adapters, fittings, and miscellaneous schtuff - all "neatly thrown" into a box and sitting safely in the apartment in Winsted. This was not a good thing.

Ever hear the quote "fail to plan is a plan to fail?"

After resigning myself to this unsettling reality and pressing northward, options were considered. I could always look for a spool of speaker wire at the True Value Hardware Store in Inlet or Cohen's General Store in Old Forge. As for launching a pull line for the antenna wire, I had three fishing rods from which to choose.

Having gotten such a late start for the journey to ADK, I never got around to setting up WN1MB/2 on day one. Most important was racing the sunset and beating the arrival of forecasted rain. Setting up the tent, sleeping gear, picnic table and requisite tarp tent cover - aka the Command Center - and making some semblance of dinner took precedence over anything radio.

dah-dididit-dah

When day two came around there were still some loose ends to tend to in setting up camp. While rummaging around in the back of the SUV, I came across a gem of a find!

Last year I replaced the aging wiring harness for the lights on the boat trailer. Being a graduate of the "Use it up. wear it out, make it do, or do without." school, the old harness got wrapped up and saved - for something. And now I know why and for what!

At the command center I unzipped the individual, insulated conductors and then spliced the pieces together - carefully taper taping the slices so they'd pull smoothly over tree branches and hopefully not snagging up. Due to the age and exposure to the elements, some of the insulation had cracked - so I bandaged those spots with electrical tape, too.

Oh yes. I strongly suggest not "cheaping out" when buying electrical tape. Scotch ™ is my go to brand: 33 is the "thin" type with 15 pounds per inch tensile strength, while 88 is the "thicker" with 20 pounds per inch tensile strength. I like to keep both on hand. And an old electrician trick to keep tape more pliable in cold weather: keep the roll of tape in your front pants pocket. Your body warmth keeps the tape easier to use.

When all the splicing, taping, and bandaging was done, somewhat half-assed measuring revealed "close enough" lengths to my standard 60' radiator/30' counterpoise! As my luck had changed for the good, I launched my pull line and got an excellent placement with the first shot! Up went the radiator, down went the counterpoise, and WN1MB/2 was on the air with one of my recent Heathkit HW-8 acquisitions! Yay!

dah-dididit-dah

Long story longer is that my pack rat (or hoarder) tendencies saved the day for my WN1MB/2 camp operations. I could try to mask the pack rat or hoarder tendencies with pontificating on the virtue of a waste not, want not philosophy, or how I still to this day practice the Boy Scout motto, Be Prepared.

But I won't. I fouled up, dropped ten, and punted. And this time I got lucky and scored.

Lesson learned. Come early September 2018, I'm going to pay more attention to my packing and planning!

 

Not necessarily. A resonant antenna is not always more efficient than a non-resonant one. Not hardly.

 

Nope. That's a misconception some hams have. A tuner is not "fooling" or "conning" anything. It is no more doing that than an audio matching transformer is "fooling" an audio amplifier.

The tuner has but one purpose: to allow the transmitter to deliver energy to the antenna system efficiently. That antenna may nor may not be a good antenna, but it does not have to be resonant to be good.

 

And hopefully those words of wisdom with resonate with all. And with frequency.

 

Am I the only one that noticed, on the first part of the video, that he keeps referring to the MFJ 259 Antenna Analyzer as a 'TUNER'.
Or am I missing something here ?

 

That type of misinformation is common in his videos and becoming "a feature" of same. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

I am not gonna fool myself on that point.

 

I appreciate the enthusiasm a lot of the YouTubers have. But, yeah, hearing stuff like that is common. And, alas, more than a few younger hams take what they see on YouTube as gospel.

 

I actually tripped into one of the MFJ Big ears. As a dipole tuning even with an analyzer was a bit of a chore. I have a well grounded 3/8-24 spigot on my Jeep wrangler and used the coil half and the 17.5' whip and it not only tuned up great it performed well on 40 with contacts from VA to the mid-west states and then on twenty later in the day into Europe with no issues using my KX3. In my experience a good ground/counter poise has a much more substantial effect on "compromise" antennas. On 20 I just shorted the coil and adjusted the length of the whip to resonance, I easily got a 1.5:1 SWR and at 50 Ohms no less. I do agree with the above comment as some of the YouTube vids leave a lot to be desired, especially when it comes to antennas. Where I have a lot of fun is mixing parts from different antenna packages. I have a base (Wolf River) with a 33' counter poise and a Hustler mobile mast and Hustler coil and have gotten decent reports. I have machined adapters to use the JPC coils with the Buddipole center and whips. Hey the Hobby is supposed to fun and often out of frustration comes a gem.