Simple Ham Radio Antennas

If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser searchbox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMmv_kiVc3A This is post 2549 in a continuing series of simple ham radio antennas. You don't need a pile of money to make effective, inexpensive HF antennas for both home and field use. Just follow the suggestions from "Ham Radio In Action" to see how a homebrew HF antenna can deliver great coverage at a modest cost. Here are some comments from the author: I made a NorCal doublet HF antenna from scrap computer cable using this plan: http://norcalqrp.org/norcaldoublet.htm ​ I set it up in a park with my Xeigu X-5105 radio and made some contacts. ----- Thanks for joining us today.  Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).  

It's been awhile since I jotted down a few notes about antennas.  This is one of those cases where "one should be careful about what you wish for."  Until March, most of Hawaii Island was gripped in an extended drought which began 3 years ago.  Although West Hawaii (including Kailua-Kona) has been struggling with a prolonged dry spell for several years, those of us living on the windward usually received sufficient trade wind showers to stave off any water shortages.  Until March, many East Hawaii residents got by with diminished water supplies, hoping that the weather would change.  March has turned out to be quite wet on the windward side, with rain totals in Hilo exceeding 25 inches for the month.  All of this moisture was accompanied by strong 20 to 30 mph winds, mudslides along major highways, and several power outages.  As April Fool's Day approaches, the weather is improving and only scattered showers will herald the arrival of our spr...

This has been a busy teaching week at Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School.  Eversince I landed a long-term substitute teaching position at the school, there hasn't been too much time to chase radio signals.  My position involves working with several special education students--a real challenge.  My heart goes out to parents who are trying to bring their special needs children into the main stream of education.  The job is frustrating at times, but I get a lot of personal satisfaction helping these students get an education.  So much for an easy retirement. As for amateur radio, I manage to get on late in the evening after lesson plans are done and student progress reports are compiled.  The time before my venerable Swan 100-MX and Kenwood TS-520 provides a way of escaping the pressures of the day.  I find cw relaxing.  I never thought I would look at cw that way, but, after all these years, the old J-38 key has become a real tension reliever....

One of the things I've enjoyed most about being an amateur or ham operator in Hawaii is the fairly consistent good weather for building and erecting home-brew antennas.  Other than our rainy season (November to March, generally), antenna experiments can be done in an unhurried fashion.  Since I'm not the most mechanically inclined operator, I need all the time I can get to make something that works.  In the 37 years since I was a novice class ham, I've built a large number of skyhooks that were just plain awful and a few others that were gems--largely because they worked despite my "cut and trim" approach to the art of antennas.  Over the past 3 decades, a combination of study and gradually increasing technical skills have enabled me to erect a number of antennas that not only look presentable, but also do a decent job of launching rf into the "ether".  While most of my antenna projects have been modest because of space restrictions, I've managed to ...

Well, after a few glitches and computer operator problems, the blog is up and running again.  I took a brief break to work on a few workplace projects while whatever was causing my blog to redirect to some weird sites passed through.  I suppose my inattention to detail had a lot to do with this. Multi- tasking can be a problem sometimes.  Between all of this, I did manage to work some nice cw on 40 meters, restring the vertical on my new Jackite fiber- glass mast (nice piece of work), and generally re- laxed at the rig.  The news department at the radio station has been a busy place with a tsunami warning last month (we did get a few small waves in Hilo Bay), a few moderate earthquakes in the Puna District, and drought induced brushfires in the Waikoloa area.  Big Island Amateurs were available for each of these situ- ations, and provided timely tidal information during the 27 February tsunami warning.  All told, we have been busy.  O...