An OCFD 80-6m, inverted V is my main antenna at the station. So versatile and works great! Western Australia to Asiatic Russia from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, it talks great!
Fantastic video! by far the most useful I've watched about home-made HF wire antennas. Really appreciate the drawings. Thanks a lot! This video will definitely be my #1 reference when I start messing with poles, wires, insulators and baluns/ununs next spring/summer.
I have watched a lot of youtube videos about antennas and yours is by far the best for me, the simple plain explanation of your antennas is a god send, I have ADHD so when TH-camrs start on about formulas and charts I lose interest real quick, your format is really good I look forward to many more videos from you, regards, Ian
I really enjoy your channel. You keep antenna building simple. One key factor I missed when starting my build journey is having an swr meter. With this I would have gotten on the air sooner and spent less on wire.
As someone who just recently purchased an SDR dongle and wants to improve their Rx ability within the HF spectrum I find these videos very helpful even though this is aimed at a very different audience. Thanks for putting the time into the videos.
Great vid!!! You mentioned the EFHW. The one I love for the QTH is the 130 foot, 75-10 meter, EFHW antenna! For the most part, its easy to build and easy to put up. It uses a 56:1 unun which opens the antenna up to multiple bands and no antenna tuner required (for the most part). Absolutely love this antenna! It's well worth an "Honorable Mention" for the amateur antenna builder. As a side note, I use 14 AWG wire inside and outside the unun so as to run the legal limit (watts). Thanks for takinng the time and effort in creating this youutube vid!!!
Great video, Walt! I threw together an inverted V for ten meters a couple of months ago. I just cut up some speaker wire and hung it from a makeshift pole made of PVC. I hooked it up and my first contact was Sarajevo from central KS! The only downside to the V is that it is HIGHLY directional. I found myself hearing the same few operators over and over and would only hear new DX when I went out in the yard and moved the ends around. Now I'm working on a 10m Moxon, but this is a much more difficult build. Thanks for the great videos! 73 W2ASH Jason
Just wanted to let you know I really appreciate your videos. Just getting back into the hobby after a 7-8 year break and have watched a couple of your videos - good video quality, nice audio, solid content and honest opinions of what has and has not worked for you. Thank you. Looking forward to watching more.
Walt, great video! I work all HF bands including WARC bands with a stealth 71' non resonant end fed sloper, 9:1 unun, 50' low loss coax, common mode choke on jumper 3' from transceiver. Antenna tuner is needed on 160 - 40 meters (not on other bands) for SWR of 1.5 or less on all HF bands.
Hey Walt, I'm sitting here with a pile of parts trying to decide what to build. Great, Great video. Gave me so many ideas. First build will be the 4:1. My 7.2 m pole is on the way. I might even build two. If I come up with something new and improved, I'll send it to you to try. Well 4:1, here I come. Thanks again for the ideas.
Great Vid as always and i have been doing all my home QSO's on random wire 35.5' with a home brew 9:1 unun slooper out the window like you had shown in one of your past vids in Poland after getting my g90 and my general in aug of this year able to get out to Spain, brazil from WV all on 20W . Just bought 200" of 16g speaker wire from Woot when they out them on sale for $5 per 100' can't wait to make some more wire antennas from your channel this winter Thanks for all the great content
Good morning Walt had some fantastic results with my inverted V bell wire antenna along with my home built transformers, but my 10m wire delta loop has been the most rewarding regarding to use. Normally deployed on a 10m squid pole, image on my QRZ page. I used 75ohm coax to drop the feed point impedance swr is around 1.2.1 across the 10m band. Been a pleasure watching your videos have a great Christmas and look forward to 2024, 73 M7CVK Tony
Many thanks from Australia, just getting back to HF 10 meters, and building my own antennas, it is amazing how inexpensive a good antenna can be made from a few lengths of wire and an insulator, the most expensive part is a telescopic pole.
In my current setup, where I have only a window and a tree in front of me, I used an EFRW 41 foot antenna combined with a 9:1 unun to cover the 40-10 meter bands using just 5 watts, for portable my fav it’s Delta loop antenna’s, thx 4 ur vid Walt 73
The first antenna I built is an H-Pole antenna. It's a vertical antenna that (when completed) is about 30 feet long and I built it from scrap I had around the house. When I tested it I was able to get from SE Massachusetts to the Canary Islands, and that was sloped from 30-foot to six foot, before a wind storm took down the pole I was using. Now I have a new QTH and I'm looking forward to getting it up in the air for better testing.
There is some great advice here, thanks and wishing you well. Good antennas can be made with simple wire and supports and sometimes with balun or unun. Great to see you sharing this timeless wisdom. I have fun with dipole (or vee), or random wire 29 feet with 9:1 unun, or many other arrangements, so fun to experiment! Put the "fire to the wire" and have fun! Dave WA4NID
Excellent video again, Walt. My main home aerial is the off-centre-fed dipole 20m long, while I tend to use EFHW verticals for portable / QRP work, usually with a simple radial set to convert to a quarter wave. I also built your 10m delta loop earlier this year and got good results from it. 73 de M1GWZ.
👍Good stuff Walt. Glad you mentioned delta loops. An A-shape loop may be an easier option when fed at centre or end of the bottom wire and held up with just a single mast.
Interesting choices. I like to build antennas also. My favorite is my 80 meter loop. The loop is mounted horizontally about 20ft off the ground. I use it on all bands with 20-100 watts. On 10 meters I also use a 1/4 wave vertical with radials or a delta loop hung from a tree branch. Most of my home made antennas start on 10 meters because they are smaller and cheaper to play with. The more successful antennas get tried on lower frequency bands. Thanks for taking the time to share some of your knowledge of antennas. Phil
My favorites are the 20m EFHW vertical, the Rybakov, and long random wire. I am currently playing with a 20m doublet which is showing good performance so far. The 20m EFHW was also pretty good on 40m since it is close to a 1/4 wave vertical.
Great video. Built and EFHW as a sloper configuration with LDG 9:1 Unun, 53' Wire, Dog Bone Insulator, and stainless antenna wire clips. You gave me ideas for more antenna builds.
Walt I use a 20 meter wire vertical dipole. The dipole at the center is 33 ft above ground. I have a coax choke and a 1:1 voltage balun I had. The mast is aluminum so the lower element is is out at 45 degree angle. The top element is supported by 7.2 m fiberglass fishing rod. Where on this antenna is the strongest radiation,Walt. Thank you for all your ideas on wire antennas.😊
Great info and suggestions! One antenna that has been absent since probably the 1980s is the quarter wave sloper.. Those of us with a tower for awhile, perhaps under the guise of a support for a TV antenna used to put up a quarter wave sloper and they worked very well but the info on how and why is almost non existent.. I lived in a mobile home in 1980 and it had a tower when I moved in. I installed both a 40 meter antenna and an 80 meter antenna on the same feed line and they both got out using an HW-8 QRP rig. Modern test and analysis mightt be useful! W8VIW
That was great. my favorite's antenna is the dipole wire antenna. love trying different ones. love that DX commander pole . have same one and the 7 meter one. I am using the DX commander wire as well. the one I had fun with is a full wave loop on ground antenna. this great for NVIS and low noise. takes a 4:1 . when close to ground or on ground the tune length will be a tad shorter . I did a 160 meter one. done in NY winter. got out great ! great 1.5 or less threw the whole band. the outher antenna I like is the fanned dipole. can be done vert and great tune on many bands. easy set up. What the DX commander expedition is. once bult and tuned easy to setup take down. some tune 6 and 2 meters. I made 3/4 wave wire for 6 and 10/11/12 meters for mono band. I did a fold over for the 10 meter element great tune and tunes 12,11,10 meters . great RX with 3/.4 wave bur brings up the noise floor a bit in spots. depends what park I use. the 6 meter 3/4 wave coved the whole band with out a tuner. I have IC 7300 has 3:1 tuner bult in. only the 9:1 on some bands I have to E tune at 50% power. I have put a KW into a DX commander. works great and SWR stays down. 73's
I'm using an inverted V fan dipole in the attic cut for 12m 17m and 20m, but the 20m is end loaded and only two feet longer than a 10m dipole. The 12m dipole is also under 2:1 at the bottom end of 10m. Its under 3:1 on 15m. I use it on 30m too with a tuner. On its main bands it doesn't need a tuner so its pretty efficient.
Interesting, I’ve always been intrigued by attic antennas. I had a dipole in my attic for shortwave listening when I was a kid. Sounds like you have yours dialed in. Thanks for sharing. 73, Walt
Thanks for compiling this list which can be really helpful for people who are new into ham radio (like I am). 🙂 I operate portable and I use a T2LT (flower pot) for 15m on a 12m (40ft) mast. Now I would like to check your number 1 (the EFHW) as an alternative. I am confused regarding the UnUn, though: In the first sketch (white text on blue) it says 49:1, whereas the 2nd sketch shown a bit later says 9:1. Which one should I use (15 m band)? 🤔 73 de DO1HNR, Henner
Hello Walt your antennas are all multiband but the humble 5/8 is a great antenna as well a vertical dipole for 20 meters, ladder line fed making it multiband.
Hi Walt i love your video,s. and wanted to make almost al of the antennes i saw in the video,s the fire is burning again , thanks a lot Walt.73 Maarten PA3DTQ from the Netherlands.
I’ve bought a few years ago a Balun/Unun 4:1 1-70 MHz. 2kw Rf transformer 200 homs to 50 homs … ….anyways I was looking at your video trying to determine what kind of Antenna I would built for this item that I bought . Very interesting video you put together. 73”
I now live in a shared garden about ten folk so have to use a long wire with baking BUT when I had my own garden I made an 8 band sagger it at highest point was only twenty foot but was great Mike in uk
It's funny when I lived in NJ 100'x572' lot I had an 80m sky loop. When I moved to WV 35 acres I had too many trees in the way to put up that size loop. I now live in NC .66 acres I have been trying to plan on supports for an 80m sky loop. It has been some time since I have been on HF I would like to get back into the swing of things
Once again a great video Walt. However, I do miss the open line fed doublet antenna in your list. A doublet antenna fed with open line or ladder line is such a great performer and multiband antenna it deserves a (high ranked) place in the top list of wire antennas. Best 73 de ON4MGY Nic
Another great video Walt. Have you ever played with a linked vertical? Same idea as the linked dipole but only one leg going vertical tuned against a few radials. Resonant and no need for an atu. Take your 20m quarter wave, it's got 17, 15, 12 and 10m hiding in it and just waiting to be found with links or jumpers giving you resonant quarter waves from one wire. Keep up the good work de Mi5JYK
Great info Walt. For a permanent install, I'm thinking of a fan dipole or an OCF antenna. I have a few squid poles for a vertical end fed or trying portable. I also want to make a slim Jim and a 2m Yagi to reach my repeater or 2 or 3 as I'm in a valley. Inspiring video buddy, you already have alot of energy in your video's.💪🍻🤠🇦🇺
I still need to try a 41' 9:1 and 17-five 4:1 (I've got a variation on this I want to try). The TennTennas 49:1 and LDG Infinity Stones make it so easy to make new antennas. I can't say enough good stuff about Tim N9SAB's antennas, especially the OCFD.
Interesting and helpful, especially for someone like me working towards their first license. Thanks. One question if I may: we live in a notoriously breezy place near the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, so I was concerned about using very fine-gauge wire for what will be a longwire going up into our locust tree, which will sway a good deal when the winds occur. I have a LoG utilising 18-gauge speaker wire for SWL, but for this I felt something like 12-gauge was a better option and got some of that Cerrowire stuff in bulk from Home depot. Would you envisage any problems using that gauge? I was reading that too fine a wire when hanging and stretching from a tree to the house can lead to easy breakage.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks and that's ok because I only just discovered your reply! Must get my notifications sorted. Btw the antenna works pretty well from 40 down to 10 although 10 is a bity sketchy, so thanks for all the informative vids that have been and remain a great help and inspiration. I have a DX Commander Classic pole arriving next week for my Birthday so hoping to have some fun with that. Thanks again Walt :-) Les, KK7TPM.
Great collection of antenna ideas! I like experimenting with homemade antennas almost as much as being on the air. Everything I have up right now is monoband resonant- I don't own a tuner (though I suppose I could have bought a tuner for the money I've spent in separate coax feeds). I'm blessed to own an extremely wide lot, so now I'm looking at what my options are for 80 and 160. The lot is plenty wide enough for a half-wave dipole for 160, but my shack is off to one end. So it's either end-fed or a long coax run to the center of the property... unless you have any ideas.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I still have more learning to do on efhw antennas, I'm still confused on what balun or unun I need to use to make monobanders for 80 and 160. Seems the more I read, the more confused I get!
...keep in mind Walt that not every ham is interested in DX... that horizontal EFHW @ 25'-30' (no higher) on 80 or on 40m @ 15-20' to make the perfect antenna for local (up to 350 miles) check-in nets or even 'bug-out' emergency comms. That vertical 20m or 40m EFHW with little or no RF energy to the vertical will blow the doors off of everything else if your just lookin to work DX. Yes, you can build a 20-40 m EFHW vertical using a trap and still put it on an inexpensive 12M (40') Spiderbeam mast/pole. Note.. I am now using the previously forbidden 61 material ferrite cable core wound auto transformer style, and a 120pf cap to achieve well over 90% efficiency on 40 and 20.. My G90 works well...Often listen to myself on the SDR RX sites to determine true efficiency and performance.... they don't use 4 element monobnd beams.
Hola Walt, so you inspired me to build # 7, the 29 footer with the 9:1 unun and the 17' counterpoise. Instead of buying the DX Commander pole, I used an old Imax 2000 10M antenna, which is about 22' long. The poor thing had seen better days anyway and strands of fiberglass started to show. I just wrapped the speaker wire enough times to make it as long as the antenna and voila...it certainly receives better than the old 2000 would and gets out great about 1:1 on 20M. Thanks Walt...love your voice, bro hihi...73 Jorge the WP4 @ SATX PS: The same day I watched this video the first time about 3 months ago, I talked to to Tim N9SAB on 20M. Coincidence?
Another great freakin' video Walt! Unfortunately I can't give you any new ideas, because all of mine came from you and your videos!😆 Keep them coming my friend! 73 Justin KD0QZR
I like my end fed half wave for 40 meters (65-66 foot antenna side, 17 foot ground side). It's full wave for 20m. 9:1 unun connecting the antenna to the ground. 1:1 balun near radio. It's basically NVIS, but I've reached as far as Hawaii from San Francisco.
Pretty good list. Obviously the numbers were not in order of gain, simplicity or anything more than what you tend to use the most. At least it seems like that’s the order. I think your numbers 10 and 1 are the best for single band performance. For ease of installation the 1/4 wave vertical takes my number 1 spot with the inverted V a close second. For raw gain it would be the dipole at half wave high. I think the delta loop takes dead last in most categories as it’s too much wire for easy and normally less gain than a dipole. For multi bands the clear winners in performance are the longest horizontal wire that tunes on your lowest band of choice and one of the non resonant verticals, also the longest one that tunes on your lowest frequency of choice. Good job!
thanks for your videos! sub'd. i have been working, with power of >1000w, EFHW inverted vee on 20m (14.238 +/- 5kc's) early a.m. for VK (aussie/kiwi) contacts with high success from FL. i now want to do some
I am loving my new2 element Bruce array, the 1/4 wave elements make it a lot easier to install than 1/2 length elements, and the lower height requirements make building them a lot easier than a lot of antennas, and of course, I hate radials.
Awesome content! Keep up the great work! Sooo, if you’re looking for antenna ideas to experiment with, i was getting into stealth stuff, and was thinking about doing dipoles, wrapped around pvc, to keep them short, and then mounting them horizontally on top of fences, garage, house, etc - Whether it’s because of HOA rules, or you just dont want to be a flame for moths if the SHTF - How stealthy can we get?
Another awesome video - is there a good source you can recommend on calculating the lengths of the counterpoises? Its an area where I've stuggled to find anything meaningful / useful.
All fun antennas! I agree on the vertical EFHW. Mine is linked @ 20m to add 40m, as in inverted-L. That is what I almost always run in the RV. Great video for beginners! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless Walt!
I am new to HF. I bought a Palomar Engineers Bullet-8006-1500L antenna. I was anxious to get on the air, and it fit my installation requirements. It works very well. My FTDX10 tunes all bands to 1:1 or unity (except 30). It uses the shield of the last 40 feet of coax as one pole of the antenna. The coax is vertical to the 4:1 UnUn. The 95 ft. wire is horizontal. I have made DX contacts on 80, 40, 20, 17, and 10 meters. I even worked Australia and Russia (from Louisiana). Some of the "older" operators I know were skeptical when I told them about this antenna. What I would like to know from you, is do you have experience with antennas that use the coax shield as a radiating element? I don't mean using old coax for a wire. Thanks.
How about a video on receive only antennas. I use a hexbeam for my maim antenna but my radio has the capability of using a recoeve only antenna. I'm wondering if there might be one that works even better than the hex that might help me when I need to hear a station on the edge. I can run a little more power on transmit but it doesn't really help unless I can hear the other station.
I just built a 80-15ish random wire rubber duck on a 5ft fishing rod. I haven't quite finished it yet so I don't know how horrible it is with more than 250mW going through it but it will probably be good enough to do pedestrian mobile without cooking myself.
I got the plans from an ARRL handbook ( I don't remember the year now) it said no Balun was needed it was fed with a thin coax. All of the plans that I have seen have called for some sort of Balun. I used mine with out, and made contacts all over the world. Any reason there is no mention of not using a Balun?
Inspiring stuff Walt and a good starting place for people to try these set-ups. Do you ever guy your DX Commander Classic? Has it developed any cracks? Have you compared it with a Spiderbeam? I ask as I'm considering buying a DX Commander. Thanks for the great video.👍
Half-Square - only needs to be 1/4 wave plus a foot or two in Height - from your "Center" Insulator in one Top Corner, drop a 1/4 ground lead - on rhe "hot" side, run a 1/2 wave "Phasing Line" to an Insulator, rhen drop the wire 1/4 wave down. You will get a great Broadside Lobe with 3db Gain, and good Nulls of the ends. I am able to position mine to favor New England (1,2,3,8's) and Southern California (6, lower 7 and ∅'s). These are concentrated population centers. I run QRP so the 3db and end nulls help! Ideal for 10, 15, or 20, and still manageable on 40m. The wires only need ro clear the ground. The feedline should come out away from the ground side element.
Walt--an idea for something different but within scope.....could you think about a wire antenna with balun covering g 160-10? I've been told that you could make a wire antenna, resonant on ham bands using g 1.8 MHz as a harmonic, and a 49 or 56 or 64:1 balun. I k ow this isn't an on-the-beach vertical, but beaches are big or your estate in Poland... Wrapping 240ft of wire up and down and around might be worth it to get on 160, 80, 60,40,30,20,17,15,12,and 10. Just a thought for one of thise different episodes as tbe Beach gets cold but knowing you have lots of trees in VA.73 De WO8USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
You need to go back to college and learn English 🤣 Seriously though, my goal (after I finally get off the gold mine and buy the FT-891 and necessary accoutrements I want/need) is to go out in the desert or up in the mountains and have some fun setting up whatever wire antennas I can make work. I also need to keep the kit as small as I can since I'll be traveling on one of my motorcycles...........so I can mix both hobbies at once!! Your channel should help with that immensely!! Which is why I just subscribed!!
Could you do a video on SWL antennas. There are some who like to listen. some of us who use SWL on bands we do not have transmitters for. Odd note here. My Baofeng has an FM BCB ( RX only) part on it, so I bought a little ATS-20+ that has the AM (BCB) on it. I would like to find a list of the Short wave broadcast stations and the frequency/schedules for some of them. Do you know where I could fund it. Right now both money and health are slowing me down But I have the SWL radio. I can make an antenna, and would like to listen to the world, until such time as I can get a "decent radio" for under 50 watts.
Hi Walt, in this video your #1 antenna is the vertical efhw 20-10 meter. On your 1st picture you show a 49:1 unun and in your 2nd picture you show a 9:1 unun. I'm guessing its a 9:1, am I right?
Have you tried the DXE-MC20-1-1T its not as cheap as others but seems to have better numbers? I would love to test both personally, Been a Ham for 30 years, I have lots of acres and back ground in Electrical Design / engineering
I just got my technician class license a couple weeks ago and I'm considering buying a Radioddity QT80 10 Meter Radio. I'd really like to do POTA. What kind of antenna would you recommend?
I always say that the best antenna to get started with is a quarterwave vertical. Take a look through my videos I have a few videos on constructing them. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Good Morning Walt, I just watched your review of the Ziegu G90 and I'm thinking that might be a better choice - my wife and I have a teardrop camper and plan on doing more camping when I retire (soon). I also did some research on the 10 meter 1/4 wave antenna - at just over 8 feet I think that might make a good antenna to travel with. I appreciate your thoughts - it can be confusing but thanks to youtube I'm starting to pick up on some of the finer details. 73, Carmen - KC3ZQS
Yeah making antennas. Around 1980. I went to Radio Engineering Inc. in Sarasota, Florida. For a summer. To prepare for my 1st Class FCC Radiotelephone License. And on the trip down there. I had my CB radio/base station. That ran on either 12 volts DC or 120 volts AC. But on the second floor of this dormitory. I had no access to an antenna. The one on the car was screwed in. So? What to do? 44 years ago, I had just gotten a brand-new Texas Instrument, Electronic Sliderule a.k.a. calculator. To help my poor math aptitude out. And that had a DC wall wart, power supply with 6 foot cord. The plug on that 6 foot cord was smaller than the center conductor. To the coaxial cable connector. On the back of the CB radio. So I just stuck it in. And my CB radio lit up with dozens and dozens of signals, operators, calls. I'm picking up a ton of people. My signal strength meter is nearly, pegged. And of course no ground is connected. It's just a 6 foot piece of wire. With a wall wart at the end of it. Not plugged into anything, of course. But the signals are great sounding. I wondered what would happen? If I were to key up the microphone? It might likely blow up my CB transmitter? With no proper load across the, PL-259 connector. But? I am already drunk and stoned and it's nighttime. So? What do I have to lose? So I key up the microphone. And look at the meter very quickly. And strangely? It's sitting right where it's supposed to? This can't be right? There's no ground connected! It seems to be loading just fine. I wonder if anybody can hear me? Breaker breaker good buddy! Well this turned out to work exceedingly well. I was talking to people, 10 miles away. My signal was exceptional everybody said. I was like what the hell is going on here? I am plugged into a, calculator charger cord. That is lying on the floor. This is not normal. This should not be happening! And all of the other guys in class with me. They are equally amazed. Because this should not be. It's impossible for this to work properly. But it seems to be working marvelously. The next day in class. This was a topic of major discussion. And our professor and former military instructor. Says this is not possible. This cannot work. And everybody said. No it really works. And I'm just sitting there, smiling. With my CB radio and calculator charger cord I brought with me to class. So I put it on the professors front table. I plug it in. Rest the charger cord plug inside the, CB radio socket. And it works great. The professor got angry. And so this cannot be. Thought it was some kind of trick. Nope. No trick. It was the most ridiculous thing ever! It completely destroyed everything he was teaching us. Everything! And so then you said everybody should build antennas. You don't need to a simple old Texas instrument calculator charger cord will work great at 27 MHz on the 11 m band. You can't pay for an antenna to work better. It was the most ridiculous thing ever. It only proves. Electromagnetic waves are really electro magical waves. And sometimes choose to entertain us. I didn't even know, those electromagnetic waves, liked me? But they sure did when I plugged in that calculator charger cord into the CB radio antenna socket. So remember that. It's great for 11 meters at 27 MHz. Don't spend money on a real one. Go into your box of junk. You'll find one of those charger cords lying around. That goes to that gizmo whose batteries died. And it only needs to be about 12 feet off the ground maybe 13. I guess maybe for, 2 meters/GMRS and what have you? Unfolded paperclips might work. And look at all the time and money you would have saved. Just connect a paperclip into your antenna socket. It'll probably work great. Much like an antenna. We can only hope. Trying to save money in go greener. Without being so wasteful. I mean we can unwind a burned out motor winding. And make that a helical antenna. By wrapping it around a flagpole you don't have any flags for anymore. And you can make an extra little curly Q, at the top. And they call that Top Loading. The same way we drink our Beer! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha! It can be a lot of fun making antennas out of, wars. RemyRAD
Wire is the greatest gift to HF QRP portable there is for those who hate spending big bucks on antennas (ME !).
Yes it is!!!
Great breakdown on antenna strategies. I'm jealous of your locations.
Thanks! I’m blessed to live here. 73, Walt
I liked this video before I even started watching 😂. Thanks for all you do Walt! Loving the channel.
Thank you so much!!!!!
love your energy and making your own is way cheaper than buying one from one of the many companies out there. Thank you for reminding me of this.
@@mikemcdonald5147 thank you for the kind words! 73, Walt
An OCFD 80-6m, inverted V is my main antenna at the station. So versatile and works great! Western Australia to Asiatic Russia from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, it talks great!
Excellent. It's nice to know that "Large Money" doesn't have to be spent to achieve great performance. Best Regards.
Fantastic video! by far the most useful I've watched about home-made HF wire antennas.
Really appreciate the drawings. Thanks a lot!
This video will definitely be my #1 reference when I start messing with poles, wires, insulators and baluns/ununs next spring/summer.
Thanks! have fun building those antennas!
I have watched a lot of youtube videos about antennas and yours is by far the best for me, the simple plain explanation of your antennas is a god send, I have ADHD so when TH-camrs start on about formulas and charts I lose interest real quick, your format is really good I look forward to many more videos from you, regards, Ian
Thank you Ian! I think the TH-camrs that role out the charts and formulas are just trying to impress themselves lol. All the best and 73!
Thank you for sharing your info with the ham community.
Thank you so very much for watching and commenting!
Great antenna roundup Walt! You are spot on with Tim and his antennas. I have several of his antennas and they always perform!
Thank you! 73 my friend!
The 41' random vertical absolutely rocks and it does work just fine on the Spiderbeams 12 meter mast you just have to rotate the mast as you raise it.
Good stuff, I'm looking into getting that mast. Thanks, Walt
I really enjoy your channel. You keep antenna building simple. One key factor I missed when starting my build journey is having an swr meter. With this I would have gotten on the air sooner and spent less on wire.
As someone who just recently purchased an SDR dongle and wants to improve their Rx ability within the HF spectrum I find these videos very helpful even though this is aimed at a very different audience. Thanks for putting the time into the videos.
Thank you so very much. I also do a lot of listening with SDR dongles as well. I use my ham antennas for SWL.
Great vid!!! You mentioned the EFHW. The one I love for the QTH is the 130 foot, 75-10 meter, EFHW antenna! For the most part, its easy to build and easy to put up. It uses a 56:1 unun which opens the antenna up to multiple bands and no antenna tuner required (for the most part). Absolutely love this antenna! It's well worth an "Honorable Mention" for the amateur antenna builder. As a side note, I use 14 AWG wire inside and outside the unun so as to run the legal limit (watts). Thanks for takinng the time and effort in creating this youutube vid!!!
Thank you so much for the kind words and for watching! 73, Walt
You introduced me to the Rybakov and I love it as well.
It's such a great antenna!
Great video, Walt! I threw together an inverted V for ten meters a couple of months ago. I just cut up some speaker wire and hung it from a makeshift pole made of PVC. I hooked it up and my first contact was Sarajevo from central KS! The only downside to the V is that it is HIGHLY directional. I found myself hearing the same few operators over and over and would only hear new DX when I went out in the yard and moved the ends around. Now I'm working on a 10m Moxon, but this is a much more difficult build. Thanks for the great videos! 73 W2ASH Jason
Thanks! That Moxon should kick butt. Seems every contact I have with somebody using one their signal is great. Thanks for watching! 73, Walt
Just wanted to let you know I really appreciate your videos. Just getting back into the hobby after a 7-8 year break and have watched a couple of your videos - good video quality, nice audio, solid content and honest opinions of what has and has not worked for you. Thank you. Looking forward to watching more.
For me the #1 wire ant is the OCF dipole. For me it worked better tan any other dipole I ever built. Love the videos.
Walt, great video! I work all HF bands including WARC bands with a stealth 71' non resonant end fed sloper, 9:1 unun, 50' low loss coax, common mode choke on jumper 3' from transceiver. Antenna tuner is needed on 160 - 40 meters (not on other bands) for SWR of 1.5 or less on all HF bands.
Thanks! WOW that sounds like an awesome antenna!
Hey Walt, I'm sitting here with a pile of parts trying to decide what to build. Great, Great video. Gave me so many ideas. First build will be the 4:1. My 7.2 m pole is on the way. I might even build two. If I come up with something new and improved, I'll send it to you to try. Well 4:1, here I come. Thanks again for the ideas.
Thanks! have fun building those antennas my friend!!!
Great Vid as always and i have been doing all my home QSO's on random wire 35.5' with a home brew 9:1 unun slooper out the window like you had shown in one of your past vids in Poland after getting my g90 and my general in aug of this year able to get out to Spain, brazil from WV all on 20W . Just bought 200" of 16g speaker wire from Woot when they out them on sale for $5 per 100' can't wait to make some more wire antennas from your channel this winter Thanks for all the great content
Thanks! Have fun making those antennas!
Good morning Walt had some fantastic results with my inverted V bell wire antenna along with my home built transformers, but my 10m wire delta loop has been the most rewarding regarding to use. Normally deployed on a 10m squid pole, image on my QRZ page. I used 75ohm coax to drop the feed point impedance swr is around 1.2.1 across the 10m band. Been a pleasure watching your videos have a great Christmas and look forward to 2024, 73 M7CVK Tony
Thank you so much Tony, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friend! 73, Walt
Many thanks from Australia, just getting back to HF 10 meters, and building my own antennas, it is amazing how inexpensive a good antenna can be made from a few lengths of wire and an insulator, the most expensive part is a telescopic pole.
Thanks for watching! Roger that!
In my current setup, where I have only a window and a tree in front of me, I used an EFRW 41 foot antenna combined with a 9:1 unun to cover the 40-10 meter bands using just 5 watts, for portable my fav it’s Delta loop antenna’s, thx 4 ur vid Walt 73
That's a great setup, trees are a ham's best friend. All the best and 73 my friend!
The first antenna I built is an H-Pole antenna. It's a vertical antenna that (when completed) is about 30 feet long and I built it from scrap I had around the house. When I tested it I was able to get from SE Massachusetts to the Canary Islands, and that was sloped from 30-foot to six foot, before a wind storm took down the pole I was using. Now I have a new QTH and I'm looking forward to getting it up in the air for better testing.
That’s awesome! Good luck getting it back up and running.
There is some great advice here, thanks and wishing you well. Good antennas can be made with simple wire and supports and sometimes with balun or unun. Great to see you sharing this timeless wisdom. I have fun with dipole (or vee), or random wire 29 feet with 9:1 unun, or many other arrangements, so fun to experiment! Put the "fire to the wire" and have fun!
Dave WA4NID
Roger that, thank you so much Dave! 73, Walt
Wow so many information condensed is this video! Thanks!! I like your videos about wire antennas! 73!
Thank you so very much! 73, Walt
Excellent video again, Walt. My main home aerial is the off-centre-fed dipole 20m long, while I tend to use EFHW verticals for portable / QRP work, usually with a simple radial set to convert to a quarter wave. I also built your 10m delta loop earlier this year and got good results from it. 73 de M1GWZ.
Thanks so much! I want to get out and experiment with some more Delta Loops. 73 my friend!
👍Good stuff Walt. Glad you mentioned delta loops. An A-shape loop may be an easier option when fed at centre or end of the bottom wire and held up with just a single mast.
Thanks! Roger that, I need to go deeper down the Delta Loop trail for sure.
Interesting choices. I like to build antennas also. My favorite is my 80 meter loop. The loop is mounted horizontally about 20ft off the ground. I use it on all bands with 20-100 watts. On 10 meters I also use a 1/4 wave vertical with radials or a delta loop hung from a tree branch. Most of my home made antennas start on 10 meters because they are smaller and cheaper to play with. The more successful antennas get tried on lower frequency bands. Thanks for taking the time to share some of your knowledge of antennas. Phil
I have an LDG unun reserved for the Rybakov. Good stuff, Walt. Thanks.
Thanks! you will love that antenna!
Fantastic video Walt. Thanks for all the information.
Thanks for watching! 73, Walt
You are the man 😅😅😅😅
My favorites are the 20m EFHW vertical, the Rybakov, and long random wire. I am currently playing with a 20m doublet which is showing good performance so far. The 20m EFHW was also pretty good on 40m since it is close to a 1/4 wave vertical.
Great video. Built and EFHW as a sloper configuration with LDG 9:1 Unun, 53' Wire, Dog Bone Insulator, and stainless antenna wire clips. You gave me ideas for more antenna builds.
Walt I use a 20 meter wire vertical dipole. The dipole at the center is 33 ft above ground. I have a coax choke and a 1:1 voltage balun I had. The mast is aluminum so the lower element is is out at 45 degree angle. The top element is supported by 7.2 m fiberglass fishing rod. Where on this antenna
is the strongest radiation,Walt. Thank you for all your ideas on wire antennas.😊
This is an absolutely great video! so much helpful information about antennas!
Thank you so very much!
Congratulações excelente dinâmica da antena 73 pw8gts
Thanks Walt, All the greats.
Thanks for watching! 73, Walt
Great info and suggestions! One antenna that has been absent since probably the 1980s is the quarter wave sloper.. Those of us with a tower for awhile, perhaps under the guise of a support for a TV antenna used to put up a quarter wave sloper and they worked very well but the info on how and why is almost non existent.. I lived in a mobile home in 1980 and it had a tower when I moved in. I installed both a 40 meter antenna and an 80 meter antenna on the same feed line and they both got out using an HW-8 QRP rig. Modern test and analysis mightt be useful! W8VIW
Awesome video, I am new to the world of Ham and live in an HOA so I want to be stealth in my antennas.
Thanks! 73, Walt
That was great. my favorite's antenna is the dipole wire antenna. love trying different ones. love that DX commander pole . have same one and the 7 meter one. I am using the DX commander wire as well. the one I had fun with is a full wave loop on ground antenna. this great for NVIS and low noise. takes a 4:1 . when close to ground or on ground the tune length will be a tad shorter . I did a 160 meter one. done in NY winter. got out great ! great 1.5 or less threw the whole band. the outher antenna I like is the fanned dipole. can be done vert and great tune on many bands. easy set up. What the DX commander expedition is. once bult and tuned easy to setup take down. some tune 6 and 2 meters. I made 3/4 wave wire for 6 and 10/11/12 meters for mono band. I did a fold over for the 10 meter element great tune and tunes 12,11,10 meters . great RX with 3/.4 wave bur brings up the noise floor a bit in spots. depends what park I use. the 6 meter 3/4 wave coved the whole band with out a tuner. I have IC 7300 has 3:1 tuner bult in. only the 9:1 on some bands I have to E tune at 50% power. I have put a KW into a DX commander. works great and SWR stays down. 73's
Thanks and thanks for the great comment. That's so cool! 73, Walt
Thanks for another great video, Walt! 73 es DX, Tom
Great summary, thanks!😀🇺🇸
Thanks! 73, Walt 🇺🇸
Thanks Walt. Very inspiring!
Thanks for the kind words!
I'm using an inverted V fan dipole in the attic cut for 12m 17m and 20m, but the 20m is end loaded and only two feet longer than a 10m dipole. The 12m dipole is also under 2:1 at the bottom end of 10m. Its under 3:1 on 15m. I use it on 30m too with a tuner. On its main bands it doesn't need a tuner so its pretty efficient.
Interesting, I’ve always been intrigued by attic antennas. I had a dipole in my attic for shortwave listening when I was a kid. Sounds like you have yours dialed in. Thanks for sharing. 73, Walt
Excellent video! Thank you. I am going to try the 17-Five. I'm not near the ocean but I bet it will still perform.
Thank you! 73, Walt
Nice one Walt, thank you my friend 👍
Thank you so much! 73
Great list Walt! 73
Thanks!! 73, Walt
Thanks for compiling this list which can be really helpful for people who are new into ham radio (like I am). 🙂 I operate portable and I use a T2LT (flower pot) for 15m on a 12m (40ft) mast. Now I would like to check your number 1 (the EFHW) as an alternative. I am confused regarding the UnUn, though: In the first sketch (white text on blue) it says 49:1, whereas the 2nd sketch shown a bit later says 9:1. Which one should I use (15 m band)? 🤔
73 de DO1HNR, Henner
Thank you so very much for watching and for supporting the channel. I greatly appreciate it! 73, Walt
Great video, Walt
I'd have to agree with you on your #1 😊
73, Walt NE4TN
Thanks Walt! That unun I use is amazing, you should look into them hahaha
Hello Walt your antennas are all multiband but the humble 5/8 is a great antenna as well a vertical dipole for 20 meters, ladder line fed making it multiband.
Yes those are both great antennas.
Hi Walt i love your video,s. and wanted to make almost al of the antennes i saw in the video,s
the fire is burning again , thanks a lot Walt.73 Maarten PA3DTQ from the Netherlands.
I’ve bought a few years ago a
Balun/Unun 4:1 1-70 MHz. 2kw
Rf transformer 200 homs to 50 homs … ….anyways I was looking at your video trying to determine what kind of Antenna I would built for this item that I bought . Very interesting video you put together. 73”
Thanks for watching! 73, Walt
Love the hoodie, brother! Hope to chat on the air some day. Also, great ideas.
Thank you so much! Hope to catch you soon! 73, Walt
I now live in a shared garden about ten folk so have to use a long wire with baking BUT when I had my own garden I made an 8 band sagger it at highest point was only twenty foot but was great Mike in uk
Thank you for the video!
Thank you for watching!
It's funny when I lived in NJ 100'x572' lot I had an 80m sky loop. When I moved to WV 35 acres I had too many trees in the way to put up that size loop. I now live in NC .66 acres I have been trying to plan on supports for an 80m sky loop. It has been some time since I have been on HF I would like to get back into the swing of things
Now is a great time to get back on HF we’re nearing the peak of Solar Cycle 25.
Nice video.
The OCFD you show at 19:12 is not 1/2+2/3, is is fed at 17.4 %.
Outstanding
Once again a great video Walt. However, I do miss the open line fed doublet antenna in your list. A doublet antenna fed with open line or ladder line is such a great performer and multiband antenna it deserves a (high ranked) place in the top list of wire antennas. Best 73 de ON4MGY Nic
Thanks Nic, great antenna. I need to build one and add it for sure. Best 73, Walt
Another great video Walt. Have you ever played with a linked vertical? Same idea as the linked dipole but only one leg going vertical tuned against a few radials. Resonant and no need for an atu.
Take your 20m quarter wave, it's got 17, 15, 12 and 10m hiding in it and just waiting to be found with links or jumpers giving you resonant quarter waves from one wire.
Keep up the good work de Mi5JYK
Thanks! I have looked into that antenna but have never built one. It’s on my list of future projects. 73, Walt
Great info Walt.
For a permanent install, I'm thinking of a fan dipole or an OCF antenna. I have a few squid poles for a vertical end fed or trying portable. I also want to make a slim Jim and a 2m Yagi to reach my repeater or 2 or 3 as I'm in a valley.
Inspiring video buddy, you already have alot of energy in your video's.💪🍻🤠🇦🇺
Thank you so much my friend, The OCF is awesome, give that a try.
I still need to try a 41' 9:1 and 17-five 4:1 (I've got a variation on this I want to try). The TennTennas 49:1 and LDG Infinity Stones make it so easy to make new antennas. I can't say enough good stuff about Tim N9SAB's antennas, especially the OCFD.
Roger that, Tim is awesome!
Interesting and helpful, especially for someone like me working towards their first license. Thanks. One question if I may: we live in a notoriously breezy place near the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, so I was concerned about using very fine-gauge wire for what will be a longwire going up into our locust tree, which will sway a good deal when the winds occur. I have a LoG utilising 18-gauge speaker wire for SWL, but for this I felt something like 12-gauge was a better option and got some of that Cerrowire stuff in bulk from Home depot. Would you envisage any problems using that gauge? I was reading that too fine a wire when hanging and stretching from a tree to the house can lead to easy breakage.
What did I say wrong? 😦
Sorry, I missed this comment. I don’t see any issues at all using 12 gauge wire.
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks and that's ok because I only just discovered your reply! Must get my notifications sorted. Btw the antenna works pretty well from 40 down to 10 although 10 is a bity sketchy, so thanks for all the informative vids that have been and remain a great help and inspiration. I have a DX Commander Classic pole arriving next week for my Birthday so hoping to have some fun with that. Thanks again Walt :-) Les, KK7TPM.
Great collection of antenna ideas! I like experimenting with homemade antennas almost as much as being on the air. Everything I have up right now is monoband resonant- I don't own a tuner (though I suppose I could have bought a tuner for the money I've spent in separate coax feeds). I'm blessed to own an extremely wide lot, so now I'm looking at what my options are for 80 and 160. The lot is plenty wide enough for a half-wave dipole for 160, but my shack is off to one end. So it's either end-fed or a long coax run to the center of the property... unless you have any ideas.
Oh how I dream of having that much room for antennas LOL. I would for sure try an end fed for 80 and 160 if I were you. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I still have more learning to do on efhw antennas, I'm still confused on what balun or unun I need to use to make monobanders for 80 and 160. Seems the more I read, the more confused I get!
Thanks for posting! Work with a QRP radio. Tru Dx I believe off hand. My focus is Emergency Communications.
...keep in mind Walt that not every ham is interested in DX... that horizontal EFHW @ 25'-30' (no higher) on 80 or on 40m @ 15-20' to make the perfect antenna for local (up to 350 miles) check-in nets or even 'bug-out' emergency comms. That vertical 20m or 40m EFHW with little or no RF energy to the vertical will blow the doors off of everything else if your just lookin to work DX.
Yes, you can build a 20-40 m EFHW vertical using a trap and still put it on an inexpensive 12M (40') Spiderbeam mast/pole. Note.. I am now using the previously forbidden 61 material ferrite cable core wound auto transformer style, and a 120pf cap to achieve well over 90% efficiency on 40 and 20.. My G90 works well...Often listen to myself on the SDR RX sites to determine true efficiency and performance.... they don't use 4 element monobnd beams.
Hola Walt, so you inspired me to build # 7, the 29 footer with the 9:1 unun and the 17' counterpoise. Instead of buying the DX Commander pole, I used an old Imax 2000 10M antenna, which is about 22' long. The poor thing had seen better days anyway and strands of fiberglass started to show. I just wrapped the speaker wire enough times to make it as long as the antenna and voila...it certainly receives better than the old 2000 would and gets out great about 1:1 on 20M. Thanks Walt...love your voice, bro hihi...73 Jorge the WP4 @ SATX
PS: The same day I watched this video the first time about 3 months ago, I talked to to Tim N9SAB on 20M. Coincidence?
Thanks Jorge! 73 my friend
Another great freakin' video Walt! Unfortunately I can't give you any new ideas, because all of mine came from you and your videos!😆 Keep them coming my friend!
73
Justin KD0QZR
Thanks so much Justin! 73 my friend!
Fun top ten. I bet you could do something cool with a long tape measure. Easy to deploy and already marked for length..
PS- I'm working a 71 foot random wire, but it's crap with a 9:1. But super neato.with a 49:1! 80-6M, minimal tuning needed.
Hmmm, a tape measure antenna! check out my video on that hahaha:
th-cam.com/video/f6wgCK563Gc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=M-9OugViXBGsvg5A
That's awesome. 73 my friend
I like my end fed half wave for 40 meters (65-66 foot antenna side, 17 foot ground side). It's full wave for 20m. 9:1 unun connecting the antenna to the ground. 1:1 balun near radio. It's basically NVIS, but I've reached as far as Hawaii from San Francisco.
Hello Walt. Awesome video. Have you ever built a Moxon antenna?
Thanks! No but I have one planned. Great antenna
Pretty good list. Obviously the numbers were not in order of gain, simplicity or anything more than what you tend to use the most. At least it seems like that’s the order.
I think your numbers 10 and 1 are the best for single band performance. For ease of installation the 1/4 wave vertical takes my number 1 spot with the inverted V a close second. For raw gain it would be the dipole at half wave high. I think the delta loop takes dead last in most categories as it’s too much wire for easy and normally less gain than a dipole. For multi bands the clear winners in performance are the longest horizontal wire that tunes on your lowest band of choice and one of the non resonant verticals, also the longest one that tunes on your lowest frequency of choice.
Good job!
Good choices! Yes the order is just my personal preference. 73 my friend!
thanks for your videos! sub'd. i have been working, with power of >1000w, EFHW inverted vee on 20m (14.238 +/- 5kc's) early a.m. for VK (aussie/kiwi) contacts with high success from FL. i now want to do some
thanks great video
Thank you so much!
I am loving my new2 element Bruce array, the 1/4 wave elements make it a lot easier to install than 1/2 length elements, and the lower height requirements make building them a lot easier than a lot of antennas, and of course, I hate radials.
awesome antenna!
Awesome content! Keep up the great work! Sooo, if you’re looking for antenna ideas to experiment with, i was getting into stealth stuff, and was thinking about doing dipoles, wrapped around pvc, to keep them short, and then mounting them horizontally on top of fences, garage, house, etc - Whether it’s because of HOA rules, or you just dont want to be a flame for moths if the SHTF - How stealthy can we get?
That’s a great idea! 73, Walt
Great vid, interesting order. How about a Moxon Antenna ? I’ve seen some interesting builds
Oh I really want to build a Moxon!
Great video, maybe you can try the T2LT (flowerpot) antenna, as per G5TM (Tim) videos?
Thanks! Great idea, I should try that.
Another awesome video - is there a good source you can recommend on calculating the lengths of the counterpoises? Its an area where I've stuggled to find anything meaningful / useful.
HI Walt, I wish I could give you some ideas However I'm learning a lot from you. Merry Christmas KO4HPC 73
Thanks! Merry Christmas my friend!
All fun antennas! I agree on the vertical EFHW. Mine is linked @ 20m to add 40m, as in inverted-L. That is what I almost always run in the RV.
Great video for beginners! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless Walt!
Thank you so much! Merry Christmas and God bless my friend!
I am new to HF. I bought a Palomar Engineers Bullet-8006-1500L antenna. I was anxious to get on the air, and it fit my installation requirements. It works very well. My FTDX10 tunes all bands to 1:1 or unity (except 30). It uses the shield of the last 40 feet of coax as one pole of the antenna. The coax is vertical to the 4:1 UnUn. The 95 ft. wire is horizontal. I have made DX contacts on 80, 40, 20, 17, and 10 meters. I even worked Australia and Russia (from Louisiana). Some of the "older" operators I know were skeptical when I told them about this antenna. What I would like to know from you, is do you have experience with antennas that use the coax shield as a radiating element? I don't mean using old coax for a wire. Thanks.
How about a video on receive only antennas. I use a hexbeam for my maim antenna but my radio has the capability of using a recoeve only antenna. I'm wondering if there might be one that works even better than the hex that might help me when I need to hear a station on the edge. I can run a little more power on transmit but it doesn't really help unless I can hear the other station.
That’s a great idea, I’ll definitely look into that.
I just built a 80-15ish random wire rubber duck on a 5ft fishing rod. I haven't quite finished it yet so I don't know how horrible it is with more than 250mW going through it but it will probably be good enough to do pedestrian mobile without cooking myself.
When I go HamCation and see $200 plus Apple antennas, I’m going to think of your video.
LOL roger that!!!
Great review Walt. Can we build a STURBA CURTAIN sometime? LOL 73 bro.
Yes LOL!!! actually I have a few array antennas in the sketchbook that I really want to build. 73 bro!
Hi, have you build a Fan Dipole? I have build one in 40-20-15-10m and it's making a great job
I got the plans from an ARRL handbook ( I don't remember the year now) it said no Balun was needed
it was fed with a thin coax. All of the plans that I have seen have called for some sort of Balun.
I used mine with out, and made contacts all over the world.
Any reason there is no mention of not using a Balun?
with a resonate antenna you can get by without a balun and have great results.
Inspiring stuff Walt and a good starting place for people to try these set-ups. Do you ever guy your DX Commander Classic? Has it developed any cracks? Have you compared it with a Spiderbeam? I ask as I'm considering buying a DX Commander. Thanks for the great video.👍
Half-Square - only needs to be 1/4 wave plus a foot or two in Height - from your "Center" Insulator in one Top Corner, drop a 1/4 ground lead - on rhe "hot" side, run a 1/2 wave "Phasing Line" to an Insulator, rhen drop the wire 1/4 wave down. You will get a great Broadside Lobe with 3db Gain, and good Nulls of the ends. I am able to position mine to favor New England (1,2,3,8's) and Southern California (6, lower 7 and ∅'s). These are concentrated population centers. I run QRP so the 3db and end nulls help! Ideal for 10, 15, or 20, and still manageable on 40m. The wires only need ro clear the ground. The feedline should come out away from the ground side element.
How about a coax fed three pole horizontal Delta loop with 4:1 balun?
Nice list! 73
Thanks Jeff! 73
Walt--an idea for something different but within scope.....could you think about a wire antenna with balun covering g 160-10? I've been told that you could make a wire antenna, resonant on ham bands using g 1.8 MHz as a harmonic, and a 49 or 56 or 64:1 balun. I k ow this isn't an on-the-beach vertical, but beaches are big or your estate in Poland...
Wrapping 240ft of wire up and down and around might be worth it to get on 160, 80, 60,40,30,20,17,15,12,and 10. Just a thought for one of thise different episodes as tbe Beach gets cold but knowing you have lots of trees in VA.73 De WO8USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I like the idea! I will start wrapping my mind around this for sure! 73
You need to go back to college and learn English 🤣 Seriously though, my goal (after I finally get off the gold mine and buy the FT-891 and necessary accoutrements I want/need) is to go out in the desert or up in the mountains and have some fun setting up whatever wire antennas I can make work. I also need to keep the kit as small as I can since I'll be traveling on one of my motorcycles...........so I can mix both hobbies at once!! Your channel should help with that immensely!! Which is why I just subscribed!!
Thanks for subscribing! 73, Walt
Could you do a video on SWL antennas. There are some who like to listen. some of us who use SWL on bands we do not have transmitters for. Odd note here. My Baofeng has an FM BCB ( RX only) part on it, so I bought a little ATS-20+ that has the AM (BCB) on it. I would like to find a list of the Short wave broadcast stations and the frequency/schedules for some of them. Do you know where I could fund it. Right now both money and health are slowing me down But I have the SWL radio. I can make an antenna, and would like to listen to the world, until such time as I can get a "decent radio" for under 50 watts.
I will look into doing a SWL antenna!
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I have been thinking about a House Wide antenna, and a power supply toi keep the radio active
Hi Walt, in this video your #1 antenna is the vertical efhw 20-10 meter. On your 1st picture you show a 49:1 unun and in your 2nd picture you show a 9:1 unun. I'm guessing its a 9:1, am I right?
Have you tried the DXE-MC20-1-1T its not as cheap as others but seems to have better numbers?
I would love to test both personally, Been a Ham for 30 years, I have lots of acres and back ground in Electrical Design / engineering
for the most part I stay in the 100W to 200W range because its a sweet spot for both equipment and the pocket book LOL
I just got my technician class license a couple weeks ago and I'm considering buying a Radioddity QT80 10 Meter Radio. I'd really like to do POTA. What kind of antenna would you recommend?
I always say that the best antenna to get started with is a quarterwave vertical. Take a look through my videos I have a few videos on constructing them. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Good Morning Walt, I just watched your review of the Ziegu G90 and I'm thinking that might be a better choice - my wife and I have a teardrop camper and plan on doing more camping when I retire (soon). I also did some research on the 10 meter 1/4 wave antenna - at just over 8 feet I think that might make a good antenna to travel with. I appreciate your thoughts - it can be confusing but thanks to youtube I'm starting to pick up on some of the finer details. 73, Carmen - KC3ZQS
Yeah making antennas. Around 1980. I went to Radio Engineering Inc. in Sarasota, Florida. For a summer. To prepare for my 1st Class FCC Radiotelephone License. And on the trip down there. I had my CB radio/base station. That ran on either 12 volts DC or 120 volts AC. But on the second floor of this dormitory. I had no access to an antenna. The one on the car was screwed in. So? What to do?
44 years ago, I had just gotten a brand-new Texas Instrument, Electronic Sliderule a.k.a. calculator. To help my poor math aptitude out. And that had a DC wall wart, power supply with 6 foot cord.
The plug on that 6 foot cord was smaller than the center conductor. To the coaxial cable connector. On the back of the CB radio. So I just stuck it in. And my CB radio lit up with dozens and dozens of signals, operators, calls. I'm picking up a ton of people. My signal strength meter is nearly, pegged. And of course no ground is connected. It's just a 6 foot piece of wire. With a wall wart at the end of it. Not plugged into anything, of course. But the signals are great sounding.
I wondered what would happen? If I were to key up the microphone? It might likely blow up my CB transmitter? With no proper load across the, PL-259 connector. But? I am already drunk and stoned and it's nighttime. So? What do I have to lose?
So I key up the microphone. And look at the meter very quickly. And strangely? It's sitting right where it's supposed to? This can't be right? There's no ground connected! It seems to be loading just fine. I wonder if anybody can hear me? Breaker breaker good buddy!
Well this turned out to work exceedingly well. I was talking to people, 10 miles away. My signal was exceptional everybody said. I was like what the hell is going on here? I am plugged into a, calculator charger cord. That is lying on the floor. This is not normal. This should not be happening! And all of the other guys in class with me. They are equally amazed. Because this should not be. It's impossible for this to work properly. But it seems to be working marvelously.
The next day in class. This was a topic of major discussion. And our professor and former military instructor. Says this is not possible. This cannot work. And everybody said. No it really works. And I'm just sitting there, smiling. With my CB radio and calculator charger cord I brought with me to class.
So I put it on the professors front table. I plug it in. Rest the charger cord plug inside the, CB radio socket. And it works great. The professor got angry. And so this cannot be. Thought it was some kind of trick. Nope. No trick. It was the most ridiculous thing ever! It completely destroyed everything he was teaching us. Everything!
And so then you said everybody should build antennas. You don't need to a simple old Texas instrument calculator charger cord will work great at 27 MHz on the 11 m band. You can't pay for an antenna to work better. It was the most ridiculous thing ever.
It only proves. Electromagnetic waves are really electro magical waves. And sometimes choose to entertain us. I didn't even know, those electromagnetic waves, liked me? But they sure did when I plugged in that calculator charger cord into the CB radio antenna socket. So remember that. It's great for 11 meters at 27 MHz. Don't spend money on a real one. Go into your box of junk. You'll find one of those charger cords lying around. That goes to that gizmo whose batteries died. And it only needs to be about 12 feet off the ground maybe 13.
I guess maybe for, 2 meters/GMRS and what have you? Unfolded paperclips might work. And look at all the time and money you would have saved. Just connect a paperclip into your antenna socket. It'll probably work great. Much like an antenna. We can only hope. Trying to save money in go greener. Without being so wasteful. I mean we can unwind a burned out motor winding. And make that a helical antenna. By wrapping it around a flagpole you don't have any flags for anymore. And you can make an extra little curly Q, at the top. And they call that Top Loading. The same way we drink our Beer! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha!
It can be a lot of fun making antennas out of, wars.
RemyRAD