Simple Ham Radio Antennas

MOTHER NATURE KEEPS US BUSY This week has been filed with enough stories to keep any news person busy.  For those of us on Hawaii Island, what was left of Tropical Storm "Fernanda" didn't create any disturbance other than a few windward showers and some higher than normal surf along the southeast shore.  My heart goes out to those facing the trial of Hurricane "Irene"--this looks like a very nasty storm.  It's good to see many people are preparing ahead of time for the storm's arrival or leaving the danger area before high winds begin.  I expect amateur radio operators are gearing up for  whatever Nature throws at them.  Having experienced several hurricanes and tsnuamis in Hawaii, I know these developments should not be ignored.  It always amazes me that there are those who choose to ride out the storm rather than "get out of dodge".  I suppose it's a personal decision, but why tempt fate?   For us in Hawaii County, the passing of "...

Hawaii Island amateur radio operators are breathing more easily now that the Central Pacific Hurricane Center has downgraded Tropical Storm "Fernanda" to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.  Remnants of this once potent storm should pass south of Hawaii Island Sunday or Monday, bringing a few showers and higher than normal surf.  It appears those of us on Hawaii Island have dodged the proverbial "bullet".  Local civil defense officials are keeping an eye on "Fernanda" just in case it pulls a switcher-roo like Hurricane "Iniki" did twenty years ago.  "Iniki" passed south of Hawaii Island as a weak tropical storm and then found warm water, regained category 4 strength, and flattened most tall objects on the Island of Kauai.  The "Garden Island" lost nearly all of its communications infrastructure, many homes, and several businesses.  It took months to rebuild the place, thanks to National Guard personne...

Homebrew antennas are an endless source of experiment, creativity, and occasional frustration.  Armed with a few good antenna books from the ARRL,CQ Publications, and the RSGB, I've built a variety of  verticals, dipoles, and loops which work most of the time.  Since I'm not an electronics wizard, there have been a few ideas that just didn't pan out, including a homebrew 1/2 end-fed hertz that developed a bad case of corona discharge at the end of the antenna.  That 40-meter project was a disaster, but it taught a few valuable lessons about matching devices, baluns, and swr.  I think the next time I want to use an end-fed hertz, I'll violate my long-standing rule of "rolling my own" in favor of a commercial product by Par Electronics, Radiowavz, or Comet.  I'm alright when it comes to simple verticals, dipoles, and loops.  Anything beyond that calls for more study and careful attention to detail.  I'm still in the learning process--something that ...

This week has proven busy for those who call a broadcast news studio "their home away from home."  With all of the debt-ceiling talk and arguments on just how insolvent we are, there is sufficient news to keep this announcer occupied.  There hasn't been much time to relax before the ole Swan 100-MX and enjoy a casual qso.  This weekend will be fully engaged as well with a full schedule of drag races at the Hilo Drag Strip.  I work as the tower announcer, a role that keeps me out of trouble for the entire weekend.  Despite a jammed week, I've managed to pursue a number of antenna articles and related projects.  The August issue of "QST" contains an interesting description of an elevated 40-meter monopole with two-tuned counterpoise wires.  The skyhook seems to work alright, so, if you have a convenient tree or pole in the backyard, you may want to experiment with this antenna.  Of course, those of us without such supports will have to be more creat...

Here are a few more unusual and somewhat offbeat antennas I've used with varying degrees of success.  All of these "creations" work to the extent that you will get some contacts.  I've lived in a few challenging places where amateur radio antennas were never part of the landlord's world view.  Although my current qth is quite nice, it is still restricted to a small lot shared by 3 other modest rental homes and is approximately 20' away from utility poles.  With all of the salt air and moisture found on Hawaii Island, you can imagine the corona discharge problems I face several times a year.  To be fair, the Hawaii Electric Light Company does its best to keep the transmissions lines inspected and cleaned.  On an island with about 4,000 square miles, line maintenance is a major headache for the telephone, cable, and power companies. In my antenna book for 2002, I found a stop-gap antenna that served me well while the backyard was being torn up for a new sep...

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 ...

This weekend has turned into a decent antenna day for amateur radio operators on Hawaii Island.  Since I completed most of my newsroom duties early this weekend, I was able to work on a few antenna ideas I first tried in my early days as a novice operator.  I pulled out my antenna notebook for 1978 and found a bunch of antenna ideas under the November category--a fairly wet month according to historical records.  That may have been the reason I fashioned a few "quick and dirty" verticals capable of being erected and taken down between drenching tropical showers.  One of my vertical helix antennas proved useful and fairly cheap to construct.  Borrowing freely from the "ARRL Antenna Book" and various publications from the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain), I assembled a compact portable unit that could be used in an emergency.  I decided to re-build this skyhook on Saturday.  It works well, considering its narrow bandwidth sosme high angle radiatio...