Category: Antennas
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Coax Connectors Explained: SO-239, BNC, SMA, and N-Type
Choosing coax is only half the equation. The connector on each end matters just as much, and mixing up the wrong one for the job causes more problems than the cable itself usually does.
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Building a 2m/70cm J-Pole Antenna
A J-pole is one of the best-performing, cheapest antennas you can build for 2m and 70cm, and the whole thing can be built from a length of ladder line or copper pipe in an afternoon.
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What Is SWR, and Why Does It Actually Matter?
Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. SWR is the number every new ham gets nervous about before they understand what it means. It shows up on the radio’s display, on a meter, on a tuner, and it gets treated like a pass or fail grade for an antenna. It’s simpler than…
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Antenna Rotators: Do You Need One, and How to Choose
A rotator only becomes relevant the moment you put up a directional antenna, a Yagi, a hex beam, a quad, anything with a real front-to-back pattern worth pointing. Before that, it’s just an expensive way to spin a piece of metal. When you actually need one If you’re running wire antennas, verticals, or anything omnidirectional,…
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Meshtastic Range Testing: Antennas, Placement, and Realistic Expectations
Marketing claims for LoRa range are wildly optimistic. Here’s what to actually expect from a Meshtastic node, and what actually changes your real-world range.
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Off-Center-Fed Dipoles: What They Trade Off Versus a Center-Fed Dipole
Moving the feedpoint off center turns a simple dipole into a multi-band antenna, at the cost of a genuinely awkward impedance and some real compromises. Here is how that trade actually plays out.