Simple Ham Radio Antennas

- How will the 5G network change the world? - via Eagle Averro - Newsvine : 1 December 2014 How will the 5G network change the world? By Ed Ram BBC News The global race is on to develop 5G, the fifth generation of mobile network. While 5G will follow in the footsteps of 4G and 3G, this time scientists are more excited. They say 5G will be different - very different. If you're thinking, "Great, that's the end of my apps stalling, video faltering, and that everlasting load sign," then you are right - but that's only part of the story. "5G will be a dramatic overhaul and harmonisation of the radio spectrum," says Prof Rahim Tafazolli who is the lead at the UK's multimillion-pound government-funded 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey. That means the opportunity for properly connected smart cities, remote surgery, driverless cars and the "internet of things". So, how best to understand this joined-up, superfast,

Here's another idea for an antenna system in a restricted housing area (HOA). This ham used a LDG S9V31 telescoping fiberglass mast vertical with 24 ground radials using CAT 5 cabling. He raises the mast from ground level when he uses it and lowers the mast when he is done. The vertical is colored green so it blends in with the surroundings. It also helps that he knows when HOA inspectors make their rounds. Not a perfect solution, but it works for this amateur radio operator . Of course, the best solution is not to live in a home governed by HOAs or CC&Rs. That option, however, is being reduced every time a new housing development opens for business. So, finding a home with no antenna restrictions is getting more difficult by the day. For most of my amateur radio "career", I've had to operate under restrictions, so, I'm aware of the difficulty of getting a decent antenna built without the housing police coming down on you. I've used indoor ant

SocialHams.Net: another place for hams to hang out - KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog : SocialHams.Net: another place for hams to hang out december 1, 2014 by dan kb6nu. This morning, I got an e-mail from Andreas , OE8APR. He’s the guy behind SocialHams.Net, a new social networking site for amateur radio operators. According to OE8APR, you can “You can meet people; chat online; check our top rated, featured items; read about popular topics; wish someone special on his/her birthday; match your interests; and even take advantage of our elaborate people search option.” SocialHams.Net includes several apps that you can use to make your amateur�radio operating more enjoyable: DX Cluster. This�tool, which Andreas claims is the�first HTML5 web socket based DXCluster client, allows you to monitor DX spots and spot DX stations that you hear on the air. Logbook . The�logbook allows you �to add, edit, organize and sort their contacts all in one convenient location. APRS Map.�The APRS featu

History This Week | Southgate Amateur Radio News : Page last updated on: Sunday, November 30, 2014 History This Week A look back at events that made history this week - compiled by the Summerland Amateur Radio Club of Lismore, NSW Monday, 1 December, 2014 1732 James Blair was�rescued from a fire in a coal mine. William Tossach, a Scottish surgeon revived him using mouth to mouth ventilation. 1799 Metric System established in France. 1876 Daniel Stillson (Massachusetts) patents first practical pipe wrench. 1893 First Electric Car built in Toronto, could go 15 miles between charges. 1909 George Taylor makes first free flight in a glider at Narrabeen Beach, New South Wales . 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor , brings the USA into WW2. 1942�First controlled nuclear chain reaction (Enrico Fermi - University of Chicago). 1996�NASA's first Mars rover launched from Cape Canaveral . • Read last week's 'History This Week' • Visit the Summerland Amat

. Here's a very simple, basic NVIS (near vertical incident skywave) antenna for portable or emergency use. Most of the parts can be found in your shack or at the nearest hardware or home improvement outlet. Although there are losses in the system (primarily from the coax), the antenna does well, giving good local coverage out to 200- 300 miles/320 - 480 kilometers, depending on the band for which the antenna was designed. If you want to build a more permanent NVIS antenna for various local or regional nets, I would recommend feeding the antenna with 450-ohm ladder line into a balanced tuner or through a 4:1 balun and then into a "regular" tuner. With this arrangement, you can get multiband coverage with reduced losses and manageable SWR readings. Plans for this antenna can be found here: http://home.centurytel.net/w9wis/NVIS. For the latest in Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. You can follow

A clear, concise explanation of how a dipole antenna works. This video is good for basic amateur radio classes or for self-study and review. Dan Vanevenhoven (N9LVS) has done an excellent job of unraveling the "secrets" of a simple dipole antenna. 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. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

NASA opens Cube Quest Challenge for largest-ever prize of $5 million . How would you like to win a share of $5 million? You can if you join a team entered in the NASA CubeSatQuest Challenge. The purpose of the challenge is "to develop new technology that will advance the state of the art of CubeSats and demonstrate their capabilities as viable deep space explorers." For details, visit http://www.nasa.gov/cubequest. This is a golden opportunity to advance the cause of space exploration while at the same time solidifying  your financial future. Good luck! For the latest in Amateur Radio news and events, please checkout 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 . Until next time, Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

An excellent video guide to building, erecting, and maintaining a simple 80-10 meter loop antenna . Lynn (NG9D) covers the basics in a short, well-produced video that can be applied to many home situations. With careful attention to detail and choice of wire, the antenna is fairly stealthy--something of concern to many of us "penned in" by neighbors and nearby buildings. Lynn uses commonly available RG-58 and RG-59 for the feedline. If you can't find two tall supports, try designing the antenna as a delta loop. A tall tree limb or a telescoping fiberglass mast could serve as the apex of the loop. If space is a concern, you could build the loop for 40-10 meter coverage. If you're worried about high SWR on the coax, feed the loop in a bottom corner with 450-ohm ladder line . Run the ladder line to a balanced antenna tuner or to a 4:1 balun. Fifty-ohm coax would then run from the balun to your antenna transmatch (tuner) and onto your rig. Either way, the

If you're looking for a basic, simple antenna transmatch ("tuner") for that "long wire" or random length wire connecting your transceiver to the "ether", you've found the right place. Stan Gibilisco (W1CV) provides an easy to understand tutorial on how to build a random wire antenna "tuner" for your QTH or for that portable operation on the weekends. The "tuner" can also work with end-fed half-wave antennas. It's important to have a good ground or radial system with this type of antenna. I built a similar antenna transmatch during my Novice License years (1977-1979) and got a lot of enjoyment and contacts with it. As I recall, I was using a Heathkit HW-101 transceiver attached to a 100-ft/30.48 meters wire strung up in a tall Norfolk Pine Tree. My radial system consisted of an 8-ft/2.43 meters copper ground rod with four, 33-ft/10.06 meters radial wires attached and buried about 1 inch/2.54 cm below the lawn. My feed

While this excellent tutorial by N7TFP is aimed at newly licensed General and Amateur Extra Class licensees, it contains valuable refresher material for those of us who've been out of the hobby for a while and need to catch up on some basic principles. Much of the tutorial is spent on explaining the differences between VHF and HF operations, including propagation, antennas, frequencies, and modes available for the new General and Amateur Extra Class license holders. The discussion centers around two popular amateur HF bands--80 and 20 meters. The conversation and discussion of these bands is brief, but unhurried. This would be a nice video for "elmers" (mentors) helping newly licensed amateurs get on the air. For the latest in Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Great video by Dave Turlock! It's time to recycle those aluminum soft drink cans and turn them into functioning amateur radio antennas. Dave says this antenna can be used on 10 meters, 11 meters (CB), and even the 15 meter amateur radio bands. With the price of copper tubing going higher every day, this economical approach to a metal vertical makes a lot of sense. I would be concerned, however, in making sure the cans were joined together tightly to maintain integrity throughout the length of the antenna. Some of the paint would have to be removed from the joined sections to make sure aluminum met aluminum along the entire length of the vertical. "QST" published a story in the late 1950s about a ham who built a beautiful "beer can" antenna for 40 meters, complete with guylines and an extensive ground system. That antenna worked very well. Although I pride myself in making antennas out of the scrap wire and metal lying about my shack, I've never tried

Most of the " rubber duckie" antennas that come with 2 meter handheld transceivers leave a lot to be desired. You can get better performance out of your HT by either buying a commercially-made telescoping 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave metal rod antenna or by simply adding the missing half of the antenna by attaching a " tiger tail" counterpoise wire to the base of your stock "rubber duckie" antenna. This video does a fairly good job of describing how to make an inexpensive "tiger tail" that helps your "rubbie duckie" antenna perform better. I made one of these "tiger tails" for my old Kenwood TH-21A HT. When I'm in Hilo, Hawaii , I can now reach all East Hawaii repeaters with the low power setting (.1 of a watt) on the old Kenwood HT. I soldered a ring connector to a 19-inch/48.26 cm length of #22 AWG hookup wire and attached the ring to the base of the screw-in "rubber duckie" antenna. With the "tiger

Helpful video by Dave (W0ZF) on how to build a simple portable antenna for the amateur radio bands .  The antenna, whether it be for 20 meters, or some other band , is simple, inexpensive, and easy to build.  I've built several 20 and 40 meter versions following Dave's general example.  All have worked very well with powers in the QRP range (1-10 watts).  I got my speaker wire from Radio Shack , the pole was a telescoping fiberglass fishing pole I found at The Sports Authority , and the nylon string, insulators, and coax I had around the shack.  Although you can get by with just a vertical element and a "counterpoise" wire lying on the ground, you will get better performance if you use several elevated radials below the base of the vertical element.  I have a 40 meter version of Dave's antenna which is erected in the backyard of my one-acre property.  I used a 33-ft/10.06 meters MFJ telescoping fiberglass pole, 32-ft/9.75 meters of #18 gauge speaker wire f

A curiously fascinating "shoot out" between a 135-ft/41.15 meters OCF dipole antenna mounted 40-ft/12.19 meters above ground versus a 31-ft/9.45 meters halfwave vertical sitting on an apartment deck. The empirical "test" of Tony's (W1ZMB) OCF dipole and Stan's (WB2LQF) halfwave vertical shows that the simple vertical halfwave antenna performs almost as well as the OCF. The halfwave vertical has a few advantages over its fully extended OCF dipole cousin: It has a high feed point impedance which makes it efficient; it's simple to build and relatively inexpensive to assemble; it's versatile for both home and portable use; it doesn't require a ground radial system; and it can be used in a variety of configurations--sloper, inverted "L", or horizontal. All you need is a 31 ft/9.45 meters telescoping fiberglass pole (Jackite or MFJ), a homebrewed 9:1 balun, enough wire for a half wavelength vertical at your favorite frequency, a convenien

It's time for a little nostalgia, thanks to the Heathkit AT-1 Amateur Radio Transmitter. Jeff Tranter does an excellent job of explaining how the AT-1 works and demonstrates some of its capabilities. This 3-tube transmitter, coupled with a simple dipole or vertical antenna, gave newly licensed novice operators many hours of enjoyable contacts. The rig was well-shielded and offered fairly good TVI suppression. Once a novice passed the General License Exam, he/she could plug in a VFO and an AM modulator. I've only used an AT-1 once in my 37-year amateur radio "career"-a rig belonging to a fellow amateur operator on Hawaii Island back in 1977. Even in that year, the AT-1 was well out of production, having been originally introduced around 1953. As Jeff warns all would-be restorers, special care must be taken around this rig, since high voltage may be present on the chassis. Tranter recommends removing the old 2-prong cord and replacing it with the 3-prong plug

Here's another great antenna idea for those amateur radio operators limited by HOAs and CC & Rs.  Stan's "stealth antenna" is simple, cheap, and easily deployed for both home and portable use. When I first became a novice licensee back in 1977, I used a similar antenna at a rented home near the Honokaa High School campus. The community was located along the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii Island and had an excellent clear water shot to the mainland United States and Europe. The only difficulty I had in those days was the lack of a decent back yard to support a dipole or a radial system for a vertical antenna. I did have a tall Norfolk Pine Tree in the back yard which I "recruited" to support the end of my random length wire. I used an 85-ft/25.91 meters length of #22 AWG wire for the radiating element and a 17-ft/5.18 meters length of #22 AWG wire for the counterpoise. My crude antenna was a variation of the once popular "Zepp" antenna used on the

Most of my HF antennas are fed with 450 ohm ladder line going into a 4:1 balun and then continuing on to my Drake MN-4 antenna transmatch with  a short length of RG-8 coaxial cable. Although I have an excellent 4:1 balun in the shack (a W9INN 4:1 balun), I felt the need to have a spare just in case my primary balun fails to work. This article by the Wiltshire Man fills that need. I spent a leisurely hour or so in the shack assembling this simple device. I'm not a mechanical genius, so I just took my time watching the video and putting the unit together. Once I finished this project, I tested it with my 80 meter inverted vee. I was running slightly below 50 watts output from my Ten-Tec Argosy II transceiver and experienced no overheating in the balun, which was connected between the 450 ohm ladder line and the Drake transmatch. The balun worked without any problems on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. Following the test, I removed the homebrewed balun and put it in my "go

Sometimes, simple is best. In the case of amateur radio antennas , an easily constructed dipole or inverted v antenna will get you on the air quickly at minimal cost. Dave Turlock 's video is a basic, well-explained tutorial on how dipoles and inverted v antennas work. Dave covers construction techniques, mounting of the antenna, and tuning of this simple, yet effective antenna. For monoband use, use a good grade of 50 ohm coaxial cable for your feedline. If you wish multi-band capability, use 300 ohm TV twin lead or 450 ohm ladder line for the feedline. This type of feeder must be used with a balanced antenna tuner or fed into a 4:1 balun and then connected to your antenna transmatch ("tuner") with a short piece of 50 ohm coaxial cable. Either way, your new dipole should be mounted as high as you can without endangering your safety. My last inverted v was designed for 40 through 10 meters by cutting the radiating segments to my lowest preferred frequency (7.

I found this fascinating article by SV1CDY while I was searching for some multi-band loop antennas . I've used full-wave loops in the past and found them to be easy to build, portable, and cheap. I duplicated SV1CDY's design without resorting to the 56.7 uH coil, since I had enough space in my backyard for a full wavelength loop cut for 40 meters (7.088 MHz ). Like SV1CDY, I used some #18 AWG speaker wire for the feedline and connected that line to a W9INN 4:1 balun and then, using a short piece of RG-8X coaxial cable with UHF connectors, I attached that assembly to my Drake MN-4 antenna transmatch. For my version of SV1CDY's short loop, I used #12 AWG house wiring for the loop, three ceramic insulators to support the loop, a 33-foot/10.06 meters MFJ telescoping fiberglass mast, some prepositioned wooden stakes and nylon rope to tie off the bottom of the delta loop, and a 6-foot/1.82 meters wooden stake to keep the feedline off the ground until it reached the 4:1 b

.If you need an emergency or portable antenna for 20 meters, then this video by Dave (W0ZF) will get you on the air quickly and inexpensively. The only materials I had to buy were some nylon rope and a telescoping fiberglass fishing pole from the Hilo " Sports Authority " outlet. The pole cost me $30.00. I followed Dave's instructions and soon had a light weight portable antenna that performed well in a local beach park I used for testing. The vertical element should be a quarter wavelength for the 20 meter frequency of your choice. I chose 14.200 MHz and cut my vertical element and my radial wires to a length of 16.47 feet (16 feet, 5.6 inches)/5.02 meters. My coaxial feedline was 50 feet/15.24 meters of RG-8X coaxial cable with UHF connectors. I used a spare Budwig Hi-Que center coax connector to attach the antenna elements, with the + side connected to the vertical element and the - side connected to the ground radial system. My antenna wire and radials wer