Unboxing the ZS6BKW multi-band dipole from NI4L.com
Vložit
- čas přidán 15. 10. 2021
- In this video I unbox a ZS6BKW multiband dipole antenna from NI4L.com. Chris Fox, NI4L, builds what I believe is the absolute best version of the Brian Austin (ex-ZS6BKW) computer-optimized variation of the famous G5RV. G5RV is the callsign of Louis Varney. Mr. Varney invented his G5RV antenna in 1946 but it didn’t gain popularity until 1958, when it was featured in a magazine article.
Background: The G5RV is part of the doublet family of antennas. A doublet antenna is a dipole fed in the center with ladder line. The ladder line acts as a portion of the antenna, providing a bit of vertical radiation to complement the horizontal wires.
Improvements: Unlike the original G5RV antenna, the ZS6BKW variant can be operated on the 40, 20, 17, and 12 meter bands, plus the FM portion of 10 meters, without requiring an antenna tuner. Other bands are possible with an antenna tuner.
I hope you enjoy this video and find it helpful. If you find my channel informative and entertaining, I hope you will consider joining my support group by clicking on: www.patreon.com/N4HNH There are 3 levels of support, including exclusive content.
Another great way to help support this channel is to click subscribe.
73, de N4HNH - Věda a technologie
Great upload Doug, thank you 😊
Thanks John! It’s a great aerial. I guess I have a fondness toward British antennas.
73, Doug
Love to try tht antenna out!
It’s quite the performer. Being in the doublet family, there is both horizontal and vertical polarization, plus some gain over a dipole on the higher frequencies.
73, de N4HNH
Hello -Great Video and Top Vid !!!
Thank you! 73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio Your Welcome
ZS6BKW is a great antenna. I built my own from scratch, but the individual parts cost almost as much as the completed antennas, like the one you're showing. Although the NI4L model doesn't have a balun. The Palomar Engineering version has a balun and recommends short runs of coax (as short as possible), not the 70 feet. Maybe the balun negates the need for a long run of coax. I use a 1:1 balun on mine and about 65 feet of coax. My length of coax wasn't designed for matching, it just happens to be the distance from shack to antenna feed.
Like you, I prefer to build. I built all of my wire antennas until I bought a G5RV to get up and running quickly at a new house.
A few years ago I decided to build the ZS6BKW but when I priced the parts to build one at the quality of the NI4L version, it didn’t make sense to build my own. I don’t use a choke but I did snap ferrite on the 75 feet of coax just before it enters the shack. The ferrite is only needed when using the antenna on a non-resonant/non-harmonically-related band. It actually worked fine on those bands too, but it made me feel better to choke it. There is a video from last year, when I upgraded to LMR400.
Using 70' or more of coax does help to flatten the swr down a bit on most of the bands the antenna works well on without the use of a tuner plus on 75 meters if the current balun is not rated up around 3Kw and your using 1.5Kw and your tuner you may find out your weak link is the underrated balun. I have used Hb versions of the ZS6Bkw for years and have found if your using between 70-100ft of coax it works well without the balun plus you have less components to break down. Its performance seems the same, this NI4L version uses extremely good poly stealth wire with very hi breaking strength, he uses 420 ohm line in which if you do the research that gives the best match between 400 ohm and 450 ohm line, its very well made plus his center insulator seems that it would avoid any flask over point when hung from a tree branch, looks like a plug n play deal.
Nice of you to give that away - looks like a well made antenna. I went to his website and looked but didn’t find the answer - do you know what gauge the antenna wire is? Appears to be pretty thick - 12 gauge maybe?
The wire has POLY STEALTH 13 MADE IN U.S.A. printed on it. It looks about the size of 13AWG. It’s not glossy so it sort of disappears into the background of my yard. The antenna has less than a 1.5:1 across most of each band it is resonant on, except it is only resonant in the FM portion of 10 meters. The math just didn’t favor the SSB portion of 10 meters without sacrificing 40, 20, 17, and 12 meters.
It does a great job on 20 and 17 meters, competing with my 250 feet doublet, and with less noise. And, as I’ve stated many times, it handily beats my doublet and my OCF dipole in 40 meters.
73, de N4HNH
Hi Doug, do you plan on making a video of an activation using the NY4G EFHW? I figured weather probably got in your way. I haven’t gotten mine on the air yet, I’ve been stuck inside with a foot injury since May.
Oh no! I hope for a full recovery. I do plan to do an activation video with the QRP version. I was waiting on the weather to cool off and now I’m extremely busy with my day job. But I’ve already featured the high power version NY4G EFHW in a couple of videos, including its maiden mission and an unboxing video. It is in the SOTA videos.
But, yes, I plan to feature the QRP version as soon as I get back to SOTA.
73, de N4HNH
Have been thinking about acquiring this antenna. If I hang it on my tower or on a metal pole would the ladder line, aligned along side the metal tower and or the metal pole be affected? Would this affect the SWR? What has been your results? Thank you. 73 KD4FJ
I don’t have a tower. Mine is suspended from a tree limb. I have a friend in Kentucky who suspends his doublet from his tower. Of course being a doublet, it is fed with ladder line. He mounted a horizontal arm at the top of the tower to support the center insulator. It’s the only thing his tower is for. There is no beam or anything else. His ladder line comes down from the center point but it is a couple of feet offset from the tower. His antenna is a beast. He is 59+40dB to me on 80 meters.
73, de N4HNH
Why the discrepancy in coax length between different sources? Palomar states any length.
Brian Austin, ZS6BKW, computer-modeled the design and a minimum of 70 feet of coax helps complete the match. NI4L even has a disclaimer that warns about the antenna not functioning correctly without at least 70 feet of coax. The NI4L version doesn’t require a BalUn. Maybe Palomar is trying to sell a BalUn.
You mention it needs 70' of feedline. Any idea of possible problems using a longer feedline (RG8X)? I will need about 120 feet to make it too my QTH.
It needs a minimum of 70 feet of feedline to complete the match. You can use a longer run of coax if necessary. I use 75 feet of RG8X. I plan to replace it with 75 feet of LMR-400, so I can squeeze a bit more power into the antenna. If you need 120 feet of coax, I would suggest RG-8, RG-213 or LMR-400, to minimize the amount of power/signal that is lost per 100 feet of coax.
73, de N4HNH
Hi Doug, I was wondering - how do you feel about the ZS6BKW compared to an EFHW (MyAntennas) antenna? I have both, but only have room for one on my push-up mast. It “seems” that the EFHW might be better for DX, but the ZS6 seems better for 40. Curious what you have found. Thanks for your videos.
The ZS6BKW wins. Better pattern. A friend of mine had a MyAntennas EFHW. He replaced it with a ZS6BKW. He only has his 13 feet up in the middle. Ladder line on the ground. Not supposed to let ladder line touch the ground. 100 feet of coax. That’s okay. It needs 70 to complete the match. He has the ends 6 feet off the ground. 10 feet or more is best. He doesn’t like to work DX but a guy from Indonesia kept calling CQ very early one morning while my friend was awaiting others to join his morning rag chew. He went back to the guy to shut him up. This was on 40m. My brother switch from EFHW to ZS6BKW and immediately worked Japan. He got a 57 with 100W.
Band conditions could have contributed to both of their experiences but they have both consistently reported great performance from their ZS6BKW. My brother’s longest DX contact is over 11,200 miles, with his ZS6BKW. All three of us bought ours from NI4L.com. He makes the best version of ZS6BKW.
Note also that the ground beneath your antenna, and surrounding objects, affect performance. You might use the exact same antenna as me and not get the same performance. But the ZS6BKW has proven consistent for my brother, several others we know, and myself.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio Thank you so much for your excellent reply, it really means a lot to me. I've been struggling to figure out which antenna is "better," but really like the ZS6 on 40 (big difference), but haven't compared it for DX enough to say. I will put the ZS6 back up now that I've had the EFHW up for a few days and let you know what I find. It sounds like the ZS6 should be the winner. Thanks again, best, Joseph
My ZS6BKW is my best 40m and 17m antenna. Also works well on 80m with the ATU in my amplifier. It also works well on 12m and the FM portion of 10m. In fact, it does well on 20m, though it doesn’t usually beat my 160m doublet on 20m. But it blows away my doublet on 40m.
73, de N4HNH
How well does this antenna work on 80 and 160 meters? I’ve searched and contemplated for months on which multiband antenna to buy for 160 through 10 and maybe 6 meters.
It isn’t long enough to be effective on 160 meters. It works well on 80 meters with a tuner. It can operate every band between 6 and 80 meters, with a tuner. It doesn’t need a tuner for 40, 20, 17, 12 meters, or for 29.6 to 29.7 MHz.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio I forgot it that it isn’t long enough for 160. It does sound like it would be a really good antenna for the other bands you mentioned though. Thanks for doing the video. Very informative!
Yes, it’s in the doublet family. Doublets usually produce great gain on bands they are long for. Of course the gain varies in direction because there are nulls too. Install as an inverted V to round out the pattern a bit.
73, de N4HNH
Was just looking at his website and noticed this antenna is no longer listed.
I only see the OCF dipole listed. The others are no longer offered. Something must be going on with Chris.
I really appreciate you doing this because I am very interested in buying either this or the Palomar Engineering one. The PE doesn’t require as much coax. Wonder why?
NI4L used a slightly different design, with 420-Ohm window line. His method yields a broader usable SWR. He recommends 70 feet of coax to complete the match. I use LMR-400 for minimum loss. My ZS6BKW covers 7.0 to 7.260 with 1.5:1 or less SWR. It covers the General portion of 20 meters with 1.5:1 or less SWR. It covers all of 17 meters with 1.5:1 or less SWR. The SWR is 2:1 or less across the 12-meter band. In the FM portion of the 10-meter band (29.6 to 29.7 MHz), the SWR is under 1.5:1. It even covers 52.5MHz with less than a 1.5:1 SWR. A wide-range antenna matching unit will allow you to operate all bands from 6 through 80 meters. The MFJ-939Y works well.
@@n4hnhradio That sounds good. I would like to get away from using an ext tuner. Thanks bud. He should be giving you a commission on sales. 73
The internal antenna matching unit in the FTdx10 can match the NI4L version of the ZS6BKW on the other bands it doesn't cover, except for 15, 30, and 60 meters. Of course, it won't match the 160-meter band. The antenna is too short for that band. But it can touch up the band edges of 6, 10, 12, 17, 20, and 40 meters - the bands it already covers with a 2:1 SWR or less. A wide-range external antenna matching unit would allow operation on the 15, 30, and 60-meter bands. I wouldn't accept a commission, even if offered. My channel is primarily funded by Patreon team members, so I can avoid the censorship that manufacturers would require.
Just order this antenna thru amazon and should have it by Nov. 2, with my wife's account
Rebecca. thank you great content. I will do patreon the first of the month.
73 KQ4CD Paul
Very good. Only thing is Amazon charges extra for the NI4L antennas. Maybe you get free shipping. That will help.
I am stuck on the Choke Balun vs. no Balun. I have a ZS6BKW from Amateurradiosupplies, and it comes with a 1:1. I have had some weird SWR problems, especially on 10 and 20m. 10m has been up around 4-5 SWR, especially the lower part of 10m. I have it up around 32 feet in an inverted V. The ends are about 10-12 feet up. I did find that using 100 ft. of coax LMR-400 lowered my SWR by about 1 on 10m, and 20m. I saw someone online say that when they deleted the balun, their performance increased substantially. Do you think I should opt for deleting the balun and then using a ferrite choke on the coax before it enters the shack ? Thanks for your input.
I’ve tried with and without. Mine is better without. 10m will normally have a high SWR down in the SSB portion. But the FM portion should be under 1.5:1. Mine is around 1.3:1. There is no harm in using a Balun, but the ladder line length might need to be tweaked. NI4L tunes his ZS6BKW assuming no Balun.
SWR is a funny thing. You should read the details about it. It might put you to sleep, but there is much more than meets the eye. The reflected power actually bounces back and forth between the transmitter and the antenna - in the coax. The coax bleeds off the reflected power. That’s why the longer coax helps. That is a very simplistic, abbreviated explanation. If you want to learn more, here is an informative link: www.iz2uuf.net/wp/index.php/2017/07/29/the-myth-of-reflected-power/
@@n4hnhradio Thank you so much for your quick response! I’m thinking I’m going to buy the NI4L version based on your comments. So the version I have comes with a 1:1 balun, maybe that explains why I believe the window line is longer?
Just like with the famous G5RV, everyone has their own idea of how to make a ZS6BKW. One thing NI4L does differently is he uses 420-Ohm window line. Each antenna is hand made and tuned before it is shipped. Tell Chris Fox you heard about the antenna from me. Maybe he will let you pay double. Ha! Ha!
@@n4hnhradio 😂 will do!
Would like to get this. How long is waiting time.
I'm not a Patriot I'm not sure how that works. But I do watch almost all of your videos, Right now I have a
991a and 1200. After my looking The discontinued the 1200 and I believe the 1300 I wish I would've got to 5000.
Thinking about the 10 I don't know its pretty sensitive receiver. Just might sell the 1200 and get the 5000.
Been off the air from all the hurricanes 80s lost all my stuff. Don't know what the selling price would be on 1200. And get the 5000. Have the 991a portable for when things get crazy.
Have any input. I feel like a green horn.
Thanks for all your videos learned alot here.
Paul KQ4CD 73
Paul, I believe the FTdx5000MP is the best HF transceiver ever made. It came out around 2010. The 2010 version was tested by Sherwood Engineering, and it achieved 101dB RMDR. RMDR is considered to be the most important measurement of receiver performance. I think that if Sherwood would have retested a later model, like the MP, he would have gotten an even better reading. But, at 101dB, the FTdx5000D is still ahead of many great radios, including the Flex radios, considered to be the best SDR available.
The problem is that the FTdx5000 was discontinued a few months ago. Finding one might be difficult. I heard that DX Engineering has managed to get a few. Maybe they preordered them before Yaesu stopped production.
If not the FTdx5000MP, I would take a look at the FTdx101MP. That is the number one receiver in the world today, at 110dB RMDR. Number two is its little brother, the FTdx10, at 107dB. They share the same architecture, but the FTdx10 is a single-receive version and has less knobs and no variable preselector (VC-Tune). Both radios can directly drive an external display, making it easy to see the menus, meter, waterfall, frequency, mode, filter selection, etc.
I hope this helps.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio tnxs if I find a new one just might have to FTdx10
I built my own for less than $30.00. It's been up in the trees for 12 plus years. My doublet works much better on 75-80 meters.
The ZS6BKW is in the doublet family. Mine competes with my 160m doublet on 75/80. One has lobes where the other has nulls and vice versa. Where there is overlap, the 160m has the edge. The ZS6BKW has the better S/N ratio. It is also my best performer on 40, 60, and 17. It’s nice having options.
Ordered this antenna 12 days ago. CC charged. Send email asking for status, no response. Called left message, no response. Quality may be good? Customer service is lacking.
I’ve never heard of a complaint about Chris. I hope he is okay. I know he has been struggling to get supplies. I’m going to order another, as a backup. I bought a Fritzel FD-4 OCF dipole (another good antenna) and, since Mr. Fritzel passed away, they are no longer available. I should have bought two and stashed one.
Please confirm if you hear from NI4L. I sent him a message as well.
73, de N4HNH
I just heard from Chris. He is traveling and somehow missed your call. He is awaiting wire. The Polystealth wire is hard to get in the quantities Chris buys. He says everything else is laid out on the shop floor awaiting the wire. He was given an approximate deliver time of 10 more days. So your antenna should ship within the next couple of weeks.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio thanks for the update. His website indicates he would send an email if an order would be delayed. Since I had received no email, I begin to call and email. So far I’ve received no information from him.
From his website…
Most products in our inventory ship in 2-4 business days. While most items we sell are usually in-stock, we custom-make each antenna for your order, and some materials may be en-route from the manufacturer or distributor. Those items will usually ship within 5-7 business days. We will contact you by email or phone if there is any delay in shipping your order.
I don’t know what else to tell you other than what Chris emailed to me. I know he has been struggling to get the wire. Maybe you can cancel the order. But you won’t be able to find a better built version of the ZS6BKW.
@@n4hnhradio I don’t mind waiting on the antenna. What I mind is zero communication especially after charging my CC. Most online business I do the CC is charged when the item is shipped. Some don’t even charged until the product arrives.
Anyway thanks for your input.