ZS6BKW vs G5RV

[hookedon6]

i'm thinking about replacing my 102 ft G5RV with a ZS6BKW (optimizied) antenna.

it will be a a flat top configuration @ 40 feet and running directly east & west from SW Tn.

I am thinking I can get 5 HF bands without a tuner and the WARC bands too. I am not at all interested in working DX

anyone have any experiences with one of theses? Z<More audio>S6BKWZS6BKW

 

[Mudfoot]

I ran across it and a couple home brew versions in the past. There are several YouTube videos that discuss it.

 

[Robb]

9Z4BM testing ZS6BKW antenna at 9Y4GD's QTH - YouTube



Frank's N4SPP Ham Radio home-built ZS6BKW version of G5RV antenna

 

[Mudfoot]

Kinda reminds me of the Cobra Ultra Lite.

 

[WA8ZYT]

You would be better off with an OCF Windom.

 

[6meter]

The antenna tuners built into modern HF rigs generally only work up to 3:1 SWR. So the G5RV type antennas are more difficult to tune then with an external tuner.

Check out the SWR graph at G5RV Antenna

Also in a many cases I think that long runs of coax have enough loss that it masks the problems. The SWR meter back at your radio may show a decent SWR but a lot of the watts you transmit aren't making it to the antenna.

By comparison the ZS6BKW well work well for 40, 20, 17, 12 & 10.
http://www.k2ck.us/g5rv.pdf

The consensus of articles I've see is that the 102' G5RV is at its best on 20 meters and a good tuner well match 80 and 12 meters but it is a terrible 10 meter antenna.

More information at http://www.w5ddl.org/files/Zs6bkw_vs_G5rv_20100221b.pdf