The best Budget EBAY EFHW? - Nelson Antennas 80-10m Review

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Күн бұрын

Check out Nelson Antennas EFHW Here:
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=...
00:00 Intro
02:30 Antenna Showoff
06:10 Propagation Demonstration
09:10 My only Issue
13:10 Power Push Example
18:10 Outro
18:50 Member Shoutout
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Пікірлер: 38

@MikeN2MAK 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for a great and honest review. I look forward to an update after some more use and if/what you heard back from the manufacturer.

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

Thanks Mike! I also have a new EFHW coming in a week or so for a comparison. Hoping to get into some POTA here soon!

@hamradiotube 7 ай бұрын

I experienced the same issue with my Nelson Antenna. I emailed him about it and he didn’t want to change the power rating. I can run ft8 consistently with the antenna at about 45 watts. Any more the toroid gets over saturated and heats up. Hence the high SWR. This really should be rated for no more than 50 watts digital. It’s only a 140-43 toroid. I still think it’s an awesome antenna, I just wish he would change the power rating.

@KD9ZHF 2 ай бұрын

I had the same problem. I have the higher-rated one, and this doesn't happen. with a 100w transceiver.

@KD9ZHF 2 ай бұрын

But when I think about it. FT8 is a "high noise, low power mode" right?

@aandpman 7 ай бұрын

I have one of those I keep in an ammo box in case of... I took it out on a camping trip recently, strung it up horizontally about 10' up, hooked it up to my FT-891 and a tuner, and made contacts from the South Pacific to Western Sahara. I like mine a lot. The coil is to allow it to tune up on 80m.

@ScottPasternak 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for the awesome video!

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

Thank you Scott! Glad you liked it!

@speedymartin2 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video. The damage of the case might be due to pressure building up inside the case. Use a membrane. It would be interesting to use an infrared camera to see/ visualize where the heath is building up. 73’ PD1MV

@JamesHannibalKH2SR 7 ай бұрын

Solid review. 👍🏽

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

Thanks James!

@Joe-KN4IFI 7 ай бұрын

Your ferrite toroid will overheat and the SWR will climb as the Curie temperature is reached. Once saturation of the toroid is hit your SWR will skyrocket and will be unusable until the temperature comes down. With the higher duty cycle of digital it does not take long to hit the Curie temperature. The best things that can be done is (1) Stack core. Two or three ferrite cores will dissipate heat faster. With two or three ferrite cores (43 mix) a 100w digital duty cycle should be good. (2) Larger box with good ventilation. The heat buildup in a small box will cripple even a three ferrite toroid stack. If you do not want to stack cores just moving the core and components you have to a larger box with good ventilation should take care of most of your overheating problems. 73 Joe

@davidp73 7 ай бұрын

I never use more than 40 watts on ft8/ft4 because I started to get the same results as you, but I also found out that I don’t need any more than that. I use 95 watts on SSB and never had an issue

@nickl3872 Ай бұрын

Thank you

@billcwk4f 7 ай бұрын

The coil near the transformer is to bring the 10m resonant point down to the middle of the band. Thanks for your review.

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

Thanks! I wouldn't have thought of that myself.

@archerytech1 3 ай бұрын

Hello there. In all fairness, the listing not only says for "digital modes like CW, 75W @ 50/50 duty cycle", but directly following, it also says "FT8 mode will be significantly less". I offer this antenna at the best price I can for those who cannot afford a $240 end fed half wave. FT8 is a harsh mode and for that reason, I offer a much bigger unit. That one handles 1kW pep and will easily handle all of the FT8, your radio will throw at it. That one costs much, much more to build, so the price is higher. I appreciate the criticism, but to be fair, it does say it will not handle 75W of FT8 for that model. Is be glad to work with you to get one of the bigger units if you'd like. Shane.

@ModernHam 3 ай бұрын

In all fairness, the listing said neither one of those at my time of purchase. I looked at the listing revisions as well as the original listing as it was when I saved it via PDF during the video. At the time of purchase, it only stated it for digital modes period, no mention of FT8. So those points are basically meaningless in terms of my review as I purchased it with the expectations on the listing. Your listing at the time you've posted the comment here for this antenna also states "This antenna is rated at 200W PEP and 75W digital/CW@50/50 duty". There is no mention of "digital modes like CW". Now if you want to start splitting hairs, you should probably just remove digital here in general as most of the popular modes these days are FSK 100% duty cycle instead of changing your phrasing to manipulate the consumer. Now it's one thing to overlook something like this during the listing. I can accept that as an oversight. I'm going to hope you maybe forgot you've changed these details, and that you haven't come here to attempt to gaslight myself or others into believing that I'm just some dummy who failed to read a listing for expectations for a product I'm buying. I'll also hope you wouldn't think I'd be dumb enough to make the video without reviewing the posting description several times and saving it for my records as well. What I talked about in the video is an honest oversight that is easily corrected by the listing change you've performed. What you've said here in the comments is another problem entirely. I think I'l pay the premium price rather than have someone come back and try to gaslight me after changing the purchase description down the road, while using word play to attempt to make it look like it was my fault as the consumer.

@archerytech1 3 ай бұрын

@ModernHam Not trying to "gaslight". I see my last revision was in January, I can not remember what was changed, added, taken out, or typo fixed, but wow, I'm sorry you feel that way. I've never operated like that. That's why the offer to work with you to get the bigger unit if you needed it. Certainly, I didn't expect all of this. I'm sorry you are so unhappy with everything. All I can do is try to do the best I can.

@letsgo4629 2 ай бұрын

@@archerytech1your doing everything right. Good antenna at an unbeatable price point. Let him go buy a $250 antenna only to find 50w vs 75w on FT8 means squat and he basically just threw his money away instead of running where things are happy. And he can complain about supposed power ratings not being right, but at the same time he is running 70w through a MFJ-939 tuner that is only rated for 50w FT8 and doesn't seem to care. Nothing like the pot calling the kettle black.

@ModernHam 2 ай бұрын

Allow me to translate this: " Good antenna at an unbeatable price point. Let him go buy a $250 antenna only to find 50w vs 75w on FT8 means squat and he basically just threw his money away instead of running where things are happy" "Those specs you rated were close enough, who needs those accurate listing details. Maybe instead of expecting to be able to use the antenna for its rated power, he should be grateful he can even get 50W out! "And he can complain about supposed power ratings not being right, but at the same time he is running 70w through a MFJ-939 tuner that is only rated for 50w FT8 and doesn't seem to care" "I will use the word 'supposed' here, even though the listing revisions are public and in the internet archive as a way to discredit his valid argument by completely disregarding the presented facts. Let me sum this up and attack his character by pointing something out that has nothing to do with anything, creating a straw man so I can feel like I have some type of solid ground here at all. Even me pointing out the MFJ handles over whats it's rated for, I will completely ignore the fact the the entire problem was the antenna is not rated for what was listed at the time of purchase, and instead focus on something else entirely." Good Job.

@dougtaylor7724 8 күн бұрын

FT8 rating is usually 1/4 of voice on low power balun. Really doesn’t matter what the makers claim is. So 40 or 50 is gonna be it. Question, why on earth are you running 70 watts on FT8 for? Usually 15-25 and 40 when band is band is plenty.

@Charims 7 ай бұрын

Perhaps you can open it up and take a close look at the solder joints. Could be that it just needs a touch of solder for a crack or bad solder joint. Heat causes resistance, resistance causes heat. This is true about wire, solder joints, and the toroid.

@W4TRI 7 ай бұрын

You and I had similar experiences with the C company. I hope to have a "Pretty Woman" moment with them at some point where I have hundreds of dollars in antennas in a pack and none of them theirs. Maybe Dayton. "Big Mistake...I have to go shopping..."

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

I'd like to hear your experience.

@KD9ZHF 2 ай бұрын

That is a coil to shorten the antenna and get you on 80 meters.

@GSWEAR66 7 ай бұрын

What is the SWR on 80 with no tuner? The higher the SWR the wattage it will take at which the toroid gets hot enough to be saturated will lower. The tuner only makes the radio happy, not the antenna. You may need to use an analyzer to tune the antenna.

@buzzsah 7 ай бұрын

Any updates on the ft-891? I have the 891 with fc-50 tuner., I ran it in my van with a Moto antenna on the hood. It was nice to be able to talk 1500 miles and more while driving on I-95 in the No. East. Two years ago I decided to install in the shack as a backup. Seeig I haven't fired it up in 3 years due to time, I haven't had a chance to check for updates on 891 & fc50. anything that you know of, of issues ?

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

I haven't seen any issues, but it's my main workhorse. I've baused it on digital for the past few weeks. It's a solid little radio.

@buzzsah 7 ай бұрын

Good to hear. Thanks. Keep the vids coming.@@ModernHam

@redman840 2 сағат бұрын

Avoid using antenna in FT4/FT8 mode,and stick with CW/SSB modes in the future.

@TheRetiredtech 7 ай бұрын

Well a little study will show you what core will do what. It isn't a secret and has been very well defined for several years.

@ModernHam 7 ай бұрын

The core used has not been defined...

@marinevet7273 6 ай бұрын

Did Nelson Antenna Reply?

@ModernHam 6 ай бұрын

They did not. Looks like K8MRD, from HamRadioTube tried to reach out as well, and they did not want to change the power rating.

@KE8ODY-WV-Ares-Ham-Dad-3O4 Ай бұрын

I’m buying one so not so good

@user-wg3fe3ij2o 7 ай бұрын

Why dont you go live together 🤔

@Colin_In_VK 7 ай бұрын

Looks like they will post international as well :-) I Wonder what the 84 foot END FED "RANDOM WIRE" HF 9:1 ANTENNA. STAINLESS/ 80-6 METERS 150W PEP is like, We need a new antenna for our Volunteer Marine Rescue Group's HF Marine radio and they want to much for antennas here in VK for a volunteer group :-( , this looks like a good possibility??