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Reviews For: PAR Electronics, Inc EF-10/20/40

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : PAR Electronics, Inc EF-10/20/40
Reviews: 92MSRP: 59
Description:
The EF-10/20/40 replaces the EF-20/40. Physically identical to the EF-20/40 (39' overall) it adds 10M operation. 25W power limit. No tuner is required.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.LnRprecision.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00925
N5CSU Rating: 2022-10-19
Great portable antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I’ve had this antenna for over 12 years and have been very pleased with its durability and performance. I’ve had this up for several years at a lake cottage, then started using it for portable ops. Great SWR and extremely portable. I’ve used it recently with my Xiego G90 running 20 watts with excellent results, even on 17 meters. Thumbs up!
AF7GJ Rating: 2022-07-24
*****PERFECT***** Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Review is for the Vibroplex PAR ENDFEDZ EF-20. 14.329Mhz, SWR @ 1.12 very low noise. easy to hang. the NNE Radio end is up 28' & the SSW far end 31' exactly. tight & taught using 1/4" shock cord. flat-top. feed with DAVIS RG8X about 10 feet in total coax length.. my Yaesu FT920 loves it!
KD2TTM Rating: 2020-08-31
Tune it per the instructions and it's great! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I used it straight out of the box and it was OK; my radio's antenna tuner was able to deal with it. But after proper tuning it is excellent and no antenna tuner is required.

I used my NanoVNA to tune it and, after a little trimming, it gives really excellent SWR through the 10m, 20m and 40m bands. The paperwork with the antenna gives easy-to-follow instructions on how to tune it; it involves trimming one of the wire sections first to get the lowest SWR for the 20m band and then trimming the other wire section to tune for the 40m band. Tuning for 20m insures the antenna is tuned for 10m as well.

It is very convenient to set up and use, and well-made. It seems to perform very nearly as well as my SOTAbeams Band Hopper dipole and seems a bit more rugged (although I love the Band Hopper!).

If something happened to it, I'd buy another one to replace it...
K2TDR Rating: 2015-08-21
Contacts in Europe, South America, Asia, US Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased the "EFT-10/20/40 Trail Friendly" a few weeks ago and am very happy with it. It works!

It deploys quickly, can be put away just as fast, and fits in my pocket when wound up (my HF kit all fits in a backpack so it's perfect, I actually keep this antena in a small microphone box).

I set it up as a sloper (one end in a tree tied off with some fishing line with the matchbox near the ground on a few plastic tent stakes). I run it with a Yaesu FT-857D between 5 and 25 watts and have been making some great contacts from Florida on 20 and 40 meters SSB - Dominican Republic, Colombia, US Virgin Islands, France, and just got Russia...and all with sub-optimal band conditions.

The connection is BNC so don't forget to have an adapter handy.
VK6JB Rating: 2015-05-23
Perfect for QRP portable work Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I wanted an antenna for portable work that was super quick to deploy and take down. This is the antenna for that, 2 mins setup, 3 mins take down, mind you I put some thought into this as well. Does the antenna work, yes perfectly, just as I would have hoped. I was dubious at first about the instruction to not use a tuner as it won't be needed, but if you take the small amount of time to trim the antenna correctly you won't need that tuner, at all. All I had to tune the length with was a good qrp swr meter, still not a problem, just take your time. I've had more contacts with this than I have had with any other portable antenna I've had.
I've spent a lot of time researching other portable systems, but none deploys as easy and quick as this and still performs so well.
Build quality is great, I haven't managed to break mine yet, and yes I've tried.
WB8VLC Rating: 2015-03-07
update on early review Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ok I promised if I was wrong I would redo my earlier poor review and eat my words.

Some assortment of stupid errors but mostly using the efw 40/20/10 for the wrong use was my earlier problem.

I was trying 5 to 10 watts local, 300 to 500 mile, ssb when I found that 3000 to 10000 mile qrp ssb on both 40 and 20 were better.

Testing last nite running 5-10 watts on 40 ssb neted about 20 dx contacts from South cent America to numerous JA'S, SIBERIA, New Zealand and Hawaii.

Requesting honest reports responses were 53 to 59 from around 10 dx stations on 40 meter qrp ssb.

I had good results on 20 qrp ssb at 10 watts also with the honest report request generating 56 to 59 from South, Central Amer, South Pacific and Japan.
W2LJ Rating: 2015-02-20
Great for QRP Portable Ops Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the antenna from LNR about two years ago. I have used it for the QRP To The Field, Flight of the Bumblebees, NJQRP Skeeter Hunt, QRP Afield and the NoGA Peanut Power Sprint contests. I'm not out to win these, but to enjoy a day out in the fresh air and playing radio. The antenna performed very well for me. The goal here is to set up quickly, make lots of contacts and tear down quickly. I want to spend my time operating, and this antenna allows me to do just that. One tree or even a 31' Jackite pole is all that's needed. It is quality constructed, stores well in my QRP "Go Bag" and works well every time. I get a very acceptable SWR without the need for my KX3's autotuner and I end up working just about everyone I can hear - and I can hear plenty. Is it as good as a beam on top of a 60 foot tower? Heaven's - no! But for a day out in the field, I think you'll be very satisfied.
K8QV Rating: 2015-02-20
Works Very Well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own other PAR endfed antennas and I have used this model as well, though I didn't actually own it. It seems to work great in the field no matter how you configure it (within reason!). So I just bought one.

I don't understand how someone can trash a product that has gotten 5 out of 5 rave reviews for years without realizing that the fault must with that one particular item, the coax, connectors or operator. Everybody else can't be so totally wrong about this antenna.
K1APA Rating: 2015-02-20
Excellent Performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have mine installed at 12 to 15 feet across the deck to use in stealth mode due to my restricted environment. I run a KX3 at 10 watts in SSB mode and have no problem working many US, Canadian and even some Europeans stations. My bandwith with 1.1 to 1.2 SWR on 40 meters is narrow, but much wider on 20 and 10. I have had specially good luck on 10 meters when it is open. I trimmed it to proper length using an antenna analyzer.

Anyone not having good luck with this antenna either has a defective antenna matchbox or some other setup problem.
KC9PHX Rating: 2015-02-19
Amazing Performance-Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What else can be said. They're amazing and worth every dollar.

(40/20/10 qrp version (25w (nice))
Fantastic results and can be used on other bands by by replacing the wire with a different wire length(40/20/10 matchbox only!). Use it on 17 and 15...perfect.

I used a FG-01a Antenna Analyzer to cut/tune for 1.2 or less across entire 20m and 10m band. Then cut the 40m portion to 1.0 at around 7.150...covering the entire band 40m with highest SWR around 1.6 at ends of band. Your mileage might differ.

I use at home and portable with a MFJ 9420/40 and TenTec R4020.

As mentioned in previous reviews and I agree, take the time to put it up in a few situations and use an Antenna Analyzer and trim the antenna. I mostly use it as a vertical or slope portable. Once cut correctly never need a tuner.

Amazing and I also have the 100 watt versions.
Go for it. Must have one of these.