Category: Antennas
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Which Portable HF Antenna Should You Actually Bring?
Random wire, EFHW, dipole, or Moxon. Each one earns its spot in a portable kit for different reasons. Here is how to decide what actually goes in the bag.
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What Is a Yagi Antenna, and Do You Need One?
A Yagi is a directional beam antenna that focuses your signal in one direction for real gain. Here is how it works and whether it belongs in your station.
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Different Antenna Configurations You Can Run With an EFHW
One end-fed half-wave wire can be deployed in a surprising number of shapes. Here are the common EFHW configurations and when to reach for each.
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Choosing an External Tuner for the FT-891: Why I Run the MFJ-939
The FT-891 has no internal tuner, so here’s why the MFJ-939 with the Yaesu adapter cable is the external tuner I actually reach for.
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How Ground Radials Impact Your Vertical Antenna
A quarter-wave vertical is only half an antenna. Here is why ground radials matter so much, and how the number and type you use changes your performance.
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How to Build a Wire Dipole Antenna for HF on a Budget
A simple, cheap half-wave dipole is still one of the best-performing HF antennas you can build. Here’s how to cut, build, and tune one for under $30.
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Antenna Modeling Software: EZNEC, 4nec2, and Predicting Performance Before You Build
Before you cut a single piece of wire, antenna modeling software can tell you almost exactly how your design will perform, gain, pattern, feed impedance, all of it. EZNEC and 4nec2 are the two names that come up constantly, and they’re both built on the same underlying engine. NEC: the engine underneath both programs Both…
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Fan Dipoles: One Feedline, Multiple Bands
A fan dipole solves the multi-band problem with an approach that’s almost embarrassingly simple: instead of one antenna trying to cover several bands through traps or compromise, you just hang several resonant dipoles off the same feed point. The concept A fan dipole is exactly what it sounds like: multiple individually cut, resonant half-wave dipoles,…
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Automatic vs Manual Antenna Tuners: Which Do You Actually Need
An antenna tuner does not actually tune your antenna, it tricks your radio into seeing a happy match. Whether that trick should happen automatically or by hand is a genuinely practical question, not just a budget one.
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Building a 9:1 Unun for a Random Wire HF Antenna
A random wire is the cheapest, most flexible HF antenna there is, as long as you pick the length carefully and match it right. Here’s the 9:1 unun build.
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Mobile Antenna Mounts, Grounding, and Noise: A General Installation Guide
A mobile antenna is only as good as the mount, ground, and cable routing behind it. Here is what actually matters, regardless of which specific antenna you end up running.
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Why an End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna Benefits From a Counterpoise
End-fed half-wave antennas are famously simple, but that little counterpoise wire is doing more than you might think. Here is why it helps.