Simple Ham Radio Antennas: My Longwire Antenna Setup (from M0VST). Post #391.

If you have the space, a long-wire or random wire antenna, coupled with an antenna tuning unit (ATU) and a counterpoise wire system, can perform very well. In this video, M0VST explains how he built and used this simple antenna for his amateur radio station. He used 50 meters/164 feet of wire that came from the Clansman Radio System that was used by the British Army. The wire was supported about 7.62 meters/25 feet above ground and used an ATU and a counterpoise ground system to make the antenna work properly. His counterpoise system consisted of a 1.52 meters/5-foot copper ground rod attached to "lots and lots of ground radials." The key elements of the long-wire antenna are the antenna tuning unit and the counterpoise system. The counterpoise system will keep RF out of your shack. As for antenna tuners (ATUs), I used an old MFJ-902 Travel Tuner with good results. My "long-wire" antenna was cut for 40 meters (135-feet/41.5 meters). The #12 AWG wire was attached to my garage wall and was shot into the top branches of a Norfolk Pine Tree with a slingshot and a fishing sinker. The top end of the antenna wire was approximately 50-feet/15.24 meters above ground. Like M0VST, I used a counterpoise system to keep RF out of the shack. My ground radial system consisted of a 5-foot/1.52 meters copper clad steel ground rod and eight, 33-foot/10.06 meters long wire radials. The antenna worked very well from 40-10 meters. The antenna is still up and is used to monitor MW AM broadcast stations when I'm working in the shack. I still use the antenna on 40 meters every now and then. M0VST has a nice antenna and it works well for him. If you have difficulty viewing his excellent video, please type this link into your browser: http://youtu.be/hRWfZbeVkZU. 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 e-mail subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. For more Amateur Radio news, please visit my news site at http://kh6jrm.net. Thanks for joining me today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). KH6JRM's Amateur Radio Antenna Topics.