[Elecraft] Strong recommendation: MFJ 18xx-series single-band whips for KX3, etc.

[Don Butler]

Barry . I just tested my 20 meter and 17 meter whips by fully extending them
and connecting them directly to a Rig Expert AA-230 Pro outside in the open
yard ... With NO Counterpoise wire ... this is the first time I've tried
this ..

And after doing so I'm not so sure that it's reliable.

1.	The fully extended 20 meter whip, mounted directly to the analyzer
dips to 2.6:1 at 17.860 Mhz   .. ( when mounted on an aluminum base with
counterpoise wires  it ran from 1.2:1 to 2.2:1 through the 20 meter band).
 
2.	The fully extended 17 meter whip, mounted directly to the analyzer
dips to 2.7:1 at 21.940 Mhz   ... (when mounted on the aluminum base with
counterpoise wires it ran around 1.2:1 from 18.100 to 18.200)

Based upon my testing, and what you previously reported, I'd say that you
probably do have a stock 20 meter whip that is correctly labeled.

I have photos of my homemade aluminum base ... but am not sure if I can post
it to the reflector so will not attempt that ... but if anyone would like to
see them contact me offlist and I'll be happy to share them.

Don, N5LZ

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Barry
N1EU
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2016 4:38 AM
To: Elecraft Reflector; KX3 at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Strong recommendation: MFJ 18xx-series single-band
whips for KX3, etc.

Thanks for all the responses.  Don, your comments are much appreciated and I
planned on building a bracket just as you describe and mounting my
whip/counterpoise to the top of a trekking pole..

Again, I'm not asking about antenna performance.  I will add the
counterpoise in actual operation.  I'm asking if anyone out there who
actually owns the MFJ-1820T can please connect it directly to a antenna
analyzer and check 20M performance.  Yes, I believe these antennas actually
DO resonate just as they are.  I believe mine is 17M (mislabeled), not 20M,
and just looking to confirm that.

Thanks & 73,
Barry N1EU

On Sun, Apr 3, 2016 at 9:34 AM, Bruce Nourish <w0mbt at w0mbt.net> wrote:

> Did you have a counterpoise when you swept the antenna? If not, you're 
> only looking at half your antenna, especially as the RigExpert is 
> almost all plastic.
>
> On Sun, Apr 3, 2016, 01:15 Barry N1EU <n1eu.barry at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If anyone else out there has an MFJ-1820T and also an antenna 
>> analyzer, I wonder if you could please do me a favor.  Please just 
>> connect the whip directly to the analyzer and tell me what the SWR 
>> looks like across the 20M and the 17M bands.
>>
>> I swept my MFJ-1820T with my Rig Expert AA-30 and my MFJ-1820T is 
>> resonant on 17M, not 20M.  I'm wondering if I have a mislabeled
MFJ-1817T.
>>
>> Thanks & 73,
>> Barry N1EU
>>
>>
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