Simple Ham Radio Antennas

How would you like to have a 5-band vertical antenna that covers 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters that requires no ground radial system and can be built from materials from your junk box or from the nearest hardware store? You can, if you build a simple Vertical Dipole and feed it with 300 ohm television twin lead or 450 ohm ladder line terminated into a balanced antenna "tuner." If your "tuner" has no provision for balanced feeders, you can insert the twin lead/ladder lead into a 4:1 current balun and use a short piece of 50 ohm coaxial cable to connect the antenna to your "tuner." I got this idea from an article in "Simple and Fun Antennas for Hams" by Chuck Hutchinson (K8CH) and Dean Straw (N6BV).  Hutchinson and Straw conducted a series of antenna experiments using 15 meter vertical dipoles in a space-restricted urban area. The results of their work were impressive, so I decided to use some of their suggestions and make my own version of

Would you like to build a simple, effective antenna covering 80 through 10 meters that won't tax your budget or get strange stares from you neighbors? How about an easily erected inverted "L" that only requires some house wire, a few insulators, basic tools, a simple fiberglass telescoping mast, a roll of 450 ohm ladder line , a 4:1 current balun , an antenna "tuner", short lengths of 50 ohm coaxial cable , and a few wooden garden stakes?  The inverted "L" is basically a quarter wavelength of wire divided into an 1/8 wavelength vertical segment and a horizontal 1/8 wavelength segment.  Like all verticals, the inverted "L" requires a ground radial system. This antenna can be built over the course of an afternoon and won't cost you much money.  The antenna will deliver excellent local and DX contacts. As with all my homebrewed antennas, I try to use materials I have around the house, shack, or garage. The nearest hardware store or

One of the joys of moving into a bigger home with a decent back yard (1 acre of mixed brush and trees) is the ability to build the wire antennas I've always wanted.  Like many of my fellow amateur radio operators, I've endured HOAs, CC &Rs , and limited space for most of my 37 years as a ham.  I operated fairly well under these circumstances using stealth antennas from "ground hugging" loops to thin random wires stretching to the nearest tree. Now that my xyl and I are semi-retired, we have to the time to "fix up" our final home in an area conducive to our various hobbies, including gardening, amateur radio, backyard astronomy, and just plain relaxing.   Over the past few months, I've begun the erection of my "antenna farm" and the building of my radio room in the garage.  There's a lot of work to be done, but it's enjoyable and gives me exercise. Last Friday, just before the 2014 ARRL Field Day, I completed a new antenna whi

The 2014 ARRL Field Day is just about history as more than 35,000 amateur radio operators transmitting from 2,500 emergency sites finish the last action-packed hours in this annual communications exercise designed to test communications capabilities during man-made or natural disasters. I always enjoy Field Day activity, whether I spend a few hours operating, logging contacts, or even taking down the rapidly assembled antennas used for this part training exercise and part contest. Over the past few years, I've used some impressive rigs ( Elecraft K3) and neatly fashioned antennas, both commercial and homemade.   This year was no exception.  As usual, I put in a few hours working for my former radio station at a "Moku O Hawaii " outrigger canoe regatta on Hilo Bay before I slipped briefly over to the Field Day site of the Big Island Amateur Radio Club at the Wailoa Visitor Center in Hilo.  I'm on a retainer to work various remote broadcasts and a few sportin

ARRL Field Day is right around the proverbial corner--28 June to 29 June 2014, to be exact.  According to the ARRL, more than 35,000 amateur radio operators used 2,500 emergency-powered stations to get on the air in 2013.   A similar number is expected this year. While many of our fellow amateurs will be heading to a Field Day site, there are a few of us, including yours truly, who will be operating under emergency conditions at home as 1E stations or as mobile stations as 1C.  For those of us home bound or forced by HOAs or CC & Rs to "hit the road" during Field Day, this national emergency communications exercise can be just as much fun and instructive as showing up a your club site. Before I retired from the commercial broadcast business, I usually worked Saturdays and Sundays in the news room, doing play by play over the radio, or hosting remote broadcasts from shopping malls and craft fairs.  Great work and lots of crazy people, but I often missed a chance to