New HAM trying to get setup - it's a PROJECT...

[true911]

Hi to everyone, I've been a Tech for about 10 years mainly because I was drone flying and transmitting video. I recently passed my general and extra tests and went and bought myself my first rig, a DX10 and an EFH antenna that had some good reviews and testing for the 40/20/10 meter bands. I thought this would be enough to get off the ground and I could improve things as I go.

Well not so much. I live in a tight urban area in Baltimore, MD. My EFH is not that high and slopes down to about 10' above ground at the end of my yard. Noise floor around here is INSANE. Also SWR is not right. I wanted to connect a counterpoise to this antenna but there doesn't appear to be a dedicated connection for that. Can I attach directly to the outer screw/sheath on the cable connector somehow?

Despite the tests I saw, this antenna is only showing <2 SWR in small parts of the 10 and 20M bands, and nothing below 5 on 40. Finally grounding. My Samlex p/s is three prong so it forgoes any dedicated grounding screws, and I know I need to get it on a common ground with my radio. Finally common currents, I don't know what's coming back up the line from my antenna nor what choke to buy. I don't want to try to loop my coax around a doughnut at this point, things are still moving around too much. I'd like some recommendations for clip on ferrites if anyone has used them.

Also I'm currently running LMR-240, again, hoping to get started. I know the expensive stuff is out there, but I want to get a working layout first before I measure and cut any of that stuff for my final install.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I have for now. Looking forward to the feedback and suggestions! Thanks.

 

[true911]

I realized awhile after writing this that this site seems to be more VHF/UHF oriented and less receptive to HF operators. If you still have advice to offer me, thank you, but I don't expect many responses. I'd like to suggest that the site name or description make that fact clearer for the next people browsing for help who come here and start posting.

 

[hill]

Don't know what area of the Baltimore region you are located in, but we have an awesome club linked below. Members are very helpful to new hams.

www.w3pga.net

 

[true911]

Hi! Thank you for the reach out. I took my tests at your club at the airfield in Essex, on Field Day.

 

[AK9R]

I realized awhile after writing this that this site seems to be more VHF/UHF oriented and less receptive to HF operators.

RadioReference, as a whole, is primarily a VHF/UHF scanner site. We have many forum participants who are into different facets of amateur radio. Check the Amateur Radio Antennas forum and you'll see lots of threads about HF antennas. Also, we have participants who are into shortwave monitoring so we have forums that pertain to those interests.

We may not have the traffic that other amateur radio sites have, but I think our signal to noise ratio may be better.

 

[true911]

That's encouraging, thank you.

 

[prcguy]

What make/ model is your end fed? If it’s a resonant end fed half wave using a 49:1 to 64:1 transformer and around 64ft of wire for 40-10m then it doesn’t need a counterpoise. If it’s a 9:1 transformer or a 5:1 often supplied by Chameleon or ALPHA antenna, then the coax is the counterpoise and you probably should use a good choke balun before the coax enters the building.

 

[10-43]

Do you have room for an inverted V for 20 meters? They have very good propagation and are immune to noise similar to a horizontal. If you lengthen the elements a bit, you can use an antenna tuner at the antenna, and you can tune bands above 20 meters. You will need to play with the length to get tuning to work on all bands. I don't remember the exact length of mine. I moved and have not put it back up. Mine would also tune 40 meters and did pretty well there. You can have the ends pretty close to the ground, but have to be aware that the voltage is highest at the ends. A potential hazard to kids and pets. It takes more space to elevate the mast and ends to get above head level. Max current is at the top so RF exposure is minimal at the ends. But the ends have high voltage. I just made sure I used insulated antenna wire and kept the ends insulated to prevent accidental contact.

Antenna calculator.

Inverted-V Antenna Calculator - K7MEM

Inverted-V Dimension Calculator

www.k7mem.com

I think I started mine at a length for 13.5 Mhz for use with the antenna tuner. I don't remember what I actually wound up with. You can go longer and just roll up the ends in a small loop until you get close before cutting. Always cut long. Top angle is not critical, but should be no less than 70 deg and no more than 110 deg.