Simple Ham Radio Antennas

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.

How would you like to build a simple, inexpensive multiband antenna that will give you hours of enjoyment chasing DX or "ragchewing" with your local amateur radio friends?  Sometimes, when it comes to "homebrew" antennas, you can't beat a 40 through 10 meter dipole or doublet fed  by ladder line into a suitable antenna transmatch.  One antenna can perform well on a variety of amateur radio bands if it is designed and built carefully. Ideally, we could all use a 50-foot (15.24 meter) tower with a 4-element monobander on 20 meters, plus separate antennas for 160, 80, 40, 15, 10, and whatever other bands you can squeeze in.  However, most of the amateur radio operators I know can manage only one or perhaps two HF antennas on their small properties.  Add to this mix the growing trend of antenna restrictions found in many housing areas these days and you've got the one antenna scenario.  And that antenna must be hidden in many cases. Enter the horizontal fla