Review on 📻 LJJDSLYU HAM HF Band1-30Mhz Shortwave Radio Balun Unun DIY Kit: Excellent Performance with NXO-100 Magnetic Balance by Jaleel Pruitt

I bought this to build a shortwave antenna not realizing how complicated the whole process would be. If I had known that, I would not have bought it. However, I'm glad I did. Before that I had never coiled or hung a horizontal antenna and it was a learning experience and the whole process took a lot of thought and some engineering to take it from kit form to hanging on a tree. It was really a lot of fun putting it together and figuring out how to hang it. I wound my UnUn 9:1, that's 10 turns of 3 wires. I didn't use heat shrink tubing because it seemed like the wires were twisting and it's impossible to tell. The wire is heavily enameled so it won't short out unless you scratch it badly as the toroid isn't a conductor. After winding, checked for short circuits with a digital multimeter. Figuring out how to bend the wires, where to bend, and where to solder was a puzzle in itself. Soldering has been an adventure, and if you don't have experience at it, it will be difficult. Overall the most difficult and time consuming part was sanding the varnish off the wire to create the solder points. The wire is actually very high quality and the paint is dense. If you're having trouble winding a toroid, just take your time, unwind and repeat as needed. You will understand this with a little patience. Drilling requires precision as the box is so small and some technique for placement. Put the pieces in the right places, measure them several times, and then carefully drill. I filled in the drilled areas with silicone because it is a permanent installation. The two complaints I have are the poor quality of the connector pins. You can see in my photos that I removed the thumbscrew and put the nuts on. Also, the center of the PL259 rotates, it's low quality so make sure the coax is powered up and then twisted before moving it or you'll break the connection. Tip: Make sure the notched PL259 solder joint faces UP when mounting inside the case. I forgot about that and made soldering more difficult. If you do not receive instructions via email, you can contact the seller who will send them to you. They responded quickly and sent them out immediately. I chose 53 feet of 18 AWG insulated copper wire for the antenna and about 25 feet of radial ground (I didn't actually ground it). Use 75 ohm coaxial cable. When I first turned on my shortwave receiver, I received BBC London here in Boston. I also took China and Japan. This is not the kit to buy if you want a quick fix. This is the set you buy to explore the full experience. Overall I'm very satisfied, the experience of the whole project was very welcome and a constructive use of a lot of time during this pandemic. A great project for times when our ability to make things is limited and it was interesting to learn about coils and how to wind them. I recommended doing some research on different types of windings and their uses. I also recommend Googling M0UKD's article "9:1 Magnetic longwire balun / unun" as it helped me a bit. If you get stuck, this might help. Enjoy!