| W0NQ |
Rating:  |
2022-03-27 | |
| great little antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This is going to sound odd that I am giving this little matchbox and short wire such a recommendation but hear me out. First, my hears mor stations, more clearly with this than with a 1/2 ocf dipole and a hustler buddipole knock off dipole I used for camping. I bought the EARCH quite a while back and never even opened the box. It was shuffled away from a move and forgotten.
Today I set it up and WOW, reception is amazing. There is a problem though, but it very well may be that it's gone through several moves, a fire and our house being beat to heck in the 2020 derachio storm. the box shows the abuse. It apparently needs something resoldered or something to tune right, intermittent things are never fun.
I would and will order another at some time for camping trips. I know they would have corrected the problem for me had I known about it in a reasonable time frame. For what they charge, it is a steal. |
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| K0UA |
Rating: |
2017-04-10 | |
| Works very well |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I built one with 30 feet of radiator and 30 feet of counterpoise and 30 feet of coax. It works very well from 40 to 6 meters. It will also tune on 80 with my LDG autotuner. This is a far better antenna than many portable antenn's that are more or less mobile antenna's. It is pretty simple to get a line up a tree and have a much more effective radiator. This antenna is very easy to deploy, and very cheap to build. Less than $20 if you have to buy everything. |
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| KB4P |
Rating: |
2017-04-09 | |
| Great Antenna Fun To Build |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I found this antenna after the club quit selling it. Following their excellent instructions, I ordered some toroids, and made the transformer. With 30 feet of wire for the radiator, 19 feet of coax and 45 feet of counterpoise I have had great regional results on 5 Watts. My setup is a Yaesu 817ND, MFJ Tuner and Meter. At this stage of sunspot 24/25, we are near the bottom. Condx on the bands have been poor but upon first setting up the antenna as a sloper, I had a contacts of 900 miles and another 500 miles. Keep in mind this is 5 watts out! I look forward to making this my main Field Day antenna. My summation: If you want an easy to setup portable antenna that is not a dummy load on a stick then this is your antenna. For the price, ease of assembly, portability and results you can't go wrong having this antenna in your backpack. If I were to buy an end fed, I would probably go with the EFHW ready made transformer or full antenna kit. Since I don't have the $, I built this for about $20.00 and some time to wind.
Listen, I hung this thing from a branch up about 20 feet as a sloper, terminating 4 feet above ground in the back common area of my condo. It works!
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| KD5MTB |
Rating: |
2015-03-30 | |
| FANTASTIC HF & SWL |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I TOOK THIS ANTENNA TO ECUADOR WITH ME. I MOUNTED IT ON AN MFJ TELESCOPING POLE AS AN END FED VERTICAL. IT WORKED GREAT. I WORKED 93 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WHILE HERE. IS IT THE GREATEST ANTENNA IN THE WORLD....NO. BUT IT WORKS WAY WAY WAY BETTER THAN I EVER THOUGHT IT WOULD. I THINK OF IT AS THE MIRACLE ANTENNA. ROLLED UP IT JUST ABOUT FITS IN MY POCKET. AND...IT MAKES A GREAT SWL ANTENNA AS WELL. |
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| KD8UER |
Rating: |
2015-01-26 | |
| intersting issue I had |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
If I could give it 4.5 stars I would. I had great results on 10 thru 20 meters. I could not get it to tune correctly on 40 meters. I contacted Chuck, and it seemed that the coax length I was using was not ideal. I was using the 30ft of wire (vertical) and 50 and 100ft of coax.
Chuck suggested use 25 or 30 ft and retry on 40m. I was hesitant to do so, but did, and it tuned up well, talked from michigan to carocas with 100 watts. I also could tune some of the 80m band as well. This is a treat for me as I live in a housing code that doesnt allow permanent exterior antennas. |
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| W2LJ |
Rating: |
2014-09-30 | |
| Very pleased |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I do a lot of QRP portable work. The Holy Grail is an antenna that will work on multiple bands, is easy to put up, and is light in weight for carrying. The EARCHI is not quite the Holy Grail, but it works extremely well and is a nice weapon in the antenna arsenal. I didn't buy mine, I built it from the plans that the EARCHI Club so graciously provides. I went to the Balun Designs Website and downloaded their chart of wire lengths to use with a 9:1 UNUN. A 53 foot radiator seemed like a good compromise between ease of use and SWR.
We used this antenna for our club's QRP CW station this past Field Day. It was set up as a sloper and the far end was at about the 35 foot height, in a tree. In that 24 hours, we worked just under 300 stations on the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 Meter bands, all QSOs made with 5 Watts. Our best DX from NJ was Hawaii, the Cayman Islands, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico as Bulgaria. We were very pleased and will be using this antenna again next year. This antenna is hard to beat when you factor in ease of use and the results we got. |
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| N0YXE |
Rating: |
2014-09-30 | |
| VERY NICE |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I received this antenna promptly and it is a must for all portable and emergency applications. It is well made and very versatile and a lot of fun to work with. I needed a more permanent end-fed install for wider coverage and more power and I started exploring what is available in this type of antenna. Everyone has a theory, opinion, and product to sell, but I ended up going to BALUM DESIGNS for information on unums, chokes, and what lengths of wire to use. All the information is available to you and you are only a phone call away from one of their engineers for additional help. I'm in a totally antenna restricted area that
has cost me a lot of money with legal expenses and loss of antennas. I now have two ununs and chokes using a 36' and a 53' wire for different stations on two sides of my roof. They're invisible. They work well. Balum Designs units are not expensive and the quality is first rate. Explorte this option if you need or want to go further with the end-fed design. Good luck. |
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| N7ISS |
Rating: |
2014-08-23 | |
| Great if used right. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Bought it on ebay last year and set it up as a sloper into a tree, not great, not bad just average performance. Today I took it on a SOTA activation but set it up with a 50 foot wire vertical in a tree. I had 50 feet of coax connected and the box sat right on the ground. WOW, east coast, Spain, Germany you name it. It also tuned very fast. Now Im going to rig it on a 25 foot fiberglass pole. Vertical is the way to use this baby...... |
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| WR5TX |
Rating: |
2014-08-18 | |
| Awesome Job! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I live in an apartment complex in Huntsville, TX. I ordered the EARCH 40-6 end fed wire antenna, and it arrived within a week! I put it up in a pine tree outside my bedroom window, approximately 17' in the air at a 35' angle, running down the wall of the apartment complex. Needless to say, I have made many DX contacts and many stateside stations as well, using an IC-718 and an LDG Z-11 ProII tuner! I would have never dreamed that this antenna would work as good as it does! Great for apartments, portable, emergency, etc. |
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| AE5J |
Rating: |
2014-08-11 | |
| Amazing performance and value |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I recently had need for a "stealth" antenna after moving to the Houston area to be with our daughter. I miss the ability to put up a full wave loop for 160 meters easily within the confines of the acreage and figured the HOA location would limit my operation somewhat. In researching stealth antennas I came across the EARCH 40-6 end fed here on eHam. Seemed like a good idea and the price and aspect of supporting the ham club in HI was great. Delivered very quickly. Quality of construction and components was evident.
I put up the 30 ft single wire end fed from a second story window and terminated it at about 7 feet. I was very happy with the antenna's performance on 40 through 6 meters. I loaded it at various times on the internal tuner of a Yaesu FT450D, an LDG Z817, an LDG Z100 Plus, and the normal tuner, an MFJ 993B. All of them loaded the EARCH perfectly.
I just changed the antenna length from 30 feet to 65 feet, going from the supplied wire to the super tiny stealth wire from The Wireman (part #534 another great product and supplier). I put a 20 ft Jackite pole about 45 feet out from the feed point and ran the remaining wire down to a wooden fence post. So far the performance is even better.
I cannot recommend this little antenna highly enough. If you need an emergency, vacation, or stealth antenna, the EARCH is a great bargain and a fine performer that handles 100 watts.
73. Pete |
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