Re: PAR End Fed Half Wave antenna

[Joseph Trombino, Jr]

I've been using two PAR EFHW (End Fed Half Wave) antennas in portable ops
for several weeks now with excellent results.

I have the 20/40M and the 10/20/40M antennas that I use at the local park.

What I like about these antennas, besides the fact that they work very well
indeed, is that no transmission or support rope is required.

I get one end up in the air using the monofilament line on my wrist rocket
and tape the match box end to my operating table....a short coax jumper
cable to my K2 or KX1 completes the installation.

Using the monofilament on the wrist rocket to support one end of the antenna
obviates the need for a support rope of some kind so this along with the
transmission line is eliminated.

These end fed half waves appear to be ideal for backpacking ops since they
eliminate a lot of weight and bulk.

I also have played with an 88ft center fed doublet fed with 450 ohm ladder
line and this has also been an excellent portable antenna, although it
requires a transmission line and antenna tuner and at least one support rope
in the center and two shorter lines for the ends.

What is really neat about the PAR EFHW's is that once pruned and tuned no
antenna tuner is required so even more weight and bulk is eliminated for the
portable operator.

The PAR 10/20/40M job provides 3 bands of operation with no tuner,
transmission line or support rope...not too shabby.

We are supposed to warm up considerably hear in southeastern North Carolina
over the weekend....supposed to be in the 70's so I'll be in the park on
Saturday and perhaps on Sunday playing with these antennas...hope to meet
you on the air this weekend (CW of course!!!--grin)

                        73, Joe W2KJ (near Wilmington, NC)
                        I QRP, therefore I am

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

[w7aqk]

Hi All,

I would echo Joe's comments.  I use pretty much the same
setup as he does.  I only have the one PAR EFHW (the
10/20/40 model), and it works very well.   For example, at
Ozarkcon last year, I used it from my motel window to a
parking lot light pole, and had excellent results using my
ATS-3.

I feed my 88 ft. dipole with 300 ohm feedline (the good
stuff--from the Wireman) instead of 450 ohm line, which I
find to be a bit too bulky.  It works fine, and on all bands
from 80 through 10.  WARC bands can be a bit sticky, but my
MFJ tuners all seem to handle it, including the smaller
portable model.  Sometimes adding a few feet more to the
feedline helps on those bands.  An "all band" system doesn't
get much simpler.

When the availability of antenna supports is a problem, I
usually opt for my MP-1 system.  This system works a lot
better than most people realize, particularly if you add a
section or two under the coil, and spread more radials.
It's still very portable, and very easy to set up.
Sometimes, a vertical is your best option.

If you want to try something a bit more exotic for portable
use, I would strongly suggest you check out the new 3
element portable beam from SuperAntennas.  We set that up
recently at the Quartzsite, Arizona hamfest, and had a blast
with it.  I wasn't able to break the pile-up trying to work
the VP8 group down in the Falklands, but did work just about
everything else I could hear, and QRP at that.  I think this
is going to be a great Field Day antenna.

Dave W7AQK


----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe W2KJ" <[hidden email]>
To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 10:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] PAR End Fed Half Wave antenna

> I've been using two PAR EFHW (End Fed Half Wave) antennas
> in portable ops
> for several weeks now with excellent results.
>
> I have the 20/40M and the 10/20/40M antennas that I use at
> the local park.
>
> What I like about these antennas, besides the fact that
> they work very well
> indeed, is that no transmission or support rope is
> required.
>
> I get one end up in the air using the monofilament line on
> my wrist rocket
> and tape the match box end to my operating table....a
> short coax jumper
> cable to my K2 or KX1 completes the installation.
>
> Using the monofilament on the wrist rocket to support one
> end of the antenna
> obviates the need for a support rope of some kind so this
> along with the
> transmission line is eliminated.
>
> These end fed half waves appear to be ideal for
> backpacking ops since they
> eliminate a lot of weight and bulk.
>
> I also have played with an 88ft center fed doublet fed
> with 450 ohm ladder
> line and this has also been an excellent portable antenna,
> although it
> requires a transmission line and antenna tuner and at
> least one support rope
> in the center and two shorter lines for the ends.
>
> What is really neat about the PAR EFHW's is that once
> pruned and tuned no
> antenna tuner is required so even more weight and bulk is
> eliminated for the
> portable operator.
>
> The PAR 10/20/40M job provides 3 bands of operation with
> no tuner,
> transmission line or support rope...not too shabby.
>
> We are supposed to warm up considerably hear in
> southeastern North Carolina
> over the weekend....supposed to be in the 70's so I'll be
> in the park on
> Saturday and perhaps on Sunday playing with these
> antennas...hope to meet
> you on the air this weekend (CW of course!!!--grin)
>
>                        73, Joe W2KJ (near Wilmington, NC)
>                        I QRP, therefore I am
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list:
> http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

[K7TV]

For shortened antennas such as the MP-1 there is a wonderful information
resource in the yahoo hfpack group. They have run a lot of comparisons of
portable antennas including MP-1, Buddipole, etc, as well as absurdly
shortened versions. They make somewhat serious "antenna range" comparisons
to an unshortened reference antenna at the same height. As I recall, losses
for a shortened antenna really don't get very significant until you get
below about 50% length, all other things, including height, being equal.

I sometimes use my Buddipole for backpacking, either in horizontal or
vertical configuration. The standard Buddipole is long enough to be about
50% for 20m. For 40 it is easy to get close to 50% with extra sections and
longer telescoping whips. The MP-1 manufacturer produces produces components
that are very comparable to the Buddipole ones, suitable for horizontal as
well as vertical configurations.

In selecting between vertical and horizontal configurations, I always keep
in mind something I read years ago: that the overall efficiency of the
antenna is influenced by the efficiency of the ground reflections of the
waves way beyond the near zone. My recollection is that with poor soil,
horizontal polarization has an edge, while the opposite is true for good
ground locations such as near salt water.
With my local rocky and dry soil, I think horizontal polarization has the
edge. Using both halves of the Buddipole makes for a heavier backpack
though. A wire dipole laid directly on the dry, rocky ground on a mountain
works surprisingly well. Perhaps an endfed dipole would also work well on
the ground under those conditions. I intend to experiment more with inverted
vee's made of light wire and using lightweight poles for support.

73,
Erik K7TV

> When the availability of antenna supports is a problem, I
> usually opt for my MP-1 system.  This system works a lot
> better than most people realize, particularly if you add a
> section or two under the coil, and spread more radials.
> It's still very portable, and very easy to set up.
> Sometimes, a vertical is your best option.


______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

[Bill W4ZV]

Joe W2KJ wrote

I've been using two PAR EFHW (End Fed Half Wave) antennas in portable ops
for several weeks now with excellent results.

I have the 20/40M and the 10/20/40M antennas that I use at the local park.

What I like about these antennas, besides the fact that they work very well
indeed, is that no transmission or support rope is required.

I get one end up in the air using the monofilament line on my wrist rocket
and tape the match box end to my operating table....a short coax jumper
cable to my K2 or KX1 completes the installation.

Using the monofilament on the wrist rocket to support one end of the antenna
obviates the need for a support rope of some kind so this along with the
transmission line is eliminated.

These end fed half waves appear to be ideal for backpacking ops since they
eliminate a lot of weight and bulk.

I also have played with an 88ft center fed doublet fed with 450 ohm ladder
line and this has also been an excellent portable antenna, although it
requires a transmission line and antenna tuner and at least one support rope
in the center and two shorter lines for the ends.

What is really neat about the PAR EFHW's is that once pruned and tuned no
antenna tuner is required so even more weight and bulk is eliminated for the
portable operator.

The PAR 10/20/40M job provides 3 bands of operation with no tuner,
transmission line or support rope...not too shabby.

I just wanted to clarify a couple of things Joe said.  I've also had good luck with the PAR End-Fedz EF-20/40 (now EF-10/20/40)  for portable QRP use.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  The multi-band PAR antennas are rated at 25 Watts only...but the mono-band antennas are rated at 100-300 Watts depending on band, etc:

http://parelectronics.com/end_fedz.htm

Indeed it's easy to construct a monoband version of this antenna using AA5TB's link below, but I liked the idea of a **multi-band** unit that didn't require an ATU for my ultralight ATS-3 QRP backpacking setup (<8 ounces for everything - rig, antenna, paddle, battery, earphones).  I'm not sure how the match for the PAR multi-band unit works but it definitely performs very well.

http://www.aa5tb.com/efha.html

Dale Par W4OP is extremely responsive and all his products are top quality (I also have one of his BCST-HPF filters for eliminating BC overload on 160).

73,  Bill  W4ZV

[Bill W4ZV]

Bill W4ZV wrote

Dale Par W4OP is extremely responsive and all his products are top quality

One more comment on the Par End-Fedz before Eric shuts the door on this thread.  There are 225 reviews on eHam for the SWL, mono-band ham and multi-band ham versions of this antenna...with an average 5.0 out of 5.0 rating!  That says something about the quality and performance of these antennas!

73,  Bill

[Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone]]

I burned up a 20M one using a IC706 at high duty-cycle with an ice-load on the
wire, but it was repaired.  I have about a set and a half of them, and
have used them a number of places.  The power limitation is the only
down-side that I have experienced.

73, doug

   Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 11:42:22 -0800 (PST)
   From: Bill W4ZV <[hidden email]>

   Bill W4ZV wrote:
   >
   > Dale Par W4OP is extremely responsive and all his products are top quality
   >

   One more comment on the Par End-Fedz before Eric shuts the door on this
   thread.  There are 225 reviews on eHam for the SWL, mono-band ham and
   multi-band ham versions of this antenna...with an average 5.0 out of 5.0
   rating!  That says something about the quality and performance of these
   antennas!

   73,  Bill

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html