Continuing the discussion from Cheap 1/4 wave antenna whip from AliExpress (Part 1) - #101 by LB5DH.
Previous discussions:
Continuing the discussion from Cheap 1/4 wave antenna whip from AliExpress (Part 1):
RJ45 (or RJ11) plugs?
Stainless studs with wing nuts and spade connectors?
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This.
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I also prefer screws/nuts over banana plugs. Even if a wire breaks, you can easily fix it.
In this case M4 brass screw and a knurled nut (steel, as I didn’t have any brass ones at hand).
73, Roman
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Thank you for the answers. I used to use ring connectors and wing nuts to connect radials before switching to banana plugs, and it works well. I was hoping for some connector that is similar to banana plugs, or at least with a similar effort to connect, but that is slightly stronger. It does not need to be sufficient for permanent installations.
RJ11/RJ45 is an interesting suggestion. Do you know if it can handle 100 W RF?
This gives you the convenience of banana plugs and the backup solution for screwing in one. This gives you the convenience of banana plugs and the backup solution for screwing in one. And with the stackable banana plugs, you can plug several radials into one socket.
73, Peter - HB9PJT
https://www.reichelt.com/ch/de/shop/produkt/polklemme_4_mm_rot-14671
https://www.reichelt.com/ch/de/shop/produkt/turmstecker_bis_1_5mm_rot_vergoldet-130832
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Hi all,
After reading all these stories, I couldn’t resist and also ordered one of these whips.
It took me some time to write up a report, but I made two versions of the “cheap Chinese vertical” … see report with lots of pictures on my blog:
73,
Luc ON7DQ
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They are quite nice. The ones I have can also screw in ring connectors, but I have not used the stackable banana plugs.
Well, my trialling the antenna hasn’t been quite as labour intensive or ingenious as ON7DQ. I took the easy way out and purchased a 40 meters coil to go with the antenna - as shown in my previous posts - and I went about using it with the FT-981 and a AT-100M tuner.
This is the setup I was using today on a small hummock just outside of the villiage I live in, as I was chasing activations up and down the country plus over to Australia. In this setup, with the AT-100M I am able to leave the antenna fully extended and tune it automatically 40 M to 10 M. Using the MFJ-945E manual tuner I can do the same but can also tune 80 and 60 meters. How effective it will be on these bands I have yet to find out. Next up I shall be trialling the antenna and coil with the Xiegu X6100 and G90 and see how effective those tuners are at making a match. As for the Emtech ZM-2 which I use with the IC-705, I have no doubt it will tune it 80 M to 10 M. Of course you can tune it by adjusting the length, but with a tuner it makes things a lot simpler and quicker to swap bands and you have the advantage of still having all of the antenna in the air.
Cheers
Phil ZL3CC
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I made a 40m loading coil for this thing with a couple of mounting options. Will post to Printables when I have a free minute (this evening?)
Adam
K6ARK
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Here’s my Printables post to build the loading coil:
Adam
K6ARK
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I finally got around to testing my whip antenna today.
I am using with 3 x 2.5m radials and testing at home on 20m I could get an SWR of 1.04 by collapsing half of the lower section. On 40m fully extended with the additional 40m coil I was getting an SWR of 2.0
Testing on an activation today, running 10 watts with my x6100 using the built in ATU it seemed to perform ok on both 20 and 40 metres.
I would however be concerned how it would hold up in windy conditions
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I’d thought about that. Piece of thin Nylon 1mm diameter cord 7.92m long. Attach one end to the top of the whip and stretch it out into the wind with a peg in the ground 5.6m from the base. At that moment the expression “my name is Robert and I am your father’s brother” becomes valid!
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For 40m, it worked better for me with only 2 x 2.5 m radials (facing each other).
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I’ve found it to be better than expected.
On the typically soft ground on the summits around here, the spike isn’t long enough to keep the antenna vertical if it’s really windy so the antenna ends up diagonal but that might save the antenna from getting bent.
I found I don’t need the full length on any band, so I don’t pull out the thinner elements at the top and just use the more rigid lower ones if it’s windy.
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The antenna also holds in stormy WX and I think the limiting factor is the operator… 
Here about 60km/h-wind on top of Feldberg (DM/BW-001):
73!
Peter DL3NAA
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Maybe one disadvantage of the coax connection being nearly on the ground. I was darting back and to, trying to tune the whip using my QMX to check the SWR. I looked down thinking why have I got coax wrapped around my shoe. Then I noticed the end of the coax was no longer connected the BNC plug. Oh sugar, or words to that effect.
Luckily a quick bush fix saved the day 
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