Category: Antennas
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Beverage and K9AY Receive Antennas for Low-Band DX
On 80 and 160 meters, the noise floor is often the real limiting factor in working DX, not your transmit power. A dedicated receive antenna, separate from whatever you’re transmitting on, can pull weak low-band signals out of noise your main antenna simply can’t filter out. The Beverage: brute-force directivity A Beverage antenna is about…
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Building a 49:1 Transformer for a 40m End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna
The end-fed half-wave presents a nasty impedance to match. Here’s how to wind the 49:1 transformer that tames it, and build the 40m wire to go with it.
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NanoVNA: The Budget Antenna Analyzer That Punches Above Its Price
A real vector network analyzer used to mean a serious piece of lab equipment costing thousands. The NanoVNA put most of that capability in your hand for under 100 dollars. Here is what it actually gets you.
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Choosing Coax for HF: Efficiency, Length, and Cost
Coax is not just a wire that connects your radio to your antenna. The type and length you choose affects efficiency, cost, and your whole operating experience. Here is how to think about it.
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Ground Plane Verticals for 2m and 70cm: A Simple Build
A quarter-wave ground plane vertical is the simplest antenna you can build for VHF and UHF, just one radiating element and a set of radials off a connector. Here is how to put one together.
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NVIS vs. Vertical DX Antennas: Two Completely Different Jobs on the Same Bands
Same bands, opposite goals. Here’s how NVIS and vertical DX antennas actually differ, and how a low-mounted 40m EFHW can blanket a state like Arizona.
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The Buddipole BuddiHex: A Field Day 2026 Field Report
A 6-band hex beam that set up fast, blew past my expectations, and reminded me exactly why it’s a special-event antenna and not a weekly one.
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GMRS Antennas: What Actually Improves Your Range
More watts get all the attention, but antenna height and gain do more for your GMRS range than a bigger radio ever will. Here’s what’s actually worth upgrading.