New ham interested in CW

[K1GC]

If I get a tuner, which one would you suggest?

A couple of good options for QRP rigs:

Manual option and relatively inexpensive: Emtech ZM-2 you can get them as kits or built. Works very well to 15W

Auto option - Elecraft T1. Quite a bit more costly, but a fantastic tuner and very fast. 20W max.

I have not used one, but I have heard good reports about the MFJ QRP tuner as well.

[SkipRD]

[snip,snip]

If I get a tuner, which one would you suggest?

I've used two. One was an MFJ-9201 QRP Tuner, which is a small, simple, manual tuner. It's a bit of a pain to set up initially because it doesn't have a built-in SWR meter, so I had to hook it up to an antenna analyzer, get the Inductance/Antenna/Transmitter settings for each band, and then carry those on a little note card. Once I did that, though, if I was using a random wire antenna and wanted to switch from one band to another, I just dialed in the pre-determined settings and easy-peasy that was good enough for me.

The other tuner was an ATU-100M automatic tuner that I bought from aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804489576634.html. It seemed to work just fine, although almost immediately after I got it my KX2 came in so I never really gave the ATU-100M a shot.

But in fact, I never really used either of them because I almost always used a linked EFHW, which doesn't require a tuner. FWIW, I wouldn't mess with a tuner now. With any of the antennas mentioned above, you'll have 40-30-20-15-10 meters in the palm of your hand.

73 Skip K4EAK

[Netdewt]

[snip,snip]

If I get a tuner, which one would you suggest?

FWIW, I wouldn't mess with a tuner now. With any of the antennas mentioned above, you'll have 40-30-20-15-10 meters in the palm of your hand.

73 Skip K4EAK

For sure. I am worried about finding ways to string up 60 feet of wire and being motivated to do so. So, looking at what other options I have but certainly everything else is expensive. I do wish I had the cash free to just get a KX2, tuner, and AX1 antenna.

https://elecraft.com/products/ax1-antenna
https://elecraft.com/products/t1-miniat ... ccessories

At my own house, my lot is only 40 feet wide and 140 feet long. I could put up a permanent EFHW between my house and garage. The distance between the 2 roof peaks is about 63 feet.

I'm unsure about getting on the air ASAP and having to start over saving cash, or waiting until I can afford a KX2, or any other radio that has a tuner built in. Or gee, even just an SWR meter. From what I can see the Venus does not even have that. Antenna analyzers are not cheap...

https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-223

My city says I cannot have an antenna on my roof taller than 10 feet above the roof line. That basically cuts off any permanent HF antenna. Even this is 11 feet, but might work since I could mount it lower than the highest point on the roof. And its over $400.

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dmn-cp5h

Here is what my lot looks like:

lot_map.png (47.17 KiB) Viewed 11723 times

[Andrew (grayhat)]

well, start by building this

https://pa0fri.home.xs4all.nl/ATU/FRIma ... tcheng.htm

two polyvaricons, a toroid, some wire and an enclosure won't break the bank; add an EFRW (ska "random") by picking a suitable lenght of wire here https://udel.edu/~mm/ham/randomWire/ add a 9:1 and a decent choke to feed it using coax http://vk6ysf.com/unun_9-1_v3.htm and http://vk6ysf.com/balun_choke_balun_hf_reisert.htm

add another piece of wire with a (say) lenght of 17ft as your counterpoise

here you go, now you have an "all bands" ((ok 80 to 10m) antenna and an ATU to match it, choose a transceiver (if it has an embeddex ATU you may omit the external one), add it a key or paddle and just hop on the air

[Netdewt]

well, start by building this

https://pa0fri.home.xs4all.nl/ATU/FRIma ... tcheng.htm

two polyvaricons, a toroid, some wire and an enclosure won't break the bank; add an EFRW (ska "random") by picking a suitable lenght of wire here https://udel.edu/~mm/ham/randomWire/ add a 9:1 and a decent choke to feed it using coax http://vk6ysf.com/unun_9-1_v3.htm and http://vk6ysf.com/balun_choke_balun_hf_reisert.htm

add another piece of wire with a (say) lenght of 17ft as your counterpoise

here you go, now you have an "all bands" ((ok 80 to 10m) antenna and an ATU to match it, choose a transceiver (if it has an embeddex ATU you may omit the external one), add it a key or paddle and just hop on the air

I'd love to, but this kind of thing is never going to happen for me.

[K1GC]

On radios options to get started with. Certainly a KX2 or KX3 is a great option, but as you said they are hard to come by used and expensive either way. If it were me and I was looking thinking CW and QRP as a goal, I would be very happy with my Penntek TR-35 and the TR-45L is a another option to consider. You can get either as a kit or fully built. Lots of good coverage of both by K4SWL. Worth a look unless you also want SSB or digital modes.

[Andrew (grayhat)]

I'd love to, but this kind of thing is never going to happen for me.

Well, another idea, looking at the image you posted, may be putting up a "skyloop" or "lazy loop" antenna

https://www.dj0ip.de/my-favorite-antenn ... -all-band/

https://www.dj0ip.de/loop-antennas/8-ba ... ntal-loop/

it will just require some supports on the two buildings and notice that it doesn't have to be laid out as a square, for example, this one

http://vu2ppp.com/_sky-loop_antenna

is all but square; sure, the pattern will be less predictable, yet such an antenna would allow you (with an ATU) to cover all bands from 80 up to 10 (and maybe 6) meters with good overall performance

[Netdewt]

On radios options to get started with. Certainly a KX2 or KX3 is a great option, but as you said they are hard to come by used and expensive either way. If it were me and I was looking thinking CW and QRP as a goal, I would be very happy with my Penntek TR-35 and the TR-45L is a another option to consider. You can get either as a kit or fully built. Lots of good coverage of both by K4SWL. Worth a look unless you also want SSB or digital modes.

Those look really nice. I'll take a closer look.

[Netdewt]

Another one I have some interest in is the Xiegu G6100 after chatting with N9SAB. I see some reports of broadcast interference problems, but also some fixes for it. $600 on Radioddity and it has a tuner. The Penntek probably couldn't be more different in a QRP radio, so not sure I am narrowing anything down.

I received the AME Ultra Porta Paddle and it's nice. I got it working with a USB arcade encoder.

[Andrew (grayhat)]

Here is what my lot looks like:

Well, you may consider this antenna

https://ftp.unpad.ac.id/orari/library/l ... oublet.htm

http://webclass.org/k5ijb/antennas/All-Band-Doublet.htm

place 10ft a support pole at the top of roof and setup a 135ft doublet in inverted vee, feed it with ladder line and connect it to your ATU and you'll have an antenna covering 80 to 10 meters with pretty good performance, and, to bring the feedline all the way to your shack, you may check the idea shown here

http://vk6ysf.com/allbandhfdipole_mk3.htm

that is, run the balanced line as much as possible, keeping it away from obstacles/walls/... then use a balun and a relatively short run of coax to reach the ATU