Mini Wire Winder for Ham Radio: Building, Testing, and Improving a Portable Wire Winder
I recently did a giveaway of about 40 BNC wire winders with BNC connectors as part of developing a new wire winder. This allowed me to gather valuable feedback from the ham community and offer a free tool to those without a 3D printer (only a $0.20 Etsy fee plus shipping).
In this video, I use the winder to build a dipole, not as a step-by-step tutorial but to test its functionality. I'll highlight any issues I encounter, suggest improvements, and discuss potential upgrades to make this tool even more effective for portable antenna building.
To me, this is my fun in radio: Learning, developing and sharing. The more we know are gear, the better prepared we can become. I am always learning my gear, and learning how to improve/modify and adapt my gear.
If you’d like to try out the design yourself, the new winder is available for download on Thingiverse: [Wire Winder](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:681...)
The newly designed end insulator is also available here: [End Insulator](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:681...)
In this video, I may have called this a FT50-43, that is not correct - the toroid i used is linked below and is a FT82-43
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*Etsy Availability*
https://www.etsy.com/listing/17977363...
Please note, this is a Winder, BNC, and Insulator (2). There is currently no kit!
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*Parts Used:*
*Toroid 5943000601* - [Fair-Rite Ferrite Toroids / Ferrite Rings](https://fair-rite.com/product/toroids...)
*BNC Connector* - Available on Amazon: [BNC Connector (Affiliate link)](https://amzn.to/40wiHkD)
*Wire* - DX Engineering 26 AWG Stealth Wire: [DXE 26 AWG Stealth Wire](https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/d...)
*Magnet Wire* - 22 AWG BNTECHGO: [Magnet Wire](https://amzn.to/4fe8Jcu)
*Screws/Posts* - M3 screws
*Ring Connectors* - #6: [Ring Connectors](https://amzn.to/48xfXpl)
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