Tuesday, August 17, 2010

MFJ-1796

I have now owned this antenna for almost a year. What do I think about it?

It is awesome~

I bought this antenna from a local ham who was moving out of state and had no desire to take it with him. Best 65.00 dollars I ever spent.

I have made contacts to Central and South America, Virgin Islands, Azores, U.K., Spain, France and Germany. I have even made the trip to Alaska. What a great antenna the MFJ 1796 has been for me.

I have also contacted a majority of the lower 48. I would have to go through my log book but I am confident I have more than 50% of them logged. I guess not bad for a 10 month General.

The MFJ 1796 is a six band halfwave vertical antenna. Since it's a ground independent halfwave, no radials or ground plane are needed.

The antenna is very efficient because it is end loaded, sothe entire antenna radiates power. It uses no lossy traps, and achieves close 50 Ohm match on all bands, with no band switching. Easy to build and easy to tune!

band coverage; 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2m

height; 33 feet

power rating;1500 Watts, PEP

weight; 15 pounds

So lets get to the bottom line on this antenna – its a balanced dipole with loading coils (not traps) and capacity hats at each end. The length of the antenna is 12 feet as delivered from MFJ. Its as simple as that.

The MFJ-1796 as delivered by MFJ is expected to be used as a vertical and mounted on the ground, on a tripod on a roof, or attached to a chimney. Its a center-fed vertical dipole that is ground independent – that is, it does not require a counterpoise or grounding system.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/man/pdf/MFJ-1796.pdf

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My Stamp Collecting Blog

My Stamp Collecting Blog

Counter Added January 1, 2011

free counters

HOW TO READ PROPAGATION NUMBERS

The A index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 1 to 6 is BEST
  • 7 to 9 is OK
  • 11 or more is BAD

Represents the overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Ap" if averaged from the Kp-Index) (an average of the eight 3-hour K-Indices) ('A' referring to amplitude) over a given 24 hour period, ranging (linearly) typically from 1-100 but theoretically up to 400.

A lower A-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Ap-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

SFI index [ HIGH is GOOD ]

  • 70 NOT GOOD
  • 80 GOOD
  • 90 BETTER
  • 100+ BEST

The measure of total radio emissions from the sun at 10.7cm (2800 MHz), on a scale of 60 (no sunspots) to 300, generally corresponding to the sunspot level, but being too low in energy to cause ionization, not related to the ionization level of the Ionosphere.

Higher Solar Flux generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; Solar Flux rarely affects the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

K index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 0 or 1 is BEST
  • 2 is OK
  • 3 or more is BAD
  • 5 is VERY VERY BAD

The overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Kp" if averaged over the planet) over the past 3 hours, measured by 13 magnetometers between 46 & 63 degrees of latitude, and ranging quasi-logarithmically from 0-9. Designed to detect solar particle radiation by its magnetic effect. A higher K-index generally means worse HF conditions.

A lower K-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Kp-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

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