Simple Ham Radio Antennas

This short video by M0VST covers most of the basics involved in making an effective longwire antenna, covering the amateur radio bands between 160 to 10 meters . I've built several of these "longwire" antennas and have found that an ATU ( antenna tuner ) and a good counterpoise system really help to produce a quality signal. Unlike M0VST's "longwire antenna", my version was cut to a length of 67-ft/20.42 meters, enough to cover amateur radio bands between 80 and 10 meters. My counterpoise system was a compromise arrangement consisting of four, quarter wave radial wires for each band of use (80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters). I also attached a "quarter wave radial bundle" to the ground lug of my trusty Drake MN-4 ATU. I used approximately 60 ft/18.29 meters of 450 ohm ladder line as the antenna feed line. The ladder line was attached to a W9INN 4:1 balun. A 6-ft/1.82 meters length of RG-8X with UHF connectors ran from the balun to the wi...

How would you like to have a 5-band vertical antenna that covers 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters that requires no ground radial system and can be built from materials from your junk box or from the nearest hardware store? You can, if you build a simple Vertical Dipole and feed it with 300 ohm television twin lead or 450 ohm ladder line terminated into a balanced antenna "tuner." If your "tuner" has no provision for balanced feeders, you can insert the twin lead/ladder lead into a 4:1 current balun and use a short piece of 50 ohm coaxial cable to connect the antenna to your "tuner." I got this idea from an article in "Simple and Fun Antennas for Hams" by Chuck Hutchinson (K8CH) and Dean Straw (N6BV).  Hutchinson and Straw conducted a series of antenna experiments using 15 meter vertical dipoles in a space-restricted urban area. The results of their work were impressive, so I decided to use some of their suggestions and make my own version of...