Simple Ham Radio Antennas

How would you like to have a simple dipole-like antenna that would give you almost 3dB over over the classical dipole antenna ?  You can if you're willing to build a Double Extended Zepp antenna for your favorite amateur radio band.   Now that I have enough room at my new home-in-progress in the Puna District of Hawaii Island, I decided to make a simple gain antenna for one of my favorite DX bands--20 meters. I had a spare MFJ telescoping fiberglass mast available, some leftover #14 AWG house wire in the garage, a spare 4:1 W9INN balun, a 50-ft./15.24 length of 450 ohm ladder line , a sturdy Drake MN-4 transmatch ("the tuner"), and 25-ft./7.62 meters of RG -8X coaxial cable with UHF connectors. I decided to configure the extended double zepp as an inverted V, knowing that its gain would be a bit less than a horizontal arrangement of a half wavelength dipole. With school over until mid-August, I thought this simple antenna project would give me something creat...

My antenna "farm" at the new QTH finally is taking shape. So far, I've built and used successfully a 40-10 meter inverted V fed with ladder line , a 5/8 wavelength vertical for 20, 15, and 10 meters, a 135-ft/41.15 meters "classic doublet" fed with ladder line that works from 80-10 meters, and a 40-10 meter delta loop fed with ladder line.  I've described these antennas in past posts.  All of them work very well with relatively low power (less than 50 watts) with my older rigs (Argosy II, Swan 100 MX, Yaesu FT-7, and a Kenwood TS-520). Although I prefer multiband HF antennas fed with 450-ohm ladder line, I still use a few single or two-band antennas fed with 50-ohm coaxial cable when I wish to experiment on 40 or 15 meters.  Last Sunday, 18 May 2014, I decided to build a simple two-band dipole covering the 40 and 15 meter bands using a single piece of RG -8X coaxial cable. The dipole would be designed for the lowest frequency range and then use the thir...

GOING TO THE FIELD FOR FUN AND SERIOUS BUSINESS Considering the amount of natural and human-made disasters making headlines this year, every amateur radio operator should have a "go-kit" should it be necessary to support your community in times of emergency.  Once you have this kit, practice using it so it becomes part of your support package. A "go-kit" should be portable, easy to set up, and contain the necessary equipment to get an amateur radio station on the air for emergency service.  Your emergency kit should also contain sufficient food, water, clothing, medical supplies, and personal items to last at least three days--more days if you can squeeze more stuff in your vehicle. So, with this in mind, I took inventory of the "back up station" I alway take with me in my Honda Odyssey van.  The station is simple and functional.  I schedule several portable operations each year to test out the equipment and my ability to operate in the field.  In...

How would you like to have a simple, effective antenna for 20 meters thast will give you some gain over a ground plane antenna and exhibit a radiation angle of approximately 15 degrees? You can grab more DX (distance) at a modest cost by building a 5/8 wavelength vertical antenna working in conjunction with 1/4 wavelength radials beneath the main radiating element. I've built 5/8 wavelength antennas for 10 and 15 meters and they work very well.  If you desire multiband performance out of this antenna, you will need a balanced feed line (such as 450-ohm ladder line), a 4:1 current balun, and a sturdy ATU ( antenna tuning unit ).  If you prefer to use this antenna on one band only, you can establish resonance with a base loading coil that tunes the antenna to 3/4 wavelength  resonance.  Standard 1/4 wavelength wire radials are used with both versions of this antenna. According to William I. Orr (W6SAI) and Stuart D. Cowan (W2LX), "a 5/8 wavelength antenna pr...

Over the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with a 5/8 wavelength vertical antenna for 10 meters.  The antenna is a marked improvement over my 1/4 wavelength ground plane vertical for 28.400 MHz.  Some antenna experts believe the 5/8 wavelength vertical can deliver a 3 dB gain over the conventional vertical presented in most antenna books.  According to William I. Orr (W6SAI) and Stuart D. Cowan (W2LX), the "5/8-wave vertical provides improved performance DX-wise over the ground plane antenna and is recommended for those amateurs with restricted yard space who have 'nowwhere to go but up.'" With that in mind, I spent part of Saturday, 03 May 2014, building a 5/8 wavelength vertical for the 15 meter amateur radio band, with a preferred frequency of 21.260 MHz in the phone (SSB) portion of the band.  The antenna was simple, requiring some wire, a few wooden support stakes, some ceramic insulators, a "ladder lock" support for the feed line, a length...

According to Edward M. Noll (W3FQJ), "The 5/8-wavelength vertical is a preferred length for the best low angle radiation."  For the higher HF bands (20 through 10 meters), this antenna is easily assembled and requires a small quantity of wire, some ceramic insulators, a suitable mast, 50-ohm feed line or 450-ohm feed line, a simple ground radial system, and a sturdy antenna matchbox or ATU .  Multiband use between 20 and 10 meters is possible with 450-ohm ladder line , ATU, and a balun, while good single band use can be obtained with 50-ohm coaxial cable and an inline or base antenna "tuner". So, let's build a simple 5/8 wavelength vertical for the 10 meter amateur radio band, centering on 28.4 MHz .  This frequency is at the mid-point of the SSB allocation for Technician Class licensees.  The antenna was built at my new home in the Puna District on 18 April 2014. MATERIALS: Using the general formula, 585/f (MHz)=L (ft), our vertical element will measur...

During that brief period between getting my novice amateur radio license and moving on to the technician and general class license (1977-1983), I built several dipoles, inverted vees, and verticals.  All of these antennas worked very well, considering the lack of space I had at the time.  When my xyl and I moved from Honokaa to Laupahoehoe , we occupied a larger home and had more backyard space to place antennas. Just before I passed the Advanced Amateur License exam, I built what I considered my best and "most forgiving" antenna--a full-wavelength 40-meter loop.  The loop displayed some gain over a dipole at the same height, needed only one tall support, and didn't require a ground radial system to operate efficiently.  Using balanced feed line , a 4:1 current balun, and a Drake MN-4 transmatch, I could cover 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters with one antenna.  Later on, when 30 meters became available to amateur radio operators, I used a MFJ-941-E Versa Tuner II...