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Author Topic: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole  (Read 622 times)

N1EAB

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ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« on: March 24, 2023, 11:25:14 AM »

Hi all,

I’ve been a Technician for several years and recently bought an Anytone AT-6666 for use on 10 meters.  That got me bit by the DX bug so I upgraded my license to General.  I’m planning to pick up an IC-7300 transceiver (they’re on sale until the end of the month) but need some advise on a multi-band antenna.  I’m trying to decide between a ZS6BKW G5RV that will do 80-6 or an MFJ-2010/12 that will go 40-6.  Any insight as to why I would pick one over the other would be appreciated.  Space isn’t an issue and I think I can get the antenna about 35’ off the ground.  I do plan to add a vertical in the future.
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W9IQ

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2023, 11:30:30 AM »

Hi all,

I’ve been a Technician for several years and recently bought an Anytone AT-6666 for use on 10 meters.  That got me bit by the DX bug so I upgraded my license to General.  I’m planning to pick up an IC-7300 transceiver (they’re on sale until the end of the month) but need some advise on a multi-band antenna.  I’m trying to decide between a ZS6BKW G5RV that will do 80-6 or an MFJ-2010/12 that will go 40-6.  Any insight as to why I would pick one over the other would be appreciated.  Space isn’t an issue and I think I can get the antenna about 35’ off the ground.  I do plan to add a vertical in the future.

Congrats on the upgrade! The IC-7300 is an excellent radio and will give you years of enjoyment.

If you have the space and height, a ZS6BKW is a good choice. I would avoid MFJ - their quality is quite 'variable' and their technical support is often disappointing.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

WX7Q

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2023, 11:44:27 AM »

Get the ZS6BKW G5RV. Have read many great reviews here on E-HAM about this antenna. If you can get it up 35 feet or more, you will get great results. Would recommend going with the antenna that gives you 80-10 coverage. You will want the 75-80 meters for night time use. Verticals are good too. I have used a Hustler in the past. I am currently using an "Alpha" vertical antenna with good results. I use a vertical because I am the only Ham in the Pacific Northwest that does not have any trees on my property. DX Commander is a good vertical. Read the reviews here on E-Ham for all the verticals. You can't have enough tools in your HF arsenal. The ICOM 7300 is a great radio. You will be happy with it. Congratulation's on upgrading to General.

WX7Q
Jim
« Last Edit: March 24, 2023, 11:47:12 AM by WX7Q »
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ZL4AI

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2023, 12:38:40 PM »

Hi
Try the  ZL4AI-N4GG ARRAY
outputs:
- on 14.225 MHZ  9.55 dBi at 18 deg and 3.65 dBi at 5 deg and
- on 7.15 MHz  4.9 dBi at 21 deg and -0.8 dBi at 5 deg,
above average ground.

Detailed can now be found from the following link:
https://www.qrz.com/db/zl4ai

The ZL4AI-N4GG array is a 4 vertical element phased array. It is a duel band version of the N4GG with which has been fully optimized for maximum DX out put at 10 deg on 20M and  40M.  Also has substantial output on 10M 12M, 15M and 17M.
It is a very quiet antenna on receive.
Out puts signals in 4 directions at once with a coverage of 180 degrees out of 360 degrees
Does not require a ground system and has a good out over sandy soil.
Uses 450 ohm feed-line and is 93% efficient with 87% radiated efficiency.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2023, 12:54:35 PM by ZL4AI »
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WA3SKN

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2023, 01:27:02 PM »

Have you considered building you own antenna?
A simple dipole antenna... not cut to frequency and fed with window line and a tuner will do wonders.
Just pick two supports.  Or a single support and an inverted Vee can be built.

-Mike.
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N1EAB

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2023, 01:39:57 PM »

Thanks for all the responses.  Looks like the ZS6BKW may be the way to go, unless I build my own.

I’m currently using a home brew dipole that has gotten me to the UK and Europe on 10 meters.   
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VR2AX

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2023, 01:46:39 PM »

Congratulations also. Watch out for the 7300 it has a well documented time clock problem, even mentioned in the manual, if that kind of thing worries you.
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WB6BYU

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2023, 02:04:18 PM »

Quote from: N1EAB

... Looks like the ZS6BKW may be the way to go, unless I build my own.




Building your own is fairly easy.

But be aware of expectations:  the ZS6BKW was
designed to have a low SWR on 40, 20, 17, 12,
and 10m, suitable for coax feed.  On other bands,
the SWR will be high, and losses can be significant,
either in the coax, the tuner, or both.

You can reduce feedline losses by running balanced
line all the way to the tuner, rather than using
coax.  In that case, the exact lengths of the antenna
and the feedline really don’t matter much - it is
just a doublet of whatever length is convenient.
(80m efficiency will drop as the antenna is made
shorter, however.)

That’s not to say it is a bad antenna, just that
those advertising it as an “all-band” solution are
perhaps being overly optimistic if efficiency is
an important consideration.

WA6JBD

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2023, 02:43:11 PM »

A simple dipole antenna... not cut to frequency and fed with window line and a tuner will do wonders.

I can't endorse this idea strongly enough. Just get as much wire in the air as high as you can get it. Feed it in the center with ladder line straight to a tuner. How much and how high doesn't matter, just do the best you can. It'll work on most, if not all HF bands, isn't dependent on a super RF ground, and will radiate somewhere or another just fine.

You can quibble about critical lengths to use or avoid, but if you want to just operate and make contacts, just put up what you can. The secret to success is the ladder line and the tuner. Everything else is a distant second.
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K6JH

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2023, 04:24:02 PM »

I’m going to be slightly out of step and recommend a fan dipole. Either roll your own, or perhaps purchase an Alpha Delta DX-CC 80-10 antenna.

I’m currently using a DX-CC in an inverted v configuration, and I’ve got 2 band WAS, a couple states away from 5-band WAS, and am closing in on DXCC all since October (with casual operating, no contests). The 7300 tuner does great for touching up the standard bands, and in “Emergency Tuner” mode it even works on the WARC bands (although not quite as good).

I’ll have to check it out on 6 meters, but I expect it will work there too with tuner assistance.
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73
Jim K6JH

K0UA

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2023, 05:47:55 PM »

Congratulations also. Watch out for the 7300 it has a well documented time clock problem, even mentioned in the manual, if that kind of thing worries you.

The well documented time clock problem show up when the clock battery goes dead after about 6 years. In no way does it effect the operation of the radio, it just doesn't keep proper time on its clock display. There are many ways around that including manual resetting of the time when you turn the rig on, replace the stock solder in clock battery, or replace the stock clock battery with a battery holder for a CR 2032 common coin cell and replace the battery every 5 years or so easily. OR there is an Icom software program you run on your PC to set the 7300 clock every time the PC is booted up.  Ain't no thing to "watch out for".
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73  James K0UA

KH6AQ

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2023, 08:01:56 PM »

The MFJ-2010 is missing 17, 15 and 12 meters and for me that is a no-go. The MFJ-2012 is missing 30, 17, 15, and 12 meters. That too is a no-go.

A  ZS6BKW is not really an all band antenna because on most bands it has high coaxial cable loss. Fed with just window line it is a center fed Zepp which is all band antenna and might be satisfactory. I used a center fed Zepp for years and had a lot of fun with it. The downsides are having to manually tune when changing bands and many azimuth nulls on the higher bands.

MFJ-2010  https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-2010

MFJ-2012  https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-2012
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N5PG

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2023, 11:13:31 PM »

Example for wire antennas: Vlad, UA4WHX, has travelled extensively, currently living in Egypt as SU9VB, has a wire antenna he uses often, see
https://www.qrz.com/db/UA4WHX for details.

Noted DXer Ron, ZL1AMO took many south Pacific DX trips, always used a 132ft doublet and 100w rig. Never a problem to hear/work him. Unfortunately he's now SK.
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VK6HP

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2023, 02:17:39 AM »


A  ZS6BKW is not really an all band antenna because on most bands it has high coaxial cable loss.


The ZS6BKW doublet as originally described offers a good match to 50 ohm at the base of the open-wire transformer section on 40, 20, 17, 12 and 10 metres.  That's a pretty credible performance and, as Cebik noted, the best of its class.  On 80 m the SWR is higher but, on that band, cable losses are often tolerable given typical SWR ~ 7.  For example, with my ZS6BKW doublet fed with 30 m RG213 the line loss ~ 1.1 dB. The missing bands are 30 and 15 m with the coax fed arrangement. An advantage of the symmetrical, well-balanced, easily-choked antenna in my urban QTH is that local noise pickup is modest relative to an 80 m loop and a one-turn active loop antenna.

73, Peter.
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G4AON

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Re: ZS6BKW G5RV or OCF Dipole
« Reply #14 on: March 25, 2023, 04:12:06 AM »

As many have suggested, just get a length of 450 Ohm slotted ribbon, 6A rated black PVC insulated hookup wire, three insulators and make a doublet. One of the simplest antennas.

If you install the now free EZNEC antenna pattern software, you can see the radiated signal in various directions from whatever lengths and bands you use. Typically, with each leg at 50’ (100’ overall), you can use it on 80 to 10 metres, or half that size for 40 to 10 metres. If you use insulators in the centre of each wire, using car accessory “bullet” connectors, you can lower the antenna and change from full size to half size. You tend to have a less scattered pattern on the higher bands with the shorter doublet, EZNEC will show the difference.

It is easy to make a “10 Watt push to tune” add-on for the IC-7300. This will give a 10 Watt carrier for a manual external tuner. From memory it only needs a 4.7V Zener diode, a resistor, 4 pin plug and a push button switch. The resistor is either 4.7K or 10K, I can’t recall. One kit that I bought and use came from eBay and is item number 325138192171. I have an IC-7300 and an old Palstar manual ATU with an external home made 1:1 “tuner” balun of the type sold by Balun Designs:
https://www.balundesigns.com/model-1151-1-1-atu-current-balun-1-54-mhz-2kw/

Regarding those useless clock batteries, they are also used in most of the current Japanese transceivers, being older the IC-7300 is the one singled out as having a failure… if radios need a clock (they don’t), then why not use a user replaceable CR2032, or similar coin cell, instead of a 1mAh surface mount lithium ion battery?

73 Dave
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