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=m-8P1-PfT9s One of the major problems with vertical and random length wire antennas is the installation of an effective ground radial or counterpoise system.  Without a good ground radial system, the performance of your 1/4 wavelength vertical or long wire antenna will suffer. In this video from Callum McCormick (M0MCX), we see one way to design, install, and test a ground radial system for HF vertical antennas. Here are some of Callum's comments: Ground Radials are a thing of "Mystique". I use the formula of using 4-wavelengths of wire in total, cut into random lengths to suit.All my radials are LESS than 1/8th of a wavelength. For 80m, my radials are around 2.4% of the wavelength. My experience and demonstration in a real-world solution will assist our thinking. HEY, Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/thM5Vq My Shop: https://www.m0mcx.co.uk/store/pr...

If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browsers search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-8P1-PfT9s This is post 2343 in a continuing series of simple ham radio antennas. In this well-paced, informal discussion of vertical antennas, Callum (M0MCX) examines the number of radial wires needed to make a 1/4 wave vertical more efficient. When I first went on the air as a "novice" licensee (1977) the general advice was lay "as many radials as possible for each band used." Depending on soil and moisture conditions, you could have anywhere between 4 and 100+ radials to raise the efficiency of the vertical antenna. Nowadays, the advice is tempered by the use of elevated radials, sophisticated counterpoise systems, and vertical antenna systems requiring few or no radials (1/2 wavelength verticals). In this video, Callum considers both theoretical and practical aspects of the ongoing radial debate.  Here are some of his obs...