Tag: Antennas

Antennas: a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma

I owe the title of this post to Sir Winston Churchill who once used it to describe a country that is prominently in the news at the present time. It seemed an appropriate description for ham antennas too because the more I know about antennas, the more I realize how much I don't know. Maybe … Continue reading Antennas: a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma →

Field Testing the Antenna Called “Long Tall Sally”: Oops and Downs!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about a new vertical antenna concept that I dubbed "Long Tall Sally". To recap; I wanted a field portable antenna that occupies a very small footprint. The trade-off of a reduced footprint is an increase in height. This involved stretching a quarter-wave vertical for 20m into … Continue reading Field Testing the Antenna Called “Long Tall Sally”: Oops and Downs! →

A Most Unusual Vertical Antenna for 20m

There has been quite a lot of online discussion recently about minimizing ham footprints, reducing environmental impact and showing respect for other public space users. Parks on the Air (POTA) has been indelicately described as a 500 pound gorilla due to its immense and still growing popularity among hams. As that growth continues there is … Continue reading A Most Unusual Vertical Antenna for 20m →

Can a Manual L-match Get the Job Done?

Or can it be made just a little bit better? In part 3 of my manpack series of posts I discussed how and why I replaced a perfectly good LDG Z-11 Pro autotuner with a home-made manual L-match. To summarize, the autotuner was doing a great job but was using too much space inside the … Continue reading Can a Manual L-match Get the Job Done? →

Building a Manpack – Part 2, the QRP Rig

As in Part 1, let me define what I mean by "manpack". My manpack is a manually transportable, rapidly deployable, field expedient complete radio station for operating while pedestrian mobile or pedestrian stationary. Complete station fits into a plastic "50 caliber ammo case" The complete station - radio, battery, paddles, phones and antenna fits neatly … Continue reading Building a Manpack – Part 2, the QRP Rig →

Building a Manpack – Part 1, the Antenna

To start, let me define what I mean by "manpack". My manpack is a manually transportable, rapidly deployable, field expedient complete radio station for operating while pedestrian mobile or pedestrian stationary . The HFpack group of /PM enthusiasts are the experts in operating Pedestrian Mobile. Personally I prefer the Pedestrian Stationary style of operating. The … Continue reading Building a Manpack – Part 1, the Antenna →

A Simpler Field Expedient Rybakov Antenna for Winter

I recently received an email from Frank Barnes W4NPN who maintains an excellent website with an index of downloadable issues of the Hot Iron Newsletter. The latest issue contains a link to a PDF document from the late G3XBM that discusses a commercial Rybakov antenna manufactured in the UK (no longer available) called the X80. … Continue reading A Simpler Field Expedient Rybakov Antenna for Winter →

An Upside Down Antenna?

What do you call an end-fed three quarter wave antenna with a quarter wave counterpoise? Or is it an end-fed full wave antenna with a folded quarter wave section? Or maybe even an end-fed half wave fed with ladder line? Here are some hints. It doesn't need any ferrite toroidal cored transformers; so no hysteresis … Continue reading An Upside Down Antenna? →