Yes, as I [faintly] recall it is the MFJ-1830. I look forward to trying the 15m version with the KX2.
I shudder at the very thought of disturbing the whip assembly. Fortunately, the (collapsed) whip, BNC elbow adapter and bi-pod (connected together) fit in the large toilet bag making rapid deployment possible. In fact there’s room for both the 30m and 15m sets.
That’s right, which is why I said (above) no additional coil. I understand some multi-band whips require you to change coils for different bands. These monoband whip antennas already have a coil to suit the specific band.
Thank you for your inspiring videos. They in part led me to trying a short whip and definitely led to getting a Helinox Chair Zero a few days ago. It was a close call with the Big Agnes Skyline UL (~699g) but the Helinox (~500g) won on weight.
Andy, thanks for the report. I agree with you 100%. I have never once considered using such a compromised antenna with my field radios (KX2 and MTR3), but since I have been field testing the KH1 I have been amazed at how well it works on the whip. Especially for getting on the air quickly to catch S2S, it has been fantastic. I always seem to be arriving on the summit in the middle of a ‘SOTA storm’, and by the time I have my antenna up a bunch of people have already gone QRT.
Of course the most important factor is HF condx, and we have been enjoying some good condx lately!
The critical component is the bolt-able plastic clip that clips to the male BNC at the base of the whip. Adam @K6ARK has designed an improved (3D printable) version of the clip and a plastic knob which he uses for his AX1, and has posted details here …
… including a link where you can find the 3D-print design of the clip and a plastic knob for the nut & bolt fixing.
There appear to be two versions of the clip. My friend 3D-printed a few of both designs. One clip design has straight vertical edges and the other design is bigger at the bottom (see my photos) and I found the latter holds the BNC better.
The knob has a hexagonal-shaped recess for the nut. I think it’s intended for an American standard, probably a UNF nut thread, but I found the nearest metric thread nut fits too (with a bit of slack).
The legs are cheap stainless-steel plates which I got from Amazon [other vendor solutions are available]
Minimalist QRP is fun! In fact, my two longest QSOs have been running a small portable QRP station, both LOTW confirmed. I worked Indonesia on 40m SSB and New Zealand on 17m CW from North Georgia in the US, both with a simple wire in a tree. Welcome to the addiction!
Interesting how this thread, the release of a very compromised, expensive handheld HF radio and the increasing solar activity cycle all coincide.
Harder to imagine any of them being so successful 2-3 years ago when it frequently took breaking into evening 80m nets to finally qualify a summit and get down before dark. (All of which makes the timing of the KH-1 release all the more impressive. Coincidence or good planning - how long have they sat on that idea?).
I’m very tempted by the short setup times and low weight solutions discussed here and elsewhete lately. Not lugging 5kg of radio gear with me each time I go backcountry would be … nice! Time to experiment, indeed.
But I certainly wouldn’'t be disposing of the EF 80m HW, SOTA pole, amplifier, 2nd set of batteries. I suspect they’ll all be doing solid work again in a few years time.
EDIT: I thought you were saying this was the OP’s antenna, but in hindsight I think you were asking about it. If so, ignore everything I just posted.
That’s a different antenna. The one in the OP is from the MFJ-18xx line. Each antenna is a complete set with coil and whip and are glued together from the factory. Heating the glue softens it enough so you can unscrew the whip and clean off the remaining adhesive. Then, you can break it down into two shorter pieces for travel. Or, you can do that with multiple antennas and carry one whip and multiple coils as in your linked set.
I haven’t used the 30m version, but I’ve used the 20, 15, and 10m version. All worked great.
I found this out when I damaged the whip on my 20m version and was looking at ways to replace the whip. I found the “trick” online and when I found out how easy it was to unscrew the whip, I did this with my broken 20m one. Unfortunately, the whip has a pressed in stud with threaded extension that seems to be unique to MFJ so no aftermarket whips will work (they all have threaded sockets). Upon learning this, I then removed the whip from my 15m one and shared the whip between the two. It worked great and I noticed no operational issues. I activated a summit twice in two days with these two antennas and the same whip (20m the first day, 15m the 2nd day). It doesn’t take a lot of heat, you’re just warming up the junction enough to soften the glue. Something to keep in mind if you ever damage one…
Hi Chris, maybe it works fine repeatedly to separate and join the two parts of the whip antenna. But I would be concerned about the long-term reliability and that one day it fails to work on summit and - without a backup antenna - might lead to a failed activation.
Fortunately, I have no need to reduce the antenna’s length when stowed. And by having the whip, elbow BNC adapter and bi-pod permanently connected as a single unit I spend less time fiddling with cold fingers on the radio setup.
As SOTA Activators we are very spoiled. We put a spot on and Chasers make sure they find us, no matter how weak our signal.
Would we have similar results by tuning up on a band and calling CQ without a Spot. Don’t think so. The solar cycle has an impact for sure, so make hay while the sun shines!
