Simple Ham Radio Antennas

This historical amateur radio antenna is becoming a bit more popular these days because it delivers modest gain over a horizontal dipole (about 3 dB) and is simple to build. This video by Stan Gibilisco covers all of the basics of this antenna and its construction. While it is perhaps best to use two supporting masts for the antenna, it can work reasonably well configured as an inverted vee. According to Stan, the EDZ antenna is basically "a collinear array of two 5/8 waves in phase." So, each antenna element will be a bit longer than the dipole most of us are accustomed to building. Also, the usual dipole formula, 468/f(MHz), doesn't apply here. After consulting several texts and antenna books, I chose to use the formula 585/f(MHz) for my EDZ Antenna. My last EDZ was cut for 20 meters and it worked very well. This time around, my property is a bit larger and I thought a 40 meter EDZ configured as an inverted vee would fit within my property without being seen by

KF7ETX has built an easily assembled portable VHF/UHF antenna system that can be set up most anywhere, from your home to an emergency station in the country. All it requires a painter's pole support mast , three paracord guy ropes , a dual-band 2 meter /70 meter antenna, and some low-loss coaxial cable. I have a similar arrangement at my QTH, where I use a homebrewed 5/8 wavelength 2 meter antenna supported by a 33-ft/10.06 MFJ telescoping fiberglass mast. The mast is secured by clamps on the side of my garage. I feed the antenna with 50-ft/15.24 meters of RG-213 coaxial cable. The mast can also be broken down for portable use. The antenna works very well from my rural location. The antenna used in this video by KF7ETX can be made from locally available materials from the nearest hardware or home improvement outlet. This is a simple, effective antenna that will give you hours of fun at your favorite park, beach, or mountain top. Have fun. Aloha es 73 de KH6JRM.

Here's a curious design for a stealth antenna from Jim Whitaker . The antenna appears to be a type of Off Center Fed Dipole ( OFCD ) capable of working on 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 meters . The antenna functions as a discone for 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 cm. I've built a few OFCD antennas , but they didn't look like Jim's. You may want to test Jim's idea if your antenna space is limited or discouraged by HOAs and CC&Rs.For the latest Amateur Radio News and Events, please check the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Are you dissatisfied with the performance of your HT? Perhaps the cause of your concern is the "rubber duckie" antenna supplied with your radio. Larry Shaunce (WD0AKX) shows how adding a simple counterpoise wire to the base of your HT's antenna can supply the missing half of a dipole antenna. This simple addition can add just enough "push" to hit that distant repeater without resorting to higher power or an amplifier. I tried Larry's idea on my old Kenwood Th-21A FM transceiver. I kept the old "rubber duckie" antenna and added a 19-inch/48.26 cm length of #22 AWG hookup wire as a counterpoise. With this cheap, easily made modification, I was able to hit all of the 2 meter repeaters in the Hilo, Hawaii area with full quieting. This antenna is sometimes called a "Tiger Tail". You can find variations of this antenna on several web sites. Larry's explanation is excellent and down-to-earth. Great video. For the latest Amateur

Tyler, N7TFP, exlplains how radio waves travel around the world via "skip" or skywave propagation. An informative and useful video. This video would be good to show to people studying for their first amateur radio license. Good job! For the latest Amateur Radio News and Events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. You can follow our blog community with a free email subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. Thanks for joining us today! Until next time, Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).