A Quick and Easy QRP Emergency Field Antenna

I once drove to a park about 45 minutes away from home to do a POTA activation then realized I had left my antenna at home. <<Panic>>. I improvised by digging a 33ft wire out of my pack, cutting it in half and hastily erecting a V-dipole with its ends only about 10ft above the … Continue reading A Quick and Easy QRP Emergency Field Antenna →

A Universal Unun? Not so fast!

I have been reading a lot from the "Ban all End-Feds" brigade lately. The animosity towards feeding a wire antenna at one of its ends approaches supernova intensity at times. Some of the opinions expressed are perfectly valid, true and backed up with sound science and math. But some of the denizens of end-fed doom … Continue reading A Universal Unun? Not so fast! →

Fighting the winter blues with a little radio therapy

The winter takes it all - aka A Brief Break Activity We haven't had this much winter snow for several years. Every day seems to bring a fresh snowfall to add to the accumulation on the ground. My poor John Deere snowblower is getting a real workout keeping the driveway clear. I live on the … Continue reading Fighting the winter blues with a little radio therapy →

How to Really Make the QMX Ready for the Big Blue Sky Shack

The QRP Labs QMX is a wonder of modern technology. By employing an SDR hardware platform a whole plethora of features can be made available by simply installing new firmware. I absolutely love my QMX. It has become my most used radio for field operations. I grumbled into my beer glass about the long wait … Continue reading How to Really Make the QMX Ready for the Big Blue Sky Shack →

How Can A Lossy Wire on the Ground Work Better Than A Quarter Wave Vertical Antenna?

Let's get real here! If we lay a wire antenna on the ground, surely It can't radiate more power than that cool-looking, expensive quarter-wave whip you just spent a small fortune to buy? Well, yes it can - but with a few caveats. We can use a trick of geometry to support our claim. Our … Continue reading How Can A Lossy Wire on the Ground Work Better Than A Quarter Wave Vertical Antenna? →

An Off-Center Fed Sleeve Dipole

At Ham Radio Outside the Box the urge to experiment is always front and center. Isn't that what radio amateurs are supposed to do - continuously improve our knowledge and hone our expertise? In the minds of the government departments that give us our spectrum allocations we are a reserve resource of communications expertise to … Continue reading An Off-Center Fed Sleeve Dipole →

A Top Loaded End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna for 20m

Imagine this: a short, vertical antenna for 20m that requires no ground, no counterpoise or radials ... And ... no tuner. Now, let's add that it is only 14 feet tall and can be erected in just a couple of minutes. But wait, there's more: it is very lightweight, slips into a shirt pocket and … Continue reading A Top Loaded End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna for 20m →

Is an EFHW Antenna Truly Multiband?

A fierce debate rages on one of the online forums I read. Is an End-Fed Half-Wave (EFHW) truly a multiband antenna? By "multiband" I mean resonant on even harmonics without a tuner. The most vocal posters in that forum keenly disparage these popular antennas despite their popularity. Resonant on every band, earn DXCC in a … Continue reading Is an EFHW Antenna Truly Multiband? →

Loading Coils are Lossy. True or False?

Everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows loading coils are lossy so it must be true eh? No need to question what "everybody knows" - unless you think outside the box. Well, that's the primary mission of this blog so let's take a look at the proposition that "loading coils are lossy" … Continue reading Loading Coils are Lossy. True or False? →

CLEFHW antenna: Ready for Action

In the last post I introduced a crazy, off-the-wall idea for a variation of the popular End-Fed Half-Wave (EFHW) antenna. I called it the CLEFHW - Coil Loaded End-Fed Half-Wave. Its purpose is to allow backpack portable operation of an electrical half wavelength antenna without the need for a tree or pole to suspend a … Continue reading CLEFHW antenna: Ready for Action →