SOTABEAMS BANDSPRINGER MIDI Manual

A multi-band long-wire antenna

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BANDSPRINGER MIDI 10m-60m
A multi-band long-wire antenna from SOTABEAMS

General information

The current generation of HF portable radios offer great
performance on the HF bands—but to get the best out of them,
an efficient antenna is required. The Bandspringer is a multi-
band long-wire antenna. The length has been chosen to
ensure that it will work with the internal antenna tuners in
portable radios such as the K1*, KX1, K2 and KX3. It will also
work well with the Elecraft T1 auto-tuner and the MFJ portable
tuner.
*Note that the Bandspringer must be used with an antenna tuner—it is not suitable for
connection directly to an FT817 or similar radio without a tuner.
Suitable tuners will usually be advertised as being able to tune a random wire / long wire
antenna. Some tuners state in the small print that additional equipment is required for this,
please check your tuner manual for details. For example, it might say "Optional external
Balun allows tuning of random length, long wire or ladder line fed antennas", indicating that
the tuner is likely to need a 4:1 balun connected between it and the Bandspringer.
The exact range of bands may vary depending on your tuner. The Bandspringer Midi should
work on 40m, 30m and 20m with any tuner capable of tuning a random wire / long wire
antenna. It will work effectively on all bands from 60-10m with most such tuners, but not
necessarily all.
*NOTE: The internal tuner on the K1 has a limited matching range on 80m and coverage of
this band may not be possible without using an external tuner.
Page 1 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022

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Summary of Contents for SOTABEAMS BANDSPRINGER MIDI

  • Page 1 4:1 balun connected between it and the Bandspringer. The exact range of bands may vary depending on your tuner. The Bandspringer Midi should work on 40m, 30m and 20m with any tuner capable of tuning a random wire / long wire antenna.
  • Page 2 The Bandspringer is supplied with two high-quality aluminium alloy pegs and two insulators for pegging and a third insulator at the feed apex. The total weight is approximately 327gm (11.5 oz.). Page 2 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022...
  • Page 3 The other wire is a radial. This can simply be laid on the ground. Ideally one would lay it under the radiating element but in reality it makes little difference where it is laid. Do use it however, as the system will not work as well without it. Page 3 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022...
  • Page 4 Safety: Never pass your antenna wires over or under overhead electrical cables. Never use an antenna in thundery conditions. Do not erect your antenna where it could trip or otherwise injure others (or yourself). Page 4 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022...
  • Page 5 (Note: The Bandspringer is actually a random wire antenna, rather than an end-fed halfwave (EFHW) as labelled in the diagrams. These diagrams are reused from our EFHW help page, but the configurations should also work fine for the Bandspringer.) Page 5 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022...
  • Page 6 Page 6 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022...
  • Page 7 Videos Band Springer Midi End Fed Tips SOTABEAMS Unit 1, The Green Fountain Street Macclesfield, SK10 1JN Unitedn Kingdom +441625 501643 www.sotabeams.co.uk Page 7 © SOTABEAMS LAST UPDATED 31 January 2022...

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