Simple Ham Radio Antennas

One of the joys of being semi-retired, is the ability to attend a few more face-to-face meetings with your amateur radio friends.  Such was the case today, Thursday, 28 August 2014. My xyl had a substitute teaching assignment today, while I didn't.  That gave me some time to go shopping, do the laundry, take care of a few commercials for this weekend's Labor Day Drag Races (I'm the tower announcer and report back to several Hilo radio stations with race results), and meet up with a few ham friends who gather daily at the Hilo Jack In The Box Restaurant. The meetings are quite informal, with most of the discussion centered around antennas, homebrew projects, and various communications issues.  Despite having 37 years of amateur radio experience "under my belt," I always find something new and interesting at these meetings. One of the things that has always bothered me is the amount of misunderstanding surrounding antennas, both homebrewed and commercial.  It

While I was looking for some loop antenna ideas to try out at my new QTH, I came across this article. Great video which contains numerous approaches to designing and building a multiband delta loop antenna. I will try a variation of this antenna for 40-10 meters using 450 ohm ladder line as the feed line. Aloha, Russ Roberts (KH6JRM).

Now that Tropical Storm Iselle has left the state of Hawaii , those of us on Hawaii Island can complete the massive task of clearing roads, restoring power, and, in some cases, rebuilding our homes. Damage to my home was minimal with only fallen trees and "disassembled" wire antennas to be cleared from the property.  Our subdivision in the Orchidland Estates area of the Puna District escaped serious damage with only power interruption and blocked roads presenting major difficulties. When I surveyed the damage after the passing of the storm (07-08 August 2014), it soon became apparent that most of my "antenna farm" would have to be rebuilt.  The only antennas left intact were the 40/15 meter inverted vee and the NVIS 40 meter loop, which were lowered before the storm.  My 135-foot/41.15 meters doublet lodged in a 45-foot/13.71 meters tall eucalyptus tree was torn to shreds by windblown branches and fallen debris.  I did salvage the 450-ohm ladder line , a few

July and August 2014 have proven to be exciting and somewhat terrifying months for those of us who call Hawaii Island our home. Earlier, I announced that this antenna blog would relocate to my amateur radio news site (http://kh6jrm.com) until I worked out some issues with my ISP and the continuing move to my new QTH in the Orchidland Estates area of the Puna District.  I transferred all antenna articles to that site, as well as keeping the original articles here. Things turned upside down when Tropical Storm Iselle came ashore on 07 and 08 August 2014.  Many homes in the Puna and Ka'u Districts were cut off by fallen trees and loss of utility poles.  One of those houses was mine, but thankfully, the only loss was the temporary cut in electric power (restored after 3 days) and the removal of fallen trees from my access road.  At the time of the storm, I was working as a reporter from the Hawaii County Civil Defense Office for my former employer, Pacific Media Group, the owner o

One of the easiest and most cost effective antennas you can build is the 80-10 meter inverted v, a variant of the HF Doublet (horizontal dipole).  The antenna requires a single support mast, two smaller poles to tie off the "drooping" elements, and 450 ohm ladder line /300 ohm television twin lead connected to a balanced "tuner" to work all amateur radio bands between 80 and 10 meters (3.500 MHz to 29.999 MHz).  If you don't have a balanced "tuner", run the ladder line or twinlead to a 4:1 current balun and use a short length of 50 ohm coaxial cable to connect the balun to your "tuner." During the course of moving into our new home in the Puna District of Hawaii Island (we're moving slowly, since we're still working part time), I found a nice spot for a mast in the middle of our planned garden in back of the garage.  Since our home is on 1 acre of agricultural land, I have plenty of room for antennas, including loops, slopers,

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