Ham Radio Outside the Box has been re-examining the 3/8 wave vertical antenna with shortened raised radials that was first published here in 2024. She was called "Long Tall Sally" (after the 1950s Little Richard song). Her vertical radiator wire was 25ft long and the two raised radial wires were each 5ft long. Apparently the … Continue reading Lazy Susan – a directed energy field antenna for the 20 m band
Category: Ground
Posts about radials, counterpoises, Ground Tuning Units (GTUs)
Repost: Introducing an antenna called “Long Tall Sally”
Way back in February 2024 Ham Radio Outside the Box published a post titled "A Most Unusual Vertical Antenna for 20m". It introduced the idea that the radiating element of a raised quarter wave vertical antenna could be stretched to a much longer length with a corresponding shortening of its radials. The idea is worth … Continue reading Repost: Introducing an antenna called “Long Tall Sally”
No loading coils, no top-hats, no transformers, no ununs, no baluns, no tuners, no radials – just the perfect antenna?
Just imagine, if you could get rid of all those lossy loading coils, impedance transformers, ununs, baluns, tuners and ground radial trip wires. What do you have left? Could it be the most perfect, the ultimate, 100% efficient, dream antenna? Yes, yes; it's a dream! But back in the real world ... I spent most … Continue reading No loading coils, no top-hats, no transformers, no ununs, no baluns, no tuners, no radials – just the perfect antenna?
TechTip #3 Radials and counterpoises
TechTips on Ham Radio Outside Outside the Box are occasional short posts on specific technical topics. But beware, along with regular posts here on this blog, the content is not a definitive technical treatise and should not be read as such. I write about my own opinions and experiences; your opinions and experiences may be … Continue reading TechTip #3 Radials and counterpoises
A 5-Band, Lazy-L, Linear-Loaded, Ladder Line Antenna (aka the “5B6L”)
About a year ago I mentioned an antenna devised by Peter Waters G3OJV that used a 13 feet (4 m) vertical wire to create a multiband antenna. I used Peter's idea to create "A Simple, Low Profile, Multiband Antenna for POTA". The antenna was designed to work on 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m with … Continue reading A 5-Band, Lazy-L, Linear-Loaded, Ladder Line Antenna (aka the “5B6L”)
TechTip #2 (revised): GTU hand capacitance
NB: This is a revised version of TechTips #2 with the addition of further details on how the issue of hand capacitance has been resolved. The problem: Hand capacitance makes it difficult to accurately adjust the GTU. The fix: Upon examination of my own GTU it was discovered that the layout had become too complex … Continue reading TechTip #2 (revised): GTU hand capacitance
A Simple Ladder Line Antenna for Portable Ops
For the last several weeks I have been experimenting with ideas for low impact field antennas that optimize stealth, rapid deployment and small footprint while maintaining efficiency. It's a trade-off between size, portability and efficiency. The antenna that is very small, highly portable and very efficient hasn't been invented yet - and never will be … Continue reading A Simple Ladder Line Antenna for Portable Ops
An alternative mini-GTU design by Tim KQ4TQ
As I mentioned in the last post on Ham Radio Outside the Box, I received a surprise package in the mail from Tim KQ4TQ in Georgia. Tim sent me his build of a mini Ground Tuning Unit (GTU) that is simpler in design than the one I built. Tim's design is a single inductor of … Continue reading An alternative mini-GTU design by Tim KQ4TQ
The magic carpet ground plane is grounded, but the GTU keeps flying.
Ham Radio Outside the Box receives quite a lot of email every week from readers with questions, comments and suggestions. One such email came about as a result of an article in the outstanding newsletter from the Surrey Amateur Radio Club called the Communicator. The editor of the Communicator is Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of … Continue reading The magic carpet ground plane is grounded, but the GTU keeps flying.
A Mini Ground Tuning Unit and a magic carpet for portable ops
In the last couple of posts I discussed my quest for a simple portable antenna that could be rapidly deployed in a very limited space, for example in a small clearing while hiking through the woods. Such an antenna would have to be a short, yet efficient, vertical that occupies a very small footprint on … Continue reading A Mini Ground Tuning Unit and a magic carpet for portable ops
