I'm thinking of getting one of these antennas (either the 6m or 8m length version).

Does anyone have any comments on construction quality and especially performance? They seem very keenly priced!

The site is here: https://www.prowhipantennas.co.uk/index ... egory_id=7

Thanks in advance,

David G4NRT

Hello
I have one that i use /p its kept in the boot of the car as it packs down to a small size.The performance is fine from 20/10m it works very well indeed with a low noise floor.The build quality is ok with flexible whips and bread board type base plus a unun.Mine is the small 3m delta loop and for the price i am very pleased with the antenna.
Many thanks
steve

Thank you!

David G4NRT

Just see this thread so thanks to the OP for starting it.
Steve, how do you find it performs on 15 meters and at what sort of height have used it at? I am considering the 3 meter version also.

Thanks

Den

Hello
To be fair i have not used this Delta loop from home (200asl) however i do use it /p from elevated sites that i come across on my travels.The performance on 15m has always amazed me and at 600ft above sea level on a 20ft portable mast last week i worked qrp with 5w into the Caribbean.We then decided to QSY to 12m and repeated the contact at that point several north America and a M/M from the west coast pacific called in to give me reports from my QRP/P
Kind regards
steve

OK thanks Steve, gives me a good idea what they are like, limited for space here so may be a good solution or addition to my doublet.

Cheers.

Why does he have an UNUN with the antenna kit or is that assuming the antenna is fed with coax?

I bodged one up with the fishing poles from my Moxon antenna and have simply fed the antenna directly with some 300 ohm line, not sure what the losses might be but was under the impression that the line and loop are both balanced so shouldn't need any additional components?

Sneaky way of soliciting advice.

Cheers, Dave.

Yes Dave you do feed them directly with coax hence the UNUN. I considered making one either with an UNUN (but don't know what exact UNUN is needed) or with 300 ohm like you but not sure how much cheaper I can make one as I need 2 poles the same as you get in the kit so with buying them and the wire I am not sure what the price difference will be. If there is only a few quid in it I may as well buy the one already made.

The loop should have a BALUN if it's being fed with coax . The loop should be balanced .

I thought a balun but they quote it as an 'unun'. I may make one and use 300 ohm balanced line down to a 4:1 balun, same way as my doublet, it's got to work, how effective.... hmm, time will tell.

I think they just use ununs for everything as they can just stick a "stock" one on whatever they make , the end fed verts or loops although I could be wrong ...

You could simply use a 1.1 current balun or choke balun and feed with a quarter wave 75 ohm coax stub then coax to shack save having a "conventional" transformer . Not sure on the maths to work out the electrical length required for the 75 ohm section now ...

I presume it's intended to be used multiband, so a 1/4 wave matching section wouldn't work.

The 1:1 balun is a better idea than the Unun provided the length of coax is short.

Losses are very high if you try to use it on 80m or 40m.

Steve G3TXQ

sorry I was going off a monobander ..

Hi Steve

Is it possible at some point when you next use this antenna you could post a photo up of the board where the bottom of the poles are so I can see the angles and how they are mounted and could you also measure the gap or the wire between the tips of the poles when they are extended so I can get an idea of how much wire is used? No rush at all, would appreciate the info if you can.

Thanks

The wires should be equal lengths on all 3 legs and measure a half wavelength at the frequency of use. So the 8 metre version should have 24 metres of wire +/- for 40 metres. The angle at the bottom of the V should be as close to 90 degrees as possible. Dont do what I did and mount it in the clear as 25 foot and then ignore the weather, the poles will snap. Luckily I have a selection of glass fibre whips that I broke on fish and could splint the broken ends. The wire will also flex at the point it enters the pole and eventually break. Birds will see it as a good place to roost and become tangled in the wire, being right on the coast this usually means seagulls.
All in all a good antenna if you only have a small garden, nosy neighbours and have worked into Canada and US on 10 watts on HF. Will also tune up on 6 metres and have had some good contacts into Europe. Very directional and could do with a rotator, but will work close to ground so makes it easy to turn using the Armstrong method