What he said Mike. I commend you for that. Thanks for being you and what you do for repping the hobby. Looking forward to making my first contact with you soon. KK7CNA. Sidenote: are you still doing the 10m Tech Tuesdays? I know the band hasn't been good for a minute so thought I'd ask. 73 Brother.

Absolutely. The second he threw out the call I know it was a yute. Gotta be patient with them.

@@jsturman1174 If 10 would ever be open again I'd love to start back up.

​@@hamradiotube Guess I better push for my General. Was hoping to have it by now but won't be test ready until after start of July. Time to study the new question pool.

Lol yeah right!

Ah yes, that lol. Had to think about it for a minute.

sweet

that comes from Quirky QRP. www.etsy.com/shop/QuirkyQRPHamRadios?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1437009639

I think you're hearing "QSL" which is used for "did you copy my last tx/yes I copied your last tx."

@@HamShazam23 Oh! That may be it! Thanx!!!

They're called Q Codes. They originated back in the days of the telegraph to abbreviate commonly asked/said phrases. www.arrl.org/files/file/Get%20on%20the%20Air/Comm%20w%20Other%20Hams-Q%20Signals.pdf

It doesn't have my name on it. They just know.

Sweet! He had a great deal on them for sure.

I'm not sure what to tell you other than contact Jon and have him send you one...

A couple of sets of pins went out to Krisy this AM. Jon KC8YBC

@@jonandrews6839 Noice!

It was a quick shot in the beginning and I said at the end 49:1

how if they are sold out?

​@@ae4xo Pre-order.

@@Scott_AI5EF I think you will be happy with it. Mine showed that it was more omni directional than the packtenna random wire and this antenna is double the length.

@ae4xo Thanks for the info. Looking forward to trying it out.

Oh yeah I'm sure it was really hard lol

The Nelson antenna is more for a base station / permanent installation. The X-tenna is more for portable / temporary use.

Have a nelson for my base at home and an xtenna for portable!

40

I did.

For this kind of antenna, the toroid can over heat and you will see your SWR go up and the power output go down as the radio protects itself if the SWR gets too high. Just let it cool down and you're back in business. But, I was pretty confident this antenna would handle the power no problem. I've used many an EFHW with a 140-43 toroid at 100 watts. SSB of course. Digital and CW you would want to run way less power.

"Making contacts is not proof" Seriously?😂😂😂

@Andrew Williss Only proof that it radiates, not how well it radiates. Not proof on what SWR is on all covered bands and how close is it to 50 ohms it is presenting to the radio at all the designed frequencies. It really tells you very little. Study up on antenna design. There is much to learn, and it will greatly help you down the line as you grow as a ham.

@John Kaelberer your waaaaaay overthinking this. Mike is out there, on the air, making contacts, yet you’re at your keyboard telling everyone how crap it is, asking if it’s 50 ohms? Another SAD ham! Lift up John, don’t put down.

@@andrewwilliss6500 OK, so just because a KZfaqr puts up an antenna and makes contacts, I'm supposed to run out and buy it ? I'm supposed to think it's better than another brand or design ? How about some real proof. I never said the antenna is crap. It may be fantastic, but without some further testing all we know is that it radiates. I build and test a lot of wire antennas. It's something that I enjoy doing. I don't just take a design I've seen on KZfaq or in a book, copy what the author did and call it good. I test and adjust it to make it the best it can be. The buy this because I made contacts with it way of promoting products is bunk. Show me why I should buy this. How does the product perform as to the specs that matter for an efficient antenna. Don't tell people to use a antenna designed to work with a max. of 50 watts at 100 watts. He may have got away with it, the next person may not. Excess power in a toroid can heat them up beyond their designed specs and cause the SWR to greatly increase. If not caught, this could hurt your radio. Is it worth it ? Not to me. Use a design that is made for 100 watts if that is what you want to run. Andrew, educate yourself. Sad ham ???? No. Just one who thinks selling things without really going into the important specs of any item is just going for clicks. Too many inexperienced hams are buying things just because someone on KZfaq made contacts with that item. Sometimes the item is great, other times it's hot garbage. Too late after you have spent your hard earned money. Most hams have a pile of "Great" crap in the corner than ended up being not so great. Something they found out after the fact because they did not do their homework and just believed that because contacts were made, it must be fantastic. This antenna may be a real winner, but you will never know if you are leaving contacts on the table because it is not as good as it could be or because of it's design, it does not perform as well as another antenna unless you test.

Now god forbid you do any bit of research on my channel for the other review I mention in this video about this antenna. We wouldn't want you to have to lift a finger now would we? I don't mean to bag on you, but a simple KZfaq search for X-tenna would lead you to the first video I made on this that shows you all of that. It's literally the first video that shows up. Hang on, let me hold your hand and spoon feed it to you. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gKyTp72UmbCYlps.html. Plus, I've done videos on sub $10 antennas too, so I'm keenly aware of what can be done. I would have thought I could have expected more from my viewers, but I guess not.

Upon further investigation it seems several people entered the water after having accepted the Darwin Challenge in hopes of winning an Award. Local Ham vindicated and given ice cream after being falsely accused.

I wasn't using a TennTenna otherwise he would have been.

You may think he is, but a saturated toroid from power exceeding it's design parameters will cause the toroid to heat up beyond it's designed specs and can cause the SWR to greatly increase. Much depends on the power, mode you are running and transmit time vs. listening and even how much compression you are using on SSB. When a manufacturer gives you the operating specs on an item, not a bad idea to follow them. You may be able to get away with running more power. You may not. If the SWR goes up too high and you don't catch it, you could damage your radio. If I wanted to run a 100 watt radio, I would not be using this antenna. It's not designed for 100 watts. You may not have liked all of his message, but the last part is spot on. He sure could have explained the last part better.

@@johnkaelberer237 Meh. I know what makes up this antenna and I knew it could handle it. It's a 140-43 toroid. Perfectly capable of handling 100 watts no problem. I'm not worried about my radio either. Any modern transceiver is going to fold back its power if presented with a high SWR as a failsafe. Plus, I'm always monitoring my SWR meter, as anyone should. Literally nothing is going to get hurt. IF the toroid gets too hot, simply stop operating until it cools down and your SWR will go right back to normal. Everything will be just fine. Ask me how I know. Fortunately your opinion doesn't matter. My proof does. I run 100 watts through antennas like this all day long. With 26AWG wire as the radiating element.

@@johnkaelberer237 no part of my comment was in reference to his concerns for the toroid. I appreciate the lengthy and unnecessary explanation though. Have a great day. 73.

@@hamradiotube Yes, and all of that works great for you. Not all radios fold back. Not all people monitor their SWR like they should or get distracted. A 140-43 can overheat depending on the mode, how much transmit time vs. listening, and even the amount of compression you run on SSB is a factor. The fact that you said you have run into problems heating up a toroid and getting excessive SWR and having to let it cool shows that you like to push the limits. Because you monitor your SWR, you can stay on top of it. Not everyone can or does monitor the SWR on their radio. Just bad practice to tell people to double the amount of rated power into an antenna. The builder did not specify 50 watts just because he wanted to. He could have said 100 watts. There was a reason he didn't. Not everyone has the experience that you do Mike.

Then you and I would most likely not get along. Overloading a toroid isn't the end of the world either. It just needs to cool down and will be good as new again.