MyAntennas' EFHW-4010 Questions

[Mike082377]

I just got my General ticket and looking at HF antennas. I live in a HOA on a 3/4 acre lot without any trees. I'm planning on buying MyAntennas' EFHW-4010-1K; it's a 63 foot end-fed dipole that works on 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. It will plug into a Yaseu 991a. I have a couple newbie questions:

1. I will be attaching the end of the EFHW-4010 to the corner of my second story roof and run it down to a vinyl/plastic arbor that's about 8 foot off the ground on my side yard. I will attach the the antenna/feed point to the arbor and run about 100 foot of coax to my shack. My shack is on the second floor of my house, so the coax will get slipped behind the vinyl trim of my house. This vinyl trim is perfect for hiding coax...there's just enough room to slip it behind the trim. What kind of ground should I use, if any (radials, ground rod, etc.)?

2. Even though the EFHW-4010 is a 63 foot end fed antenna advertised for 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters, what are the chances that I could tune it to work on 80 meters using the Yaesu 991a internal tuner?

3. If the internal tuner is inadequate, should I buy an external tuner like the MFJ-939Y? I would really like to get on 80 meters...I just can't push my luck buying a longer end-fed dipole with the HOA.

4. Do you have any suggestions for attaching the end of the antenna to the house (not the feed point end, but the other end)? I have a vinyl siding home.

5. I have an attic that is about 34X36. I know this isn't ideal for an antenna, but given my circumstances, would this be a better "all-around" compromise?

Go easy on this new guy. I'm still learning. Thanks!

 

[prcguy]

The MyAntennas EFHW-4010-1K is a really good antenna and requires no ground or radials for operation, except for grounding the coax per NEC for safety. I do recommend a good common mode choke balun within maybe 5 and 20ft of the antenna. Within its resonant bands it radiates everything you feed it but a little out of band it will start to light the coax shield up with hot RF, so the common mode choke will fix that.

It just happens that MyAntennas makes the most effective common mode chokes I've seen and their model CMC-130S-3K would be a good choice for the antenna you are considering. You generally don't need a tuner with this type of antenna and a built in 3:1 type tuner should be fine for 40-10m.

Just yesterday I finally put up a MyAntennas 80-10m end fed but I just bought the 2kW rated transformer and built the rest of the antenna myself. Mine has a 40m trap so I can custom tune the 75/80m section separately and that works well.

I've made and used 40 through 10m version and although its not intended to cover 80m it will radiate some signal there. This is where you need a good common mode choke and be aware the signal on 80m will not be anywhere the level on the higher bands its designed for. You will basically have a 1/4 wave radiator for 80m that is low impedance but fed from a high impedance transformer. This will be very lossy and with the common mode choke you will have little to no counterpoise for the 1/4 wave 80m radiator.

Not sure where your antenna will mount and would need more info to comment on the far end.

I just got my General ticket and looking at HF antennas. I live in a HOA on a 3/4 acre lot without any trees. I'm planning on buying MyAntennas' EFHW-4010-1K; it's a 63 foot end-fed dipole that works on 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. It will plug into a Yaseu 991a. I have a couple newbie questions:

1. I will be attaching the end of the EFHW-4010 to the corner of my second story roof and run it down to a vinyl/plastic arbor that's about 8 foot off the ground on my side yard. I will attach the the antenna/feed point to the arbor and run about 100 foot of coax to my shack. My shack is on the second floor of my house, so the coax will get slipped behind the vinyl trim of my house. This vinyl trim is perfect for hiding coax...there's just enough room to slip it behind the trim. What kind of ground should I use, if any (radials, ground rod, etc.)?

2. Even though the EFHW-4010 is a 63 foot end fed antenna advertised for 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters, what are the chances that I could tune it to work on 80 meters using the Yaesu 991a internal tuner?

3. If the internal tuner is inadequate, should I buy an external tuner like the MFJ-939Y? I would really like to get on 80 meters...I just can't push my luck buying a longer end-fed dipole with the HOA.

4. Do you have any suggestions for attaching the end of the antenna to the house (not the feed point end, but the other end)? I have a vinyl siding home.

5. I have an attic that is about 34X36. I know this isn't ideal for an antenna, but given my circumstances, would this be a better "all-around" compromise?

Go easy on this new guy. I'm still learning. Thanks!

 

[Mike082377]

Thanks for the info! I will mount the end of the antenna (not the feed line end) at the top of the roof, either on the side of the eave or underneath. There is no aluminum guttering on this side, just a flat piece of vinyl trim. I'm assuming there is wood underneath of the vinyl, so I could screw it in. However, I would rather not because I don't know how permanent this set up will be.

 

[KC5AKB]

Thanks for the info! I will mount the end of the antenna (not the feed line end) at the top of the roof, either on the side of the eave or underneath. There is no aluminum guttering on this side, just a flat piece of vinyl trim. I'm assuming there is wood underneath of the vinyl, so I could screw it in. However, I would rather not because I don't know how permanent this set up will be.

That Should work.
You might have to add and curve more wire around a corner for 80m to tune with the 991 on 80m
I would try this if I could before getting the mfj
How well is it working on the other bands ?
73 and have fun.