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End Fed Antenna 40-6m
31 December 2015 | by After some research on the Internet, I decided to build another antenna. I figure one can’t have too many antennas and this one would be a quick build. I chose the earchi 40-6m End Fed matchbox. The plans for it are available on the Emergency Amateur Radio Club of Hawaii’s web site. It’s an easy build and from what I have read on the ‘Net about it, it said to work well.
A trip to Radio Shack and Lowe’s provided all the components except for the torrid cores which I had to order online. The first picture is the wound core.
The second picture is the completed matchbox.
The connections are very straight forward is you follow the instructions to the letter. I cut a 30 ft piece of wire and crimped/soldered a ring terminal to the end of it. According to my research, various people use various lengths of wire with this. I chose 30 ft as that’s is what the club supplies if you purchase a completely built antenna from them.
I though this antenna would be an quick and easy one to deploy in the field if needed.
I have used this antenna a few times. The first time was in June during Field Day. I had my homemade Buddistick in use, and decided to take a break and put this antenna up. I threw some paracord over a branch and hauled up the wire. It worked great, about the same as the Buddistick in terms of signals heard. I have also used it at home a couple times with similar results. It is going to be a nice antenna to have in the kit for certain situations.
6 Responses to “End Fed Antenna 40-6m”
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I build one these two years ago and it’s still in use today, it’s been a great antenna, survived the past two rough Michigan winters.
I have built this matchbox antenna many time over the past decade. If you ned a good, reliable portable, Emcomm antenna this it is. The key to success is the ATU in your radio. The KX3, K3, K2, Ten-Ten Eagle, all the LDG ATU’s will work. The FT-450D FT-991 and others that are 3:1 will NOT work. Adding more wire, like up to 75 ft, will get you 80 meters in most cases. No need for a counterpoise makes this antenna even more desirable..
To save readers a bit of time: The Aloha EARC stopped selling the EFHW antenna and matchbox kits in Feb. 2015, but build plans are available here:
http://earchi.org/92011endfedfiles/Endfed6_40.pdf
According to the plans, the radiator should be between 24′ and 60′ and the coax feeder (which acts as the counterpoise) should be 16′ or longer. The matchbox contains a 9:1 UnUn. An additional external antenna tuner is still required. 73’s…
This is my main antenna at the home base. I started with 43 feet but now it is 53 feet based on this chart. http://www.balundesigns.com/content/Wire%20Lengths%20for%209-1%20ununs.pdf
I also use a line isolator to keep the RF from the rig. Using K3 and KPA500 amp. Working the world with a stealth antenna in the tree only 15 feet off the ground.
I would like to build one of these antennas… From whom does one obtain
A torroid….?
Thanks for the info…..
You can get the torroids from Palomar Engineers. Here is the link:
http://palomar-engineers.com/
I have been getting parts and making this and similar matchboxes for 15 yrs and this company is very good. The original owner pasted away a few years ago and the family got the business going again… Hope this helps.
73 and Happy New Year everyone