Tag: antennas
-
Ham Radio Cheat Sheet: Q Codes, Band Plan, Phonetics & Antenna Lengths
Every ham radio cheat sheet you need in one place: Q codes, the ARRL band plan for Technician, General, and Extra, the phonetic alphabet, and EFHW and random wire antenna lengths for HF.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
The Random Wire Antenna: Magic Lengths, Lengths to Avoid, and the Right Transformer
A random wire antenna is one of the simplest, cheapest ways onto HF, but the length you cut it matters more than most people realize. Here is what actually makes one work well.
-
Understanding PRB-1 and Local Antenna Ordinances
PRB-1 is the federal rule hams cite constantly when a local ordinance tries to ban antennas outright. It is also frequently misunderstood. Here is what it actually protects, and what it does not.
-
The AnyTone AT-D578UV III Plus: Why I Own Three of Them
One radio in the Jeep, one in the manpack, one in the shack. Here’s why the AT-D578UV III Plus earned three spots in my setup instead of one.