Very good presentation. I have tried to tell the same thing to all the new hams I have helped over the past 50 years! I presently use almost all single band dipoles. Can work 100 countries in a single contest weekend on multiple bands with the dipoles. I do put two dipoles on the same feedline in some cases. A common name for this is a fan dipole, although mine are just parallel dipoles with a few 6 inch spacers.
The best antenna a ham radio operator can have is one that resonates at the set of frequencies he/she operates at with the minimal amount of transmit power. Most ham radio operators will never achieve that antenna. Most ham radio operators will be happy enough with the compromise antenna that they are forced to put up due to a lack of sufficient lateral area and the difficulty of erect their antenna at an efficient height. Most of us, I include myself, will be happy to erect our antenna at around 30 to 35 feet (10m) and use what ever means possible to make our antenna look electrically correct for the resonate frequencies of operation using coils, traps, and all sorts of crunched configurations of the antenna legs (2 halves of balanced dipole) due to a small garden. Some of us may have enough room to only work the higher portions HF band with a quarter wave or half wave monoband antenna. Those of us that with ingenuity will try all types of dipole configurations while others will not and ask others what they use. Some antennas that give poor results with antenna modelling software or don't give good results with our slide rule calculations give those with ingenuity good results some of the time. There is no 'one' antenna that will work for everything. Even the minority of ham radio operators that have the money to put into elegant antenna towers and huge directional pieces of metal atop those towers use compromise antennas, that are slightly more efficient thanr than our wire dipoles because those expensive antennas are only a quarter wave or half wave in physical size. I say all of this with 31 years of trying many configurations of wire dipoles with sufficient space to erect a quarter or half wave dipole in some instances and in others having very insufficient space for an antenna. I enjoyed your video Lucien.
I agree 100% with you on the monoband dipole. I just replaced a fan dipole that I bought from a major ham radio retailer with a homemade 40 Meter dipole 14 gauge copper wire, 1center coax panell connect or and home made insulators. It works grwaty and I'm not losing positive energy to other wires on a fan dipole. Im making great contract at 100 watts or less.
To get the best DX performance, from a dipole hang it vertically from a tree. This will provide an extremely low angle of radiation. It is quite possible to parallel dipoles for different bands using this method but it requires some trimming of length that can be a problem as the dipoles will interact with each other to some degree. I strung a 40 meter dipole from the top of a tree at my old QTH in North Carolina. The bottom was only a few feet above ground. I regularly worked Europe and Australia with it running only 20 Watts. For an end fed half wave it is possible to use a tree to take a first section of the antenna wire vertically before stringing the rest horizontally to another tree to make an end fed inverted L. This provides a low frequency DX antenna that also works extremely well for local and medium range contacts, Dave, N2SN.
Lucia, maybe you should write a book. As a new ham, I would like to see a one band transceiver, with one band antenna combination as a starting point. In many subjects that are taught, I see this continual habit of showing students everything all at once. It is done in other subjects. The easier way is to learn one thing at one time.
I realize this video is over 4 years old; but I'm really hoping you - or perhaps someone else with knowledge on the topic can help me with a question. I agree 100% that a monoband dipole is great for HF, and I use one myself. So the question - does it translate to VHF and UHF? I would like a base antenna to listen to a local repeater. Nearly every antenna design is for 2m/70cm, and I don't really know why. I don't care at all about 2 meter, and am looking for a monoband solution for 70cm only. I saw a post on reddit about making a GMRS dipole (I would be tuning my antenna to 444 MHz, but I searched for GMRS antennas figuring the range was close) and the top response was "A dipole for the GMRS frequencies would only be ~35cm long. You'd be better off with a J-Pole or a ground plane at home." and I didn't understand. What does how long it is have to do with it? Why would the other 2 options be better than a dipole at this frequency?
good stuf! tnx for sharing. i agree that a mono-band dipole is more efficient. but for new hams jst starting out, why limit urself to one band? how will they know what peaks their interrest if their stuck on a single freq? wouldnt a better choice be a center fed dipole cut for 80meters and fed with open wire ladder line? back in the day we called this a "classic multi band dipole" b'cuz balanced feedline is virtually lossless and with a tuner we coud load this single dipole (actually it would be a doublet) on 80m, 75m, 40m 20m, and even 15m with fairly good results! i mean, how does a beginner, jst starting out, know if he will be interested in SSB... CW... or digital? seems like a mono band dipole as a first antenna severely limits the choices for someone without experience to know which band or mode to start on? after a guy plays around with ALL the bands for a wile (with this ONE antenna) he can then cut it to the band of his choice... and it will now be a mono-band dipole :) i really dont know if this is a good idea or not today... i got my Novice ticket back in 1959 :) jst tossing it out ther.
I use mono home built dipoles with a remote switch to each antenna for each freq. 10, 15 , 20 , 40 meters, working on a 80 meter which will be 156 feet total length. I can't put this length in my attic. My attic situations on a resonant antennas works well for me at 100 watts.
Excellent video. I had never considered the benefits of single band operating, but thinking back to my novice days on 40 meters we did have a community of friends and a good feel for the band. Just getting back into ham radio and you just made my antenna choice simple.
The best antenna is one that works the best for you in your QTH. Personally, I feel the antenna, that is hard to beat, is a loop fed with Ladder line, but completely understand why that wouldn't work for everyone. Also, resonance is not "magic", and I'll quote the antenna bible "Antenna handbook" from Chapter 2 "Please recognize that an antenna need not be resonant in order to be an effective radiator. There is in fact nothing magic about having a resonant antenna, provided of course that you can devise some efficient means to feed the antenna. Many amateurs use non-resonant (even random-length) antennas fed with open-wire transmission lines and antenna tuners. They radiate signals just as well as those using coaxial cable and resonant antennas, and as a bonus they usually can use these antenna systems on multiple frequency bands." Of course there are caveats to the quote, but I'm sure everyone gets the idea of it. Once again, the best antenna is the one that works the best for you and if you are happy with it then that is all that matters --
Agree 100% I work very covertly. 3 homemade dipoles cut for 6 - 10 - 20 meters in my attic above my garage. I’ve worked the WORLD from qrp to 100 watts max. Is it the best.....no......is it fun.....yes! You’ll learn a lot about antennas if you do your research and build and tune a few dipoles. The best part.....my neighbors have no idea ! 🤣 Also have end Feds for 20 & 40 that I can throw up in the backyard when the weather is nice.
I thought a fan dipole would be great, until I later realized the optimal height for a given band's horizontal antenna is 1/2 wave length above ground. Separate dipoles at unique heights would be better.
ust found your videos while searching for hf antenna on youtube. Checking out more of your vids. Thanks so much and subscribed.
Very good presentation. I have tried to tell the same thing to all the new hams I have helped over the past 50 years! I presently use almost all single band dipoles. Can work 100 countries in a single contest weekend on multiple bands with the dipoles. I do put two dipoles on the same feedline in some cases. A common name for this is a fan dipole, although mine are just parallel dipoles with a few 6 inch spacers.
Excellent advise. I have two resonant dipoles on my roof. One cut for 40m and one for 20m each with separate coax feed line RG213. Great result.
This is excellent advice. The dipole is always a good choice for QRP and portable operation as well.
The best antenna a ham radio operator can have is one that resonates at the set of frequencies he/she operates at with the minimal amount of transmit power. Most ham radio operators will never achieve that antenna. Most ham radio operators will be happy enough with the compromise antenna that they are forced to put up due to a lack of sufficient lateral area and the difficulty of erect their antenna at an efficient height. Most of us, I include myself, will be happy to erect our antenna at around 30 to 35 feet (10m) and use what ever means possible to make our antenna look electrically correct for the resonate frequencies of operation using coils, traps, and all sorts of crunched configurations of the antenna legs (2 halves of balanced dipole) due to a small garden. Some of us may have enough room to only work the higher portions HF band with a quarter wave or half wave monoband antenna. Those of us that with ingenuity will try all types of dipole configurations while others will not and ask others what they use. Some antennas that give poor results with antenna modelling software or don't give good results with our slide rule calculations give those with ingenuity good results some of the time. There is no 'one' antenna that will work for everything. Even the minority of ham radio operators that have the money to put into elegant antenna towers and huge directional pieces of metal atop those towers use compromise antennas, that are slightly more efficient thanr than our wire dipoles because those expensive antennas are only a quarter wave or half wave in physical size. I say all of this with 31 years of trying many configurations of wire dipoles with sufficient space to erect a quarter or half wave dipole in some instances and in others having very insufficient space for an antenna. I enjoyed your video Lucien.
I agree 100% with you on the monoband dipole. I just replaced a fan dipole that I bought from a major ham radio retailer with a homemade 40 Meter dipole 14 gauge copper wire, 1center coax panell connect or and home made insulators. It works grwaty and I'm not losing positive energy to other wires on a fan dipole. Im making great contract at 100 watts or less.
To get the best DX performance, from a dipole hang it vertically from a tree. This will provide an extremely low angle of radiation. It is quite possible to parallel dipoles for different bands using this method but it requires some trimming of length that can be a problem as the dipoles will interact with each other to some degree. I strung a 40 meter dipole from the top of a tree at my old QTH in North Carolina. The bottom was only a few feet above ground. I regularly worked Europe and Australia with it running only 20 Watts. For an end fed half wave it is possible to use a tree to take a first section of the antenna wire vertically before stringing the rest horizontally to another tree to make an end fed inverted L. This provides a low frequency DX antenna that also works extremely well for local and medium range contacts, Dave, N2SN.
Lucia, maybe you should write a book. As a new ham, I would like to see a one band transceiver, with one band antenna combination as a starting point. In many subjects that are taught, I see this continual habit of showing students everything all at once. It is done in other subjects. The easier way is to learn one thing at one time.
I realize this video is over 4 years old; but I'm really hoping you - or perhaps someone else with knowledge on the topic can help me with a question. I agree 100% that a monoband dipole is great for HF, and I use one myself. So the question - does it translate to VHF and UHF? I would like a base antenna to listen to a local repeater. Nearly every antenna design is for 2m/70cm, and I don't really know why. I don't care at all about 2 meter, and am looking for a monoband solution for 70cm only. I saw a post on reddit about making a GMRS dipole (I would be tuning my antenna to 444 MHz, but I searched for GMRS antennas figuring the range was close) and the top response was "A dipole for the GMRS frequencies would only be ~35cm long. You'd be better off with a J-Pole or a ground plane at home." and I didn't understand. What does how long it is have to do with it? Why would the other 2 options be better than a dipole at this frequency?
With a 10 meter dipole, I can work 40 meters?
Thanks for the video, makes sense to me.
good stuf! tnx for sharing. i agree that a mono-band dipole is more efficient. but for new hams jst starting out, why limit urself to one band? how will they know what peaks their interrest if their stuck on a single freq? wouldnt a better choice be a center fed dipole cut for 80meters and fed with open wire ladder line? back in the day we called this a "classic multi band dipole" b'cuz balanced feedline is virtually lossless and with a tuner we coud load this single dipole (actually it would be a doublet) on 80m, 75m, 40m 20m, and even 15m with fairly good results! i mean, how does a beginner, jst starting out, know if he will be interested in SSB... CW... or digital? seems like a mono band dipole as a first antenna severely limits the choices for someone without experience to know which band or mode to start on? after a guy plays around with ALL the bands for a wile (with this ONE antenna) he can then cut it to the band of his choice... and it will now be a mono-band dipole :) i really dont know if this is a good idea or not today... i got my Novice ticket back in 1959 :) jst tossing it out ther.
Who's got room/space for an 80 meter dipole???????????????????????????????????????
Nice video well presented ... subscribed
I use mono home built dipoles with a remote switch to each antenna for each freq. 10, 15 , 20 , 40 meters, working on a 80 meter which will be 156 feet total length. I can't put this length in my attic. My attic situations on a resonant antennas works well for me at 100 watts.
Excellent video.
I had never considered the benefits of single band operating, but thinking back to my novice days on 40 meters we did have a community of friends and a good feel for the band.
Just getting back into ham radio and you just made my antenna choice simple.
THANKYOU your comments make the most sense to me of anything I have read or heard! I sincerely appreciate your opinion...... Mike KI5MNA
The best antenna is one that works the best for you in your QTH. Personally, I feel the antenna, that is hard to beat, is a loop fed with Ladder line, but completely understand why that wouldn't work for everyone. Also, resonance is not "magic", and I'll quote the antenna bible "Antenna handbook" from Chapter 2 "Please recognize that an antenna need not be resonant in order to be an effective radiator. There is in fact nothing magic about having a resonant antenna, provided of course that you can devise some efficient means to feed the antenna. Many amateurs use non-resonant (even random-length) antennas fed with open-wire transmission lines and antenna tuners. They radiate signals just as well as those using coaxial cable and resonant antennas, and as a bonus they usually can use these antenna systems on multiple frequency bands." Of course there are caveats to the quote, but I'm sure everyone gets the idea of it. Once again, the best antenna is the one that works the best for you and if you are happy with it then that is all that matters --
Excellent video very interesting and informative.
Agree 100% I work very covertly. 3 homemade dipoles cut for 6 - 10 - 20 meters in my attic above my garage. I’ve worked the WORLD from qrp to 100 watts max. Is it the best.....no......is it fun.....yes! You’ll learn a lot about antennas if you do your research and build and tune a few dipoles. The best part.....my neighbors have no idea ! 🤣
Also have end Feds for 20 & 40 that I can throw up in the backyard when the weather is nice.
I thought a fan dipole would be great, until I later realized the optimal height for a given band's horizontal antenna is 1/2 wave length above ground. Separate dipoles at unique heights would be better.
Click bait title....for .0000001 percent of the population. Great video.....I'm getting a monoband. Thanks.
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