I’ve been toying with the idea of putting together a small radio kit based on my (tr)SDX or something similar, so I’ve been looking at small paddles to go with it. Browsing through eBay recently, I came across several listings for the QU-21C paddles. They were inexpensive, so I thought I’d order them and give them a shot. 

These paddles are nothing new; they’ve been around for a few years. (I’m definitely no early adopter.) The QU-21C paddles are made in China and mine are marked with the brand name, Magic Rabbit. From other reviews I have seen, there may be other manufacturers. So, the quality and packaging may vary. I paid about $24 USD from a seller (iDrone) that ships from the U.S., but you can find them listed for less than $20, if you don’t mind waiting for a shipment from China. 

Opening the package, I found the paddles are even smaller than I expected. The base is approximately .98 inch by .98 inch (25mm x 25mm) and 1 inch (26mm) tall. The overall length, including the paddles, is 1.9 inches (48.5mm). On my kitchen scale, the paddles weighed in at 1.25 ounces (34 grams). The paddles appear to be 3-D printed, but the quality is pretty good. The base of the paddles is magnetic, which is one feature that first drew my attention. 

The package I received included:

• Paddles with a magnet attached to the bottom
• 3-ft cable with 3.5mm stereo plugs on each end
• Hex wrench for adjusting contact spacing
• Two adhesive metal discs
• Adhesive rubber pad
• Plastic storage case that holds everything

My first impression was that the contact spacing seemed a little wider than I like. I used the supplied hex wrench and adjusted the spacing until the contacts were completely closed. Then, I backed off a little. 

I prefer a light spring tension on my paddles, but the spring in these paddles seems stiffer than I’m used to. Unfortunately, there’s no adjustment for that. So, I’ll just have to get used to using a little more force than my other paddles. 

I’m not sold on the magnetic base, though. The square magnet is fairly strong, but it’s highly polished. So, the paddles sometimes have a tendency to slide when I’m sending. I applied the rubber pad that comes with it, but that seemed to offer only minimal improvement. For now, I just hold them in one hand while sending with the other.

I’ve actually thought about trying to remove the magnet altogether, since it appears to be glued on. At least, it wouldn’t be attracting every ferrous object that comes near it. But, for now, I’m just thinking about it.

I had a chance to use the QU-21C paddles on a recent park activation. It didn’t take long to get used to them, and I had no issues with them at all. The paddles keyed reliably, without missing a single dit or dah.

Even with my spring tension and magnet gripes, I’m pretty happy with these paddles. These cheap paddles look like worthy candidates for field use. We’ll see how well they hold up over time.

72, Craig WB3GCK

It’s been a while since I’ve done a cheap speaker wire antenna, so here’s another one for you. Back in the early to mid-2000s, an antenna commonly referred to as the “No Counterpoise Antenna” was making the rounds on the Internet. I thought I might give it another look.

The No Counterpoise Antenna is either a 25-foot or 50-foot length of two conductor wire with half of one conductor removed. Essentially, it’s a radiator fed through a balanced line feeder. The 25-foot version is said to cover 20M through 10M, while the 50-foot version is supposed to cover 40M through 10M. It was usually connected to a balanced tuner of some sort or sometimes fed through a 4:1 balun. It was typically constructed from zip cord or speaker wire. So, this is perfect for another speaker wire project. (Actually, I built the 50-foot version years ago, but I don’t recall ever putting it on the air.)

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes:

I’ve seen this antenna sometimes referred to as a Zepp. A true Zepp is basically a half wave radiator with a quarter wave balanced line matching section. Unlike a true Zepp, the No Counterpoise Antenna is non-resonant, so I guess it’s actually “Zepp-ish.” Because it’s non-resonant, a tuner is required for this antenna. 

I did some extensive research into the origins of this antenna. (OK… I just did a few Google searches.) Jeff Imel K9ESE came up with this design. I remember Jeff used to sell a high-quality version of the antenna on eBay. The reviews were generally positive.

Pete Millis, M3KXZ, is another name often associated with this antenna. I think that’s how I first came across it. Pete once made a phased array from two 25-foot versions. 

In the August 2020 edition of Ozark QRP Banner, the Four State QRP Group’s newsletter, Terry Fletcher, WAØITP, had a nice write-up about it. He discusses his experience with both the 25- and 50-foot versions. 

This antenna design has been around the block a time or two. So, there’s no innovation here on my part whatsoever. 

Construction

I happened to have a 25-foot roll of #18 awg speaker wire on hand, so this time around, I opted to build…you guessed it… the 25-foot version. 

Construction was about as easy as it gets:

• I split the speaker wire halfway and cut off one side
• Next, I twisted a loop at the end of the single wire and secured it with some Goop® adhesive. As an alternative, you could just tie a loop at the top or crimp a ring lug over the wire’s insulation. 
• I stripped and tinned the wires at the feedpoint and installed spade lugs. You can just strip and tin the wires, if you like.
• To keep the speaker wire from splitting further, I put some heat shrink tubing a couple of inches up from the lugs. I also added a dab of Goop® in the middle of the antenna where one side of the wire was removed. All of this is completely optional. 

Construction probably took me all of 15 minutes or so. That doesn’t include allowing the adhesive to cure overnight. However, the antenna was certainly usable without the adhesive and heat-shrink tubing I used. I’m just prone to overkill.

On the Air

To test the No Counterpoise Antenna, I drove down to Ridley Creek State Park (US-1414, KFF-1414). Using my drive-on mount, I supported the antenna from a 28-ft Jackite pole. I used a homebrew 4:1 unun at the feedpoint and ran 15 feet of coax into the cab of my truck to my KX3 (5 watts, CW). I used the long side of the antenna as the radiator.

Before I got started, I checked to see how the tuner in the KX3 would handle the antenna. The KX3 easily found a 1:1 match on all bands from 40M through 10M. Just for the heck of it, I tried 60M and 80M. The KX3 was able to find a good match on those bands, too. (That’s not too surprising, given that I once forgot to attach my coax to an antenna, and the KX3 still found a match.) I doubt this antenna would work well on 60M and 80M—but stranger things have happened. I wasn’t able to try it, but I’m sure the KX3 would be able to match it directly connected to the radio without the 4:1 and coax. 

Band conditions weren’t very good, so this wasn’t an ideal test. Despite the mediocre band conditions, I logged 13 contacts during my short activation. Most of my contacts were on 40M. There was considerable fading on 30M and 20M, but I made a contact on each of those bands.

This was hardly a rigorous evaluation, but the 25-foot No Counterpoise Antenna got the job done. I need to give it another try, when conditions are better.

Anyway, if you have some speaker wire and a few minutes to spare, give this one a try and see what you think. 

72, Craig WB3GCK

I had a chance to use the inexpensive whip I bought through AliExpress recently. While it performed well enough, I encountered a couple of minor quality issues. That’s certainly not surprising, given its $18 USD price tag. 

I made an early morning trip to Ridley Creek State Park (US-1414, KFF-1414). I coupled the AliExpress whip with my homebrew loading coil. My rig today was my Penntek TR-35 (5 watts, CW). 

Extending the whip, I noticed that two of the sections were pretty tight and took some effort to pull them out. Better tight than loose, I guess. Another issue is that the crimp that holds the mounting stud in the bottom section of the antenna was a little loose. When the antenna was fully seated in the mount, I could still rotate the antenna. 

Because this whip is longer than a quarter wave on 20M, I didn’t extend the first section from the bottom. Using an antenna analyzer, I was seeing SWR readings similar to my MFJ-1979 whip. The SWR readings seemed stable. So, I guess the suspect crimp is making a good enough connection. 

Band conditions seemed so-so this morning. Despite that, I logged 25 contacts on 40M and 20M in an hour, including three park-to-park contacts. I didn’t work any DX stations today, but I worked a station on the west coast in Washington on 20M. 

Even with its issues, the whip did a pretty decent job this morning. It won’t replace my MFJ whip, but it will have a place in my antenna arsenal.

72, Craig WB3GCK

A while back, I ordered a 5.6M/18.4 foot. telescopic whip from a seller on AliExpress. I didn’t really need it, but having seen them on the Interwebs, I was curious to see what you get for $18 USD. Heck, at that price, why not take a chance? 

You can find these whips all over AliExpress. (I have also seen them on Amazon for about $10 more.) One nice thing about them is they are 7.5 inches shorter than an MFJ-1979 when fully collapsed. So, it might fit in backpacks easier. The shorter collapsed length is due to having 14 telescoping sections compared to the MFJ-1979’s 10 sections. Because of its thinner metal and lack of a reinforced base, the AliExpress whip weighs 4.4 ounces/125g less than the MFJ whip. Of course, the other obvious advantage is the incredibly low cost. 

There are some downsides though. The threads are metric (10mm), so you need an adapter to use it with a ⅜-24 mount. Fortunately, adapters are readily available as well. The other downside that I’ve noticed is that the metal they are made of is pretty thin. (More on that in a bit) The MFJ whip has a heavy stainless steel reinforcement at the bottom, while the AliExpress whip does not.

My antenna arrived from China about a week and a half later. It came wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap with a tough plastic outer wrap. I eagerly opened the package, but I was disappointed to see that the bottom section was damaged. It looked like either someone dropped something heavy on it or Big Foot stepped on it. As I mentioned previously, the metal is pretty thin.

When I finished uttering every expletive in my vocabulary, I contacted the seller through the AliExpress app and sent pictures of the damage. They promptly shipped out another antenna, and they didn’t want the old one back. So, I set the wounded whip aside, while I awaited its replacement.

The replacement whip arrived 6 days later, which is pretty impressive for a shipment from China. Happily, this shipment arrived intact. I would be remiss if I didn’t give props to the HUI BANG TE Store on AliExpress. Their customer support was top-notch.

When I get a chance, I’ll take the inexpensive whip out to a park to give it a go. I laid the AliExpress whip next to the MFJ-1979, and it looks like collapsing one section from the bottom on the AliExpress whip makes it about the same length as the MFJ.

I also have some ideas on how to straighten and reinforce the damaged whip to make it usable. That might be a winter project. 

72, Craig WB3GCK