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=ofmUK8o7Jxg. Here's a simple, inexpensive, and totally portable HF vertical antenna suitable for field and emergency use.  AC2TJ has done an excellent job of creating a "vertical helix" antenna capable of covering 80 through 10 meters with an antenna "tuner".  A tripod, a flexible 20-foot/6.09 meters telescoping fiberglass mast, some antenna wire, and a simple ground radial or counterpoise system wraps up the portable package.  I've used similar spirally-wrapped antennas for several years with excellent results.  The key is to wrap about a 1/2 wavelength of wire for your chosen frequency along the full length of the fiberglass mast.  The wrapped 1/2 wavelength wire behaves like a 1/4 wavelength vertical.  Be sure to add a few 1/4 wavelength ground radials for your lowest chosen frequency to improve the efficiency of the antenna. 

If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmUK8o7Jxg. Nicely done video tutorial from "rcobo 101" (AC2RJ) on how to design, build, and use a multiband HF portable vertical antenna.  The material list is short:  35 feet/10.67 meters of speaker wire wrapped as a helix around a 20 foot/16.097 meters fiberglass pole, a sturdy tripod, an antenna transmatch (i.e. "tuner"), a basic ground radial system, a CW key, portable power, and a suitable HF transceiver.  My current vertical at my home station is a variation of this design using 65 feet/19.81 meters of speaker wire mounted as a vertical helix on a 33 foot/10.06 meters telescoping fiberglass pole.  I use 450 ohm ladder line to feed the antenna, which is, in turn, connected to a 4:1 current balun/coax cable combination connected to my trusty Drake MN-4 "tuner."  A modest set of 8 quarter wave radials cut for 7.088 MHz c

If you can't view this video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmUK8o7Jxg. Thanks to "rcobo 101" for this simple, effective, multiband HF vertical antenna. Basically, the antenna is a vertical helix wrapped with 1/2 wavelength of wire for the lowest band of operation.  The winding serves as a 1/4 wavelength vertical and can be used with a suitable ground radio/counterpoise system and antenna "tuner" for the HF band of choice.  Although multiband operation is certainly possible with an antenna "tuner", this particular design works best on the band of your choice.  In this video, "rcobo 101" used 35 feet/10.670 meters of speaker wire wrapped as a helix on a 20 foot/6.097 meters telescoping fishing pole.  As such, this antenna is ideal for the 20 meter band.  According to "rcobo 101", his antenna "tuner" allows satisfactory operation on all amateur radio bands fr

If you can't view this video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmUK8o7Jxg. Here's an ultra simple and effective multiband HF antenna for both portable and emergency use.  This antenna could also be used in the upcoming ARRL Field Day event on 24-25 June 2017. In this video, "rcobo107" (AC2RJ) wraps 35 feet/10.67 meters of speaker wire around a 20 foot/6.097 meters long fiberglass pole, creating a HF vertical helix antenna.  The copper shield of his coaxial feed line serves as the antenna counterpoise.  An antenna "tuner" is used to reduce the SWR on the antenna. This homebrewed antenna works on several HF bands, including 6 meters as evidenced by contacts made during the recording of this video.  You may want to make one of these simple antennas for portable use. The antenna can be stored easily in your vehicle. For the latest Amateur Radio news and information, please visit these websites: