Simple Ham Radio Antennas

If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWuYgRyWlmE A random wire antenna can perform reasonably well if you take a few precautions.  In this video, Stan Gibilisco (W1GV) outlines some important things to consider when you design, install, and use end-fed random wire antennas.  A good, general introduction to random wire antennas for the HF Amateur/Ham Radio bands. For the latest Amateur/Ham Radio news and information, please visit these web sites: http://www.HawaiiARRL.info. http://www.arrl.org. http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news (a weekly podcast which is updated each Friday afternoon). https://oahuarrlnews.wordpress.com. https://hamradiohawaii.wordpress.com. https://bigislandarrlnews.com. https://www.eham.net. http://www.southgatearc.org. Thanks for joining us today. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Random Wire Antennas (http://www.arrl.org/random-wires). Accessed on 21 June 2017, 23:50 hrs, UTC. Please click link or insert title into your browser to read the full article. Comment: Random wire antennas have been around since the dawn of Amateur Radio early in the 20th century.  Properly designed and attached to a suitable ground radial or counterpoise system, a random wire antenna will perform well and give you many contacts on Field Day or any other portable operation. This article from the ARRL, gives you all the information you need to make a simple, inexpensive, and efficient random wire antenna. The best length of a random wire antenna seems to be around 1/4 wavelength of your chosen band.  If you want to operate from 80 through 10 meters, make the wire length to accommodate the 80 meter band (around 135-feet/41.158 meters). For multiband HF use, an antenna "tuner" and a ground radial/counterpoise system are required. According to the ARRL, a counterp...

Here's another great antenna idea for those amateur radio operators limited by HOAs and CC & Rs.  Stan's "stealth antenna" is simple, cheap, and easily deployed for both home and portable use. When I first became a novice licensee back in 1977, I used a similar antenna at a rented home near the Honokaa High School campus. The community was located along the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii Island and had an excellent clear water shot to the mainland United States and Europe. The only difficulty I had in those days was the lack of a decent back yard to support a dipole or a radial system for a vertical antenna. I did have a tall Norfolk Pine Tree in the back yard which I "recruited" to support the end of my random length wire. I used an 85-ft/25.91 meters length of #22 AWG wire for the radiating element and a 17-ft/5.18 meters length of #22 AWG wire for the counterpoise. My crude antenna was a variation of the once popular "Zepp" antenna used on the...