It Really works!

We all have antenna "issues" of some sort.  Be it small lots, apartment dwelling, non-ham spouses who do not think that a 50 foot tower and triband beam are not things of beauty.  And, by nature, most of us hams love to experiment. And, I am also a broadcast radio engineer, so antennas for me are something of great interest as I have had the opportunity to play with directional AM arrays and 50 kW transmitters.  But, with all that said, while having room for antenna's, my family is not very receptive to towers or RFI or wires all over the yard.  Dipoles hidden in a tree are adequate, but performance at 12 to 15 feet above ground could be much better, and a 40-meter wraparound dipole through the trees and terminating in a twist in the garage leave a lot to be desired.  A 10-meter vertical dipole works well, but of course when 10 is open you can work the world on a wet noodle.  However, there is no directivity to it, and sometimes the bigger stations (even those with monoband 3 element yagi's) make my signal sound like I am using a wet noodle.  And, ever problematic is RFI in the TV's, VCR's and the next-door neighbors house only 20 feet away from the dipoles. So, how do you solve all those problems with minimal time and still have effective and even more than effective antennas?  Pretty insurmountable or so it would seem.

But, we have ways to make the antenna's talk.  Maybe you have read or heard about the CFA antenna's being tested in Egypt and the UK.  What are CFA's?  Crossed field antennas.  Only 2% of a wavelength in size, nearly 100% efficiency, setting up the electric and magnetic fields in a much different way.  That’s right.  And one of the benefits of the way the fields are set up is that EMI is virtually eliminated.  
I didn't typo here.  And, as a broadcast engineer I think a 500 foot radiator (or 160 feet, or yagi’s, towers and the like ) is a thing of beauty, and you should have at least a quarter wave vertical with a good ground system to radiate properly, setting up the electric and magnetic fields according to how Mr. Hertz back in the 1880's developed the basic antenna we all have used.  All these details can be found by going to the www.eh-antenna.com site.  Far more detail and explanation than I will put here, so check out the site to find out more.  Also, Jack, W0KPH has done a lot of work with the EH types of antenna's (very successfully). Go to http://www.qsl.net/w0kph/  I have talked with Jack at length and am very excited about the design.  

To that end, I constructed w0kph's 20-meter antenna and tested it out.  Fellow amateurs, I was as amazed as you are about to be.  My test antenna was made out of a cardboard mailing tube 14 inches long and 2 inches wide.  As you will see when you visit the websites, the cylinders you see in the picture are made out of aluminum foil, the coil and link for the coax are covered in electrical tape made out of #22 wire to hold them in place after adjustment, and the antenna was put on a broomstick about 3 feet above the floor in my basement shack/laundry room.  This is about 3 feet below ground level.  The measurements to start with and full description with pictures are all on the w0kph web page.  I then proceeded to trim the coil back about half a turn from the original 15 turns, and adjusted the link (where the coax connects) to where I started to hear signals on my TS-120.  Then, testing with power applied, I got a 2 to 1 match, and then with more, down to 1.3 to 1.  WOW I thought, it takes power.  And, the signals I can hear were about an S unit to 1 1/2 units below what the dipole outside was hearing.  I thought, well, I am below ground level here.  A little more adjustment and I got the match flat, and I was hearing W6XX in the San Francisco area with a signal just barely below that of the dipole.  Now, one of the things noticed too was that the noise level present on the dipole of about S3 was practically non existent on the EH.  Again, I was in the basement with the antenna less than 3 feet away from the clothes dryer and about 8 feet away from me and the radio, but the low noise level of this antenna is intrinsically low due to the way the E field (electric) and H fields (magnetic) are generated.  And because the frequency range of the circuit is small, the EH Antenna harmonic radiation is all but nonexistent, but the bandwidth is wider than a conventional Hertz antenna.  This from the www.eh-antenna.com website written by Ted Hart, but my experience would indicate that this is so.

So, I thought, here goes nothing.  W6XX closed down his QSO and I gave him a call.  HE CAME BACK to me and we proceed to exchange the usual signal reports, he gave me a 55-57 report while he was S7-8.  I couldn't believe it.  I was floored! (Or below the main floor in the basement) We had a 20-minute QSO, and discussed the antenna.  He was skeptical as you would expect and probably you yourself are.  I was too.  Now, I still want to get the EH antenna outside and up in the air for further testing, but I believe it will perform as Ted Hart of the www.eh-antenna.com website  and Jack, www.qsl.net/w0kph have had antenna's perform.  

And, unbelievable, but folks have constructed a 160 meter antenna only about 6 to 8 feet tall that works incredibly, and the 10 meter version is 5 to 6 INCHES long, and 1 inch in diameter, made out of PVC pipe.  That is the next one I will build to put up against the 10-meter vertical dipole.  Check these out.  They really do work.  I will be putting up more information and details as I have time to work on them.  If you get to try some of these for yourself, email W0KPH and myself and let us know how they work for you.

73’ KE0VH

 

It is an interesting concept. I had actually run across the site about a month ago. I'm about ready to play with something new, so I'll check it out.

While it doesn't sound from your post that you took the time to read the page marked
!!CAUTION!!, I assume that you did. If not, well, it's too late now anyway.

73, Jim - kc2jca

 

I have read stories about this type of antenna for about 1 year now and as you state there are alot of skeptics about their performance.

I too am a skeptic and would like to see an honest to God real analysis of this design in action. Testing this thing in the basement is not my idea of credible performance review. I'm sure you already know this.

Lastly, if this thing is as good as I have read, why are they so obscure? I would imagine broadcasters would jump at the chance to increase their listening audience.

As I said, I am a skeptic and I am not from Missouri!

K2WH

 

Jack.......

Thanks for the encouragement. I have been grubbing up the stuff needed for the test 20m antenna and am going to start building and testing it this weekend.

I'll let you both know how mine works.

I'm not in a basement but in a second floor appartment.

I also plan on using a tuner. This may or may not simplify the hseof the use of the EH antenna in the web site plans. They are for an antenna cut in the CW and lower into the 13mHz range.

73 de Craig.....N7CPC

 

Yes I know the basement is not the best place for a test and this weekend I plan on doing more properly mounted at about 12-15 feet above ground level. BUT, LOOK how it performed in the basement! That is what was so amazing!!!!!! More later, I really look forward to alot of folks trying it out and letting W0KPH and myself know. The reason for the obscurity is like anything else. A lot of sceptical (reasonably so) folks, and only a handful of testing and research. Plus, the proof is what really counts. Good luck and let us know!

 

I am going to build one to see how it works. While I have room for a 50 foot tower, something like this may also work well. In my location in Western Wyoming I have more problems with direction than I do with gain. If I could get 4 to 6 db gain in one direction and -10 to -20 db in other directions like a Yagi it would work best here.

73, Bob W7UY

 

A little late for April fools, but what the heck I will actually give it a try.

 

My God!

If this thing is everything everyone says it is, It'll completely replace the antenna of choice for antenna restricted condominum dwellers like me.

I currently use a longwire right now and I do not get very good preformance from it, unfortunately. I've tried MFJ's apartment antenna without all that much more luck.

160m in 6-7 ft? Sounds hard to believe but I have yet to see it work for myself.

I'll be keeping my eyes open!

 

No April Fools at all. (Not any time for that&#33 And the mailing tube model is just the prototype. As you adjust the coil and link for SWR take your time and follow the instructions at www.qsl.net/w0kph, then click on tuning on the left hand menu. Maybe I might get to talk to some of you on the air.

 

Excellent article Ke0vh! Thank you for taking the time to post it for your fellow hams.  I am VERY interested!!  Peace and Goodwill.  

 

I, too, am excited by this and went to the sites to see more about it. One thing that does bother me is, what if it DOES get wet or any other contaminance?

Also, compaired to other antennas I have built, this sounds like a lot of things have to be just so-so for it to work. I don't think I could be that patient.  Plus it looks a little combersome to mount. (I could be wrong - correct me if I am)  


Good article though - 73 - WD8OQX

 

I am also skeptic and your tests were on receive only.  I am sure on transmit the signal will be down quite a bit more.  I will not waste my time on such a plaything as I am sure a 8 foot piece of wire would do the same thing.
    Why not try my antenna which neighbors never complain about and this is an all aluminum ladder laying against the side of a building and near the water spicket for a ground. Get one about 17 to 20 feet for 30 through 10 meters including the warc bands.  You may add if desired a 6 foot lengh of 450 Ohm ladder line and the coax on the end with no balun.
    Run a check on your antenna and check the vertical angle of fire we will call ANG times 360, this will be a number called ANG360.  Take 41253 and divide by ANG360, then take the Log of this number and multiply by 10.  Now I will believe that your antenna has gain or has no gain.  My ladder antenna has a angle of fire of 32 degrees and has a gain of 5.54 dbi, A full size dipole has a gain of 2.15 dbi.  73, you will hear me in the pile-ups.

 

Two things to remember

W6TH, I did write in the original article that I had a QSO with W6XX in San Francisco with the cardboard tube EH antenna, and that this was a prototype, the finished version will be outside and up in the air. And, you have to transmit to test the SWR. BTW, I was running 100 watts from the TS 120. Not great for me in the nearfield as the RF field is very strong in proximity to the antenna. But it was not for long.

TimL, yes, very exciting. And this cardboard tube antenna is the prototype. The permanent one will be made of PVC and will be finished as the ones on the W0KPH webpage are, so they will be ready for the weather.

 

KE0VH, yes I understood, but I also mentiond I could do the same with a 8 foot piece of wire. By using "theta" and "phi" I think could explain it more beneficial to all.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (w6th @ May 17 2002,12:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I will not waste my time on such a plaything[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

LOL. But you'll tune a ladder.




73, Jim - kc2jca