Simple Ham Radio Antennas

Nice video by inventor Ian Soutar on the "Rattail Antenna Booster & Emergency Communication." Soutar claims the small pocket-sized device will double the range of your 2 meter VHF handheld transceiver. Soutar says the Booster "makes a capacitive coupling to the radio that has a low resistance." The device shares certain characteristics with what some Amateur Radio operators call a "Tiger Tail Antenna." This type of antenna is a quarter wavelength wire cut for 2 meters and attached at the base of the stock "Rubber Duckie" antenna that came with your HT. The "Tiger Tail" supplies the missing half of the vertical antenna and makes the stock antenna more efficient. The "Rattail Antenna Booster" works in a similar fashion. The "Rattail Antenna Booster" was invented by Ian Soutar, Ed Haslam, Barbara Soutar, and Jim Rawlings of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The cost of the "Rattail Antenna B...

A basic, simple dipole that will get you on the air quickly. As commenters have mentioned, cut the antenna a bit longer for each element (2) to allow for trimming and SWR adjustment. If you want to use this antenna for both 40 and 15 meters without adding outrigger sections, cut the 40 meter elements for the low CW frequencies and the antenna will work on the third harmonic for the SSB portion of 15 meters. Most antenna transmatches ("tuners") will be able to handle the small mismatch in the antenna for each band. When I built one of these antennas, I cut the 40 meter portion for 7.088 Mhz (the Hawaii Afternoon net frequency). The antenna was pretty well matched at 21.264 MHz in the SSB part of the 15 meter band. Of course, you could cut the antenna for 40 meters and feed the dipole with 450 ohm ladder line into a 4:1 balun and then into your antenna tuner for coverage between 40 and 10 meters. Either way, the basic 40 meter dipole is a nice performer if you can get i...

An excellent tutorial on the simple physics of a Yagi Antenna from Electrical Engineer Diana Eng. Her use of a lightbulb to to show the effect of reflectors and directors on a dipole antenna is especially good. Although the video is a bit dated (03 February 2010), the basic information is still good. This video would make an excellent introduction to directional antennas for a Technician Class License workshop. 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. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM.

Well-produced video by Peter (VK3YE) on how to build a simple, effective, and portable half square antenna for the 20 meter Amateur Radio Band. Back in August, 2013, I described a similar antenna at a home I was remodeling in the Puna District (12 August 2013, Post #220). Although my half square worked very well, it wasn't as simple or as portable as Peter's design. Peter's antenna can be built with locally made materials from the nearest hardware store or home improvement outlet. In Peter's words, the half square antenna for 14 MHz comprises "a wavelength of wire bent into an inverted U. The half square over a good ground can radiate a low angle signal suitable for distant HF contacts. Construction is simple. Just take 22 meters of wire (72.16 feet) and string it up on two poles 11 meters (36 feet) apart, with equal lengths hanging down. Connect one to a coupler and load it against a counterpoise wire(s)." The antenna pattern is broadside to the half...

Well-produced video from "Spectre Oz" on the rarely used Tilted Terminated Folded Dipole Antenna. In the author's own words, "A T2FD antenna project from design to installation, featuring 10w terminating resistor constructed out of 4, 5w 390 Ohm resistors in series parallel configuration and encapsulated balun/resistor for added overall structural integrity." The antenna can be used on a broad range of frequencies. This would make an excellent 10 meter antenna project for the weekend. For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebar. 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. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). KH6JRM's Amateur Radio Antenna Topics.

SDR (RTL-2832U) runs in CHROME browser | Southgate Amateur Radio News : This page is brought to you in association with The Southgate Amateur Radio Club and AMSAT-UK. QRZ Callsign Search. Page last updated on: Sunday, March 29, 2015.  SDR (RTL-2832U) runs in CHROME browser.  There is also now a javascript SDR app for the Chrome browser 'Radio Receiver' by Jacobo Tarrio.  Stereo FM. Scan for stations. Record what you hear on the radio. Built-in bands: International and Japanese FM bands. Weather band (US and Canada). Medium Wave AM (requires an upconverter). Free-tuning mode to use the program as a multi-band radio and listen to anything: short wave, air band, marine band, etc. Supported modes: Wideband FM, Narrowband FM, AM, SSB. Compatible hardware and software Radio Receiver was written to work with an RTL-2832U-based DVB-T (European digital TV) USB receiver, with a R820T tuner chip. You can easily buy one for $15 or less by searching for [RTL2832U R820T] ...

If you have difficulty viewing this video, please insert this title link into your browser: https://youtu.be/fEdy7mbZ5ms. Pityu Nagy (YO6PNQ) has assembled a beautiful and effective 2-meter J-Pole antenna from some copper tubing, a steel wire from a CB mobile antenna, some PVC pipe sections, and some parts from his shack. His loading coil at the base of the antenna is quite interesting. If you have some simple tools and access to a home improvement or hardware store, you should be able to assemble this antenna for whatever portion of 2-meters most suits your purpose. This antenna has a low angle of radiation (around 16-degrees) and should exhibit a gain over a 1/4 whip of about 3dB. Have fun! For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebar. 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. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). KH6JRM'...

If you have difficulty in viewing this video, please enter the title link into your browser: https://www.youtu.be/KZrhifKY-9g. There are many niches or aspects to Amateur Radio. Chasing DX is just one of them, working contacts for contests, DXpeditions to remote areas of the globe, or just linking up with friends overseas. The "Radio Ham Guy" shows you a few random contacts he made from his home amateur radio station. Working DX is a lot of fun! 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. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

A wonderfully simple, hardy, and cheap portable antenna from "Tinker John" (W5CYF). Most of the parts are probably in your "junk" box or are available at the nearest home improvement outlet or neighborhood hardware store. I've built similar antennas for use in portable and emergency situations. These basic, no frills antennas work and they will get you plenty of contacts. You could even use this antenna as a temporary "skyhook" at your home station. Half the fun of amateur radio is building your own wire antennas. You learn something at minimum cost that will last for years. Have fun! 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: http://kh6jrm.net. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). K...

Another excellent, well-presented tutorial covering radio wave propagation. N7TFP discusses how radio waves travel around the world by "skip" or sky-wave propagation. This tutorial was part of a two-part series, but the second part has not appeared on the web. Too bad, since N7FTP has done a good job of explaining a difficult subject. This is good reference material for those studying for an Amateur Radio license. 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. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). KH6JRM's Amateur Radio Antenna Topics.

If you have trouble viewing this video, please enter this URL into your browser search bar: https://youtu.be/yShIAI2kMZw. Exceptionally clear, concise, and well-illustrated tutorial on the basics of radio propagation from Dan Vanevenhoven. Dan covers the basics of sun spots, solar flares, and the K and A factors. This video would be useful in a beginning Amateur Radio class or for review by those seeking General and Amateur Extra Class licenses. For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. For more Amateur Radio news, please visit my Amateur Radio news site--http://kh6jrm.com. You can follow our blog community with a free e-mail subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). KH6JRM's Amateur Radio Antenna Topics.

Here's a basic, effective, and efficient antenna transmatch ("tuner") for feeding random length wires, especially half-wave, end-fed wires. Stan Gibilisco (W1GV) explains the design, construction, and use of this simple device. If you don't feel like building your own random wire tuner, you can buy a MFJ-971 Travel Tuner, which incorporates most of the features Stan describes. I have one of these tuners and it works well for portable or emergency operations. If you have trouble loading this video, please enter the title link into your browser: https://youtu.be/6QwBiz_LB9M. 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. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM). KH6JRM's Amateur Radio Antenna Topics.

This is a great weekend 2 meter antenna project from Dave Tadlock (KG0ZZ). If you can't find a metal coffee can (most coffee appears to be sold in large plastic containers), you can use a clean paint can. I found some at the local Ace Hardware Store in Hilo, Hawaii. You could also design this antenna for NOAA weather broadcasts and other public service agency radio traffic. The vertical element could also be a segmented antenna rod found on an old portable radio or part of a "rabbit ears" antenna from an old television set. Dave's antenna could also be designed for the 1.25 meter and 70 cm ham bands. His design resembles a "sleeve dipole" in some respects. I've built a few of these antennas and they work very well. A few basic tools and some coaxial cable are all you need to build a simple and somewhat unusual antenna for 2 meters. For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated d...

This 21-element 2 meter/70 cm yagi will let you work the popular SO-50 amateur radio satellite, the International Space Station, and a bunch of low-Earth orbiting amateur radio satellites. Dave Tadlock (KG0ZZ) shows you how to set up, orient, and use this super sensitive antenna designed for amateur radio satellite communication. I'm tempted to get one of these Excalibur antennas. This antenna surely beats what I'm using now (a homebrewed yagi made from a metal tape measure I bought at Ace Hardware last year). 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. Thanks for joining us today! If you have difficulty seeing Dave's video, please enter this title link in your brower: http://youtu.be/sTKI97e3uX8. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

If you have difficulty viewing the video, please enter the title link in your browser (https://youtu.be/n0eYB5AWGvY). Here's nice, easy 2 meter J-Pole antenna made from 60 inches to 61 inches (152.4 cm to 154.9 cm) of 450 ohm Ladder Line. The instructional video from KD0RVY is clear and easy to follow. All you need to complete the project is some king of mast or pole to support the J-Pole. You should get about 3dB gain over a simple 2 meter vertical. I've built a few of these antennas for portable and emergency operations. I find a simple MFJ 2 meter "tuner" helpful in some cases. This would make an excellent club project. Make a few of these simple 2 meter antennas, one for your radio room and the other for your vehicle. 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. Thanks for joi...

. If you have difficulty viewing this video, please enter this title link in your browser: http://youtu.be/3j3BsYbzwvw. Excellent, basic introduction to the design, construction, and use of the Double Extended Zepp Antenna from Stan Gibilisco (W1GV). This antenna delivers approximately 3dB gain over a dipole antenna at the same height above ground. The antenna works best when it is fed with 450 ohm ladder line or 300 ohm TV twinlead. You will need a balanced antenna transmatch (i.e. "tuner") or a tuner/4:1 balun combination to present the proper impedance to your transceiver. According to Stan, the extended double zepp antenna is "a collinear array of two 5/8 waves in phase." You can design the EDZ antenna for any HF amateur radio band you chose. To determine the proper length of the EDZ, you can use the general formula 585/f(MHz). Divide this by 2 to find the length of each element. You can determine the length in meters by dividing your length by 3.28....

An easy to understand tutorial from Dave Tadlock (KG0ZZ) on how to design, build, and test a simple dual band (2 meter/70 cm) radio antenna for contacting amateur radio satellites. There are many low-Earth orbiting amateur and educational satellites that can be found with this antenna. You could mount this antenna on a camera tripod and adjust it manually as your favorite satellite crosses the horizon. A dual-band HT will work fine with this antenna and will give you many enjoyable contacts on a free afternoon. For more Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These feeds are updated daily. You can follow our blog community with a free e-mail subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. Thanks for joining us today! Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Rain Gutter Antennas : Rain Gutter Antennas (http://www.eham.net/articles/33775). from Greg Danes, KJ4DGE on February 22, 2015 View comments about this article! Rain Gutter Antennas Pic courtesy of N6CC website By Grey Wolf I got this idea about writing about my antenna because I had one once in the condo that worked very well down to about 40 meters. First YOU have to use a tuner! Mine was a MFJ “travel tuner”. Very simple and the system worked for me. I ran a open length of coax cable to the aluminum gutter and to a screw at the base, no ground was used as this caused noise on the feed line. It was really resonant at 20 meters and higher. I made my first European contacts on 15 or 17 meters using the gutter antenna. The whole length was close to 125 feet in an inverted “U-shaped” configuration. Since I could not turn the condo around with a rotator it worked a nice North-South path. It also worked greyline East-West fairly well also making contacts in NM, NV, WA and CA....

. This informative and somewhat complex explanation of the Smith Chart from UCLA faculty member Philip Hon explains all you need to know about this useful antenna design tool. Hon illustrates his graphic with an example of a matching network using a single open stub. This video will join my amateur radio reference library. For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated frequently. You can follow our blog community with a free e-mail subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. Thanks for joining us today! If the video fails to load properly, you can use this youtube address: http://youtu.be/neHB0_C1zYE. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Excellent video tutorial from Randy (K7AGE) on how to build a simple, yet effective antenna for the 6 meter Amateur Radio Band. I have a similar antenna mounted on my garage roof. Although there isn't much 6 meter activity on Hawaii Island, some DX comes through when the sun gets active. Now that most lower television channels have moved away from the 50 MHz band (mostly the old analog channel 2), the band is a lot better for amateur radio contacts. Randy's instructions are clear and easy to follow. 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. You can find more Amateur Radio happenings at my news site--http://kh6jrm.net. Thanks for joining us today! If you have trouble loading the video, please enter the title link in your browser and try again--http://youtu.be/4K5Vj6wtpE0.  Aloha de Russ (KH6JRM...