The “Bullet” End Fed OCF Antenna Matcher - 100/500/1500 Watts PEP/Digital
The key to end fed OCF antenna success is the matching network interface between the wire antenna and the feed line choke on the coax. Palomar Engineers employs a dual port ferrite matching system that offers wide bandwidth (1.8-61 MHz), and a 100 watt PEP power rating.
The antenna can be used as a sloper, “L” with a vertical section and a longer horizontal section, or as a horizontal or sloper antenna between two trees or supports. Great antenna for portable operations like NPOTA, SOTA, Field Day, etc., or for permanent installations like installing in an attic, under the eaves of a house, along a fence, etc. This is a short, effective and easy-to-hide antenna which gives a good account of itself on -80-6 (95' wire), 40-6 (55' wire) or 20-6 (25' wire) meter bands.
We sell the Bullet-4U-100 separately so you can add you own wire type and length (see table of suggested lengths below) or you can purchase a complete antenna system including wire and end insulator. Remember you also need a feed line choke like the easy adjustable snap on SOFLC.
Use a good quality 50 ohm cable such as RG-8X or similar as that size allows multiple (5-6 recommended) turns thru the feed line choke. The Bullet-4U-100 matching unit is rated for 100 watts PEP for SSB and 100 watts for CW/FT8. If the matching unit becomes warm to the touch after transmitting at high power, reduce the power output or the internal matching unit may become damaged.
NOTE: We rate our Bullet baluns (and ununs) VERY conservatively with a 50% duty cycle as used with digital (FT8) modes. Some manufacturers selling low cost baluns may use a 5% duty cycle for their PEP rating to make it appear you get a higher rated balun for a lower price, but you may in fact be getting be getting less. Their 1500 watts PEP really means 75 watts continuous or 150 watts at a 50% duty cycle compared to our 250 watts at 50% duty cycle. Our baluns typically cover a larger frequency range under 2:1 SWR which make your transceiver happy and probably will last longer with less electrical stress.
Remember we over engineer our products, to out perform our competition - just compare the weight of our products to theirs and you will know we put much more into our products so you don't have to worry about power saturation failure at a critical moment.
Generator RFI testimonial:
Bob Received your order in a timely fashion. Tried the generator kit on Sunday & it drops the noise from S9 to S5 and took out all the electrical noise. I may want some more toroids from you at some point for other interference problems I have here. Ken VE3KCY
Using an amplifier? Don’t forget our Linear Amplifier RFI Kits
Want to make up your own RFI kits for a particular operation? Here are links to some of typical RFI solutions used in portable operations:
If you use a computer for logging in your portable operations, RFI getting into computers will often lock up your computer and/or radio and a computer RFI suppression kits may be helpful
Make your expedition or portable operation a pleasant and fun outing and remember to take along your RFI kits so you have more time to operate rather then to troubleshoot intermittent or noisy receiver conditions.
Portable Antenna Kits
If you need an effective portable antenna which folds up for transport yet is easy to deploy at your operating site, consider the BULLET series of end fed wire antennas.
BULLET Antennas (click on link or picture for more info)
