Simple Ham Radio Antennas

Here's another great antenna idea for the ARRL Field Day or for any portable operation. Lynn (NG9D) takes us step-by-step through the design, construction, deployment, and testing of a Loop Antenna covering 20-10 meters. The antenna features moderate gain at an affordable price.  You may be able to find most antenna materials locally or in your "junk box." If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3-LIQ6G6e4 Here are a few comments from NG9D: Here on     / ng9d   we spend a lot of time fiddling around with low power (QRP) radio transmitters, simple receivers, home-made wire antennas and various little gadget kits, celebrating perhaps the best hobby in the world - Ham Radio! In this video, we build a ham radio DX antenna - an inexpensive portable or permanent wire loop antenna installed from ground level by one person supported by a single tree. Includes construction hints and demonstrati

If you're having trouble viewing this video, please insert this title link into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3_LIQ6G6e4.  Exceptionally well made video from NG9D showing you a very simple way to design, make, and erect a vertical closed loop antenna that covers all Amateur Radio bands from 20 to 10 meters. Each construction step is thoroughly explained and shown in the video.  If you follow the instructions, you'll have little difficulty in building and using this antenna.  Attaching a coaxial feed line to the antenna is easy--just solder one end of the antenna to the center pin of the coax and the other end to the braided shield.  An antenna transmatch (i.e. "tuner" would help match the antenna impedance to the impedance of your transceiver. You would also need a vertical support of at least 30 feet/9.14 meters to get maximum performance out of this antenna.  You could also use television twin lead or 450 ohm ladder line to feed the ant

If you're having trouble viewing this video, please insert this address into your browser search box: https://youtu.be/y3-LIQ6G6e4.  Here's a very simple loop antenna that will cover the amateur radio 20-10 meter bands.   Lynn (NG9D) has done an excellent job of describing the antenna and the procedure needed to lift it into place.  Loops are fairly forgiving antennas and can deliver a theorectical 2dB gain over a dipole at the same frequency.  Loops are quiet and can be either horizontally or vertically polarized to meet your DX needs. You can also feed this loop antenna with television twin lead or 450 ohm cable.  You'll need a balanced tuner or a 4:1 balun/tuner combination to complete the project. Either way, this loop is easy to make and can serve as an excellent portable or emergency antenna.  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

If you have trouble viewing this video, please insert this URL into your browser search box: https://youtu.be/y3_LIQ6G6e4. An excellent video from Lynn (NG9D), showing just how easy it is to build and erect a full wave loop antenna covering the amateur radio bands between 20 and 10 meters. You can change the polarization by attaching the feed line at various points around the full wave loop.  You will need an antenna transmatch (i.e. antenna tuner) to tune out the reactance as you switch bands.  I prefer using 450 ohm ladder line or 300 ohm television twin lead for my feed lines. These feed lines are attached to a 4:1 balun and then connected to my trusty Drake MN-4 antenna transmatch with a short length of RG-8X coaxial cable.  The loop is a quiet receive antenna and should give you about 2dB gain over a dipole antenna.  Loops are fun to make and can be assembled from materials around your shack or from the bins at the nearest hardware or building supply store. Have fun!  For the