QSO-KING questions. Struggling!

[JeramyJ]

I am trying to find a good antenna that will cover many bands from 6 meters all the way to 80! I found the QSO KING antenna on Ebay with the 36 inch wire. Claims to tune to all those and more. Well, before stringing it up in the attic which is where it will have to go I draped it upstairs to see if I was able to catch any signals and test SWR etc. I am using the Z-1000 Plus tuner to tune. I only have the Radio Shack HT 10 for 10 meters. I know there was a local net on 28-390 last night after the EARS club 2 meter net so I tuned in and hoped for a listen!

I could barely hear anything. However, I could hear voices very faintly, coupled with much static. SWR had shown good (Below 1.2 from what the tuner had advised) I moved the antenna here and there and was only still able to barely make out voices but not understand them. On a positive note, this was the first time I heard anything on 10 meters!

Questions are: The antenna advises using at least 50 feet of coax and I was only using a tiny piece from Radio Shack. Might that be the problem? Odd because I hear of folks listening in using simple wires draped across the house all the time. Or, is it that I got duped into this antenna and should look to another product? Any input will be helpful.

Ordering this Coax btw: LMR-400 Ultra Flex - 75FT Ham Radio Coax Assembly

Hope that's the right stuff.

JJ

 

[AK9R]

A full-size dipole for 80m is 133 feet long. An antenna with only 36 inches of wire is not going to work very well on 80m. Antenna matching devices (tuners, loading coils, etc.) can make such an antenna work with modern solid-state transmitters, but they usually create losses elsewhere in the system. You just can't beat the laws of physics

 

[mdulrich]

I found the QSO KING antenna on Ebay with the 36 inch wire

Did you mean 36 foot wire?

Mike

 

[JeramyJ]

Did you mean 36 foot wire?

Mike

It was early. Yes, 36 feet rather than inches. So, if an 80 meter antenna is 133 feet long then how on earth will this one tune to that? I don't even have an 80 meter TX yet but I hope to one day. I suppose I can add a wire that is longer to this one. Or could it be the lack of coax as recommended? Ugh!

 

[acyddrop]

The odds are that you had a lot of RFI inside your house. That could explain the excessive noise. Try putting it outside even if only a few feet off the ground and see if the reception improves. I don't mean mount it out there, just try it.

If strung up 36ft dipoles and made contact on 80M so while it's not ideal, it will work provided you have a good tuner.

Sent from my Funky EclipticRez v9

 

[WA0CBW]

Your weak 10 meter reception could be normal. Were the stations you were hearing vertical or horizontal polarized? How far away were they? Ground wave propagation on 10 meters can be only a few miles depending on the terrain. If the stations you were listening to were vertical polarized then a better antenna would probably be a 5/8 wave vertical polarized and mounted as high as possible. An indoor antenna won't receive as well as an outdoor antenna cut for the correct frequency. Oh, the longer the coax the more the signal is attenuated. You will have less signal with 50 feet of coax than with 10 feet. Also the type of coax determines the amount of signal attenuation. typically the smaller the coax the more attenuation. And finally it is difficult to have one antenna that is good for all bands. The holy grail is an antenna that works on all bands with low SWR and has gain. Unfortunately there is always a compromise with any antenna. A simple design that comes close is a 135 foot dipole antenna fed with ladder line to a balanced tuner.
It sounds to me that maybe your indoor 35 foot wire may have been doing pretty good considering all the variables.
BB

 

[WA0CBW]

I might add that your 36 foot antenna is a long wire type of unbalanced antenna. These types of antennas work best with a balun (which yours has) and a good ground. Unbalanced antennas in general need a good ground. A #6 ground wire from the tuner to an 8-foot ground rod will help the tuner match the antennas impedance to the radios 50 ohm impedance.
BB

 

[JeramyJ]

Thank you for the replies. I will try to use the antenna outside this next monday night. I have emailed the maker of the antenna to inquire as well just in case. I have no idea what the others are using for antennas. Can't ask them on the radio yet! Ahh!

It appears that the little cb radio I picked up gets out fine but does not receive very well either with the antenna. Odd... I will try again!

 

[JeramyJ]

WOHOO! First Rx on 10 Meters! I hung the antenna off the upper patio and viola, I could hear the local net. Not clearly like the 2 meter net but I could make them out just fine. I picked up a bunch of odd sounds too that I never heard before. Waay cool!

Made a video I was so excited! Was easy to. Just move the power supply etc over by the patio doors.

First RX on 10 meters! - YouTube

Now I just need to order some coax!

 

[Rt169Radio]

That's cool, are you just trying to listen? No transmitting?

 

[RBMTS]

I actually own and use the QSO-King antenna. I have the all-band version with the 120ft wire (160m - 6m). If you are transmitting you really need to have at least 50ft of coax. It will act as a counterpoise (in a manner of speaking). Also I found tremendous improvement in grounding the antenna (even though the instructions say you don't need to). If you can go with a longer wire version you will probably have better performance.

I have had great success with my antenna. It might not be the best solution but it works for me. I was not able to consider a vertical, beam, or even a standard dipole (G5RV or Windom). This antenna was the best solution I needed to keep the HOA lords away.

Bruce (the owner) has been extremely helpful.

 

[JeramyJ]

Nope, no transmitting. Sadly I have yet to pass the darn exam!! Studying though! I talked with Bruce and picked up some extra wire to make the antenna a 120 footer. That I can likely drape around in the attic. Likely a slightly off kilter inverted v. I hope it will do well. I really like to listen for some reason.