Antennas
Perhaps the most popular topic of discussion on my web site is my antenna situation. I get countless emails asking me to describe this antenna, that antenna, my ground system, tuner, etc. As a result, I've decided to describe as completely as possible my antennas, ground, and tuner mostly with pictures and a few words. Keep in mind the antennas are somewhat 'stealth' and not all that easy to see in places. I have reorganized the presentation of my antennas as of June 2024. Each antenna, the ground system, and antenna tuner is now described and pictured on its own page. Links to the pages are below.
Random Wire
20 Meters
15 Meters
10 Meters
6 Meters
Ground System
Antenna Tuner
Bottom Line
Unless you live in an underground cave or a solid metal apartment building, you can be successful on the ham bands with very minimal antennas. Analyze your situation, decide what can fit into the space, hang the wire, hook it to your transmitter, get a good match, and you'll be successful. You don't need to follow exactly every last little detail in the antenna books. Those are there for the person who has unlimited space and unlimited funds for an antenna farm. A wire strung around your apartment, properly matched to your transmitter will yield you countless hours of pleasure on the ham bands. One note of caution. Don't plan on running a KW into that apartment antenna unless you want to fry your brains with RF. Be careful even at 100W. That is why QRP and simple indoor antennas work so well together. They perform, and they are safe from an RF radiation standpoint. And as an added bonus, no RFI, TVI, etc. to worry about. I can watch TV in my shack and not be able to tell from the TV set when I am transmitting.
