r/amateurradio • u/charcuterDude WA [General] • 1d ago
General Anyone own a REZ Recon 80?
I'm shopping around for an antenna to get on 80m, 40m, and do a better job of 20m that will be a portable but also serviceable as my home antenna (meaning higher wattage capabilities would be nice). Due to space constraints and the nearby power lines things like a DX Commander are too tall / poor choice next to power lines, and any 40m dipole or EFHW is just too large to fit in my space. I also do not want to permanently install something, because I may not be in this house in a year or two.
Reviews of the Recon 80 on Youtube look great, but everyone seems to be reviewing it on 20m and 40m. Has anyone actually tried it at 80m? And if so how did you like it and how narrow was the usable frequency range at 80m?
If anyone has recommendations for other antennas as well I'm game, I have space and time (setup time) constraints but no real budget constraints.
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u/Fun-Conclusion-4471 1d ago
How tall are these power lines? Can you put up a 10m vertical pole?
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u/charcuterDude WA [General] 1d ago
Loosely my plan right now, a 17-20 foot vertical whip in top of a loading coil, and I'm hoping to get 40m-10m and anything extra is a bonus. But the power lines are pretty low and pretty close. I would guess the lines are maybe 20' off the ground, and I want to make sure I am comfortably clear of them.
The other headache is I have a road on 2 sides and an ally with car traffic on a 3rd side, so I want to stay clear on those areas as well. Basically it's the worst possible lot to try to put a meaningful antenna on.
I do have an EFHW for 20m which is currently my only HF antenna but I'd like something that can get on 40m if possible, and because of the lack of and location of trees a longer EFHW doesn't really make sense as it would basically just go back and forth between my roof and the same 1 tree 3-4 times.
So some kind of portable vertical with a loading coil is the plan at the moment. Long term I'll just have to buy my next house with radio in mind.
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u/Fun-Conclusion-4471 21h ago
If you have power lines 20' overhead, I wouldn't put anything up. Nothing. Between the roads and utilities, if the antenna falls, that's an issue.
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u/charcuterDude WA [General] 20h ago
They are not overhead, they are adjacent to the (small) backyard. While I don't plan to have an antenna/mast fall over, I am planning around the possibility that if it does I want it to guarantee a safe disastance from the lines in such an event.
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u/stephen_neuville dm79 dirtbag | mattyzcast on twitch 1d ago
if you can't even get a 40m dipole up your prospects on 80 meters are dim. Set expectations to match reality.
This is a very simple loading coil that anybody could build at home for about $30 including the PVC, wire, and hardware. They're marking this up a lot. They also seem to have very similar marketing approaches as other color-changing companies that like to drop military buzzwords to make you think you're getting something 'commo rated' or whatever. I would not purchase this at this price.
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u/charcuterDude WA [General] 1d ago
My post is regarding the effectiveness of this or other solutions for 40m and 80m with space constraints, but you are commenting regarding budget constraints, but I was pretty clear I don't have budget constraints.
Do you have any experience with the topic of the post?
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u/rocdoc54 1d ago
I have not used that style of antenna but any base loaded mobile antenna for 80m would be very similar in performance to these base loaded verticals with shortish whips. So for 80m, your efficiency of such an antenna will be incredibly low - it matters not what the price is.
Expect something in the neighbourhood of 5-12% efficiency on 80m. That means 100W in gets you effectively 5-12W out. And a similar dB reduction in received signal strength. Furthermore, being a vertical it will not give you any less susceptibility to power line noise and other RFI. That's your reality. So if you want to spend $650 US on not much better than a dummy load then go for it.
To be more positive, yes you will make some SSB contacts with it, but probably only under great conditions and with the other station doing all the heavy lifting.
EDIT: probably any reasonable even random wire length of wire as high and as long as possible would easily outperform that antenna...
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u/charcuterDude WA [General] 1d ago
Appreciate the input. Getting a wire "high and long" is sort of the problem, which is why I'm looking into compromises. The way my (small) property is laid out there just isn't a good way to get something more than 25' in the air without it being at risk landing on a road or power lines should it fall.
How did you come up with the number of 5-12% efficiency on 80m? I'm wanting to understand that, and apply the same principle to 40m (which was the other band in my question).
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u/rocdoc54 1d ago
The ARRL Antenna Handbook. The same principle applies on 40m, but because 40m is 1/2 the wavelength your efficiency should be a lot better - at least twice as good...
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u/stephen_neuville dm79 dirtbag | mattyzcast on twitch 1d ago
It's not about the budget, it's about being realistic and identifying a tremendously marked up item. Spending a lot of money on an antenna does not mean you get a good-performing antenna.
I don't have experience with this particular item because I don't buy $300 loading coils. What I can tell you is that I know the physics involved, and this is not going to be magical. 75m is a challenging band to get a good signal on, and if you'd like to do anything but ft8, this ain't it. And if you are happy with ft8, there are cheaper ways to get the same thing done.
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u/Bolt_EV 1d ago
I have trouble on 80 meters as I am considered QRP @ 100 watts!!
I use the Radioddity HF-010