Commercial (ie, buy it; not build it) HF multi-band vertical that requires no radials

[prcguy]

Trees can be your best friend in this scenario and an end fed wire antenna with one end up in a tree or even an offset center fed can work very well. Since trees move you need to have a pully system and weight to keep constant tension on the antenna wire and minimize the chance of the tree ripping the other end out of the house or whatever its anchored to.

I like to through a weight up through the tree with a pull line then haul up two things, a rope that secures the pully to the branch you tossed the weight over and the guy rope for the antenna which is threaded through the pully. You secure the line holding the pully at the base of the tree and when the antenna finally goes up you secure a weight to the guy line far enough above the ground to let the tree sway which will pull the weight up and down.

For the weight you can get a small plastic bucket around 1 gallon then cast a large galvanized eye bolt in concrete inside the bucket. When the concert is cured cut off the bucked and you have the perfect weight for the task. You can even test the pull needed to keep the antenna taut then make the weight to fit the needed pull.

If you have control over the entire grass area and surrounding trees you may have enough room for a 133ft long 80 through 10m end fed or OCFD. If not a 40 through 10m version is about 64ft long. An OCFD from MyAntennas has the transformer and coax exiting the antenna bout 25ft from one end so if the end of the antenna is secured to the house opposite the tree direction the coax should fall within the roof or house area for an easy path to the radio room. I highly recommend either the resonant end fed half wave or the offset center fed from MyAntennas. I have seen and used most brands out there and MyAntennas is the best I know of.

The MyAntennas EFHW or OCFD are both resonant antennas and you generally don't need a tuner on any band 80 through 10m. A 9:1 type is a different animal and in my testing wholly inferior to the resonant types I mentioned.

 

[popnokick]

Agree with prcguy regarding his recommendations on an OCFD. That's what I have at my home QTH and have been VERY happy with it. Just didn't know if you have the room. And the pulley system is a good idea... my OCFD is hung using paracord in the trees without a pulley. Mine has been up so many years now that the tree bark has grown around the paracord and I can no longer adjust the line. Fortunately, it's a tree on each end so in high winds / ice they just pull against each other.

 

[krokus]

The MyAntennas EFHW or OCFD are both resonant antennas and you generally don't need a tuner on any band 80 through 10m. A 9:1 type is a different animal and in my testing wholly inferior to the resonant types I mentioned.

How well do they work for general HF receive? (Military, utility, aero, etc...)

 

[prcguy]

They will obviously peak in performance within the resonant amateur bands and at other frequencies the antenna to feedline match will be all over the place. I am taking a guess here but I would think the OCFD with its 4:1 transformer would have less of a mismatch over the SW bands compared to the EFHW using a 49:1 or 64:1 but if you consider 133ft of wire up in the air that is a lot of antenna and any SW receiver would be happy.

How well do they work for general HF receive? (Military, utility, aero, etc...)

 

[popnokick]

My OCFD on my ICOM 7100 lets me receive anything I wish to in the 500 kHz to 50 mHz range. HF aircraft comms, SWBC, utility comms, AM broadcast… whatever. I have the 160 thru 6 Meters version that is 268 feet long. No restrictions in reception & does well outside the ham bands.

 

[prcguy]

My OCD doesn't do any of that, in fact it keeps me from focusing on any one hobby and I end up trying to do five things at the same time.

Oh, OCFD antenna, yea they receive just fine.

My OCFD on my ICOM 7100 lets me receive anything I wish to in the 500 kHz to 50 mHz range. HF aircraft comms, SWBC, utility comms, AM broadcast… whatever. I have the 160 thru 6 Meters version that is 268 feet long. No restrictions in reception & does well outside the ham bands.

 

[tweiss3]

I will +1 on the MyAntennas, I'm glad prcguy talked me into it instead of a vertical. I've had plenty of people on field day and winter field day say I'm booming in better than anyone else when I'm only running 100W. I have the 8010 EFHW version, its about 40' up on the far end and 27' at the near end, and there is some good sag between the trees as its not exactly 133' apart.

Your first post said vertical, I was thinking you didn't have room for a wire antenna.

 

[MTScannerNut]

I will second the suggestion of the myantennas EFHW. I use mine only for RX, but have plans to transmit with it in the near future. I have been very impressed with the performance and build quality. I went with the EFHW-8010-2K and highly recommend it.

 

[KB2GOM]

Since I am considering all possibilities, how about something like this: MFJ-1786 Super Hi-Q Loop? Anybody have experience with one of those?

Looks really simple, could be mounted with a rotator on the edge of the deck . . .

Or do I need to "go back to the home and start taking my taking my meds . . . "?

 

[popnokick]

Since I am considering all possibilities, how about something like this: MFJ-1786 Super Hi-Q Loop? Anybody have experience with one of those?

Looks really simple, could be mounted with a rotator on the edge of the deck . . .

Or do I need to "go back to the home and start taking my taking my meds . . . "?

If you MUST put an antenna on the deck rail, then the loop is a better choice than a vertical. Why not do both the loop on the deck and the EFHW in the air above the house? Put an A / B coax switch in your shack and select which antenna works best on a station-by-station, signal-by-signal basis. A loop and an EFHW are very different in terms of which is going to receive a given station in any given propagation conditions, and their susceptibility to various noise sources. But with an A / B switch you simply select the one that works best.

 

[GlobalNorth]

MFJ...

There are products from MFJ that I'll own and products that I won't. That loop is pricey, but it's your cash though.

 

[KB2GOM]

MFJ...

There are products from MFJ that I'll own and products that I won't. That loop is pricey, but it's your cash though.

Granted, but sometimes pricey is worth it and sometimes it is most assuredly NOT. The trick is to know which is which.

Anybody have actual experience with one of these? MFJ-1786?

 

[tomhobbs]

I'm running a great OFC 3K80 from Maxconus,com. I dont need my tuner on 80,40,20,10,or 6meters. The highest swr is on 40 with 1.7 to 1. the rest are below. I can talk around the country and even some DX. I got the line isolator and the whole package was 150.00. Thats not to shaby. If anone remembers Radio Works out of Virginia. this is the next bestthing. I'm looking at getting another to run at a event next year.

 

[prcguy]

The Maxcon uses the wrong kind of 4:1 balun for an offset center fed. There is only one specific type that is known to have adequate common mode rejection for OCFD use, which is inherently unbalanced and really wants to light up the coax as part of the atnena. Only a few companies are using the correct balun and MyAntennas happens to be one of them. Plus the MyAntennas version covers 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10m without a tuner.

The only meaningful specs that Maxcon advertises on their line isolator is 1539 ohms of choking impedance at 3.5MHz and since that's the only freq mentioned we can only assume that's its best spec. The higher end MyAntennas line isolator or 1:1 choke balun runs around 9900 ohms of choking impedance at 3.5MHz and upwards of 15200 ohms at 28MHz. That's a night and day difference and will cure RF problems that 1500 ohms will not. Their cheap model which is only $10 more than the Maxcon has around 8000 ohms at 3.5MHz and 10500 ohms at 28Mhz.

I have a Radio Works 40m OCFD and am very unhappy with its performance. It was up for a couple of months and I swapped it out for a home made 40m EFHW and that worked noticeably better. I'm looking for a worthy new local ham to give the Radio Works to, although I won't be doing them much of a favor.

I'm running a great OFC 3K80 from Maxconus,com. I dont need my tuner on 80,40,20,10,or 6meters. The highest swr is on 40 with 1.7 to 1. the rest are below. I can talk around the country and even some DX. I got the line isolator and the whole package was 150.00. Thats not to shaby. If anone remembers Radio Works out of Virginia. this is the next bestthing. I'm looking at getting another to run at a event next year.

 

[Firekite]

The higher end MyAntennas line isolator or 1:1 choke balun runs around 9900 ohms of choking impedance at 3.5MHz and upwards of 15200 ohms at 28MHz.

I can only assume you’re referring to this one, the CMC-130-3K:

CMC-130-3K 1-30MHz – MyAntennas.com

I’m curious, though, as it seems to cover up to 10 meters, what happens if you want to use 6 meters? Is it filtering anything out below 160m and above 10m?

I have a very high noise floor here in the city, and I’m planning on getting a Maxcon OCFD feed point up about 45’ AGL, as the 80m OCFD dimensions in general fit my lot well compared to other options, and I’m curious if putting this at the feed point or at the radio (both??) or one one side of the lighting arrestor or another would be a good call. It’ll be my first foray into HF, so a lot of this practice-vs-paper is new to me.

 

[MTScannerNut]

I had a lot of RFI at my location prior to using the myantennas EFHW. I am also using their CMC-130-3K choke about 3' before the radio. I also installed a dozen mix 31 ferrite beads over the LMR400 cable I use prior to the shack entry. The combination lowered my noise floor several dB's immediately.

 

[prcguy]

The MyAntennas CMC-130 series has specs up to 10 meters and the choking would diminish above 30MHz but its probably still more than the competitors. They have another series the CMC-154 that is specified up through 6m with about 7000 ohms at 54Mhz.

On the OCFDs I've tried a number of mfrs and have also made some and none compare to the MyAntennas versions. They use an unusual tap point for the 4:1 but it gives you more bands than other brands. You also get the correct type of balun, so why even consider a Maxcon?

I know many if not most wire antennas sold are designed and made by regular hams and sometimes clueless people and not antenna engineers. The guy that owns MyAntennas is a recognized and talented engineer who has designed several famous Cushcraft and other brand antennas.

I can only assume you’re referring to this one, the CMC-130-3K:

CMC-130-3K 1-30MHz – MyAntennas.com

I’m curious, though, as it seems to cover up to 10 meters, what happens if you want to use 6 meters? Is it filtering anything out below 160m and above 10m?

I have a very high noise floor here in the city, and I’m planning on getting a Maxcon OCFD feed point up about 45’ AGL, as the 80m OCFD dimensions in general fit my lot well compared to other options, and I’m curious if putting this at the feed point or at the radio (both??) or one one side of the lighting arrestor or another would be a good call. It’ll be my first foray into HF, so a lot of this practice-vs-paper is new to me.

 

[Firekite]

You also get the correct type of balun, so why even consider a Maxcon?

I may make the switch and see what happens. But I still need to understand where the filters go. I seem to have seen various people saying they put it on one side of the lighting arrestor or the other, or at the feedpoint, or at the radio. I realize everything affects everything, and "try it and see" is probably a valid option, but what's the best place to start?

 

[prcguy]

If your asking about a common mode choke or 1:1 balun, that would go in the feedline near the antenna. Sometimes a second one can be beneficial in the feedline near the radio but that can be affected by grounding near the radio and if the feedline passes close to noise making stuff like computers, monitors, routers, switching power supplies, etc. Grounding can also introduce noise onto the feedline especially if the grounding point is near the house main electrical box.

The ground is shared with everything electrical in the house and usually has a lot of noise riding on it. Grounding the coax can allow the noise to travel up the feedline to the antenna where its received and heads back toward the receiver. Placing a second choke on the antenna side of the ground point can reduce or prevent that noise from riding up to the antenna.

I may make the switch and see what happens. But I still need to understand where the filters go. I seem to have seen various people saying they put it on one side of the lighting arrestor or the other, or at the feedpoint, or at the radio. I realize everything affects everything, and "try it and see" is probably a valid option, but what's the best place to start?

 

[N4GIX]

how about something like this: MFJ-1786 Super Hi-Q Loop?

I bought that several years ago. I found to my dismay that there was a problem with the power switch and returned it as defective. The bloody cretins had the gall to charge me a "restocking fee." I refuse to buy anything from the "Mighty Fine Junk" company...