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Inexpensive antenna for 10 to 180 meters

King Mudduck

King Mudduck

FEAR THE DUCK!
May 6, 2005
864
16
28
285 South Western Virgina waving!
Help me out guys i don't know or have a clue as to what to buy or what i need to have to talk and receive well. Do i need an antenna tuner or is there an antenna that is broad banded enough to cover 10 to 180 meters? I just want something basic as far as the antenna goes but i don't know what to get. I do not have my ticket yet as i have just not had the time to take the test but i would like to be able to listen. Understand this. I WILL NOT TRY AND TALK ON ANY HAM BAND WITHOUT MY TICKET so you guys have no reason to worry, i know how high the fines can be and i don't want to take the chance. I would just like to be set up and ready to go as soon as i walk into my radio room with that ticket.

Thanks.
 

Don't think you want to go quite to 180 meters; 160 is where the amateur MF band lies ;)

You don't give any information as to the size of your lot, HOA problems, available trees or other tall structures that could be used as supports, so there's not much anyone can realistically offer by way of recommendation.

I'd suggest you get a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book. Learn about antennas, at least the basics of what an antenna IS, and then make an informed decision.

Without knowing what constraints you're under, though, I wouldn't even hazard a guess.
 
King Mudduck said:
Help me out guys i don't know or have a clue as to what to buy or what i need to have to talk and receive well. Do i need an antenna tuner or is there an antenna that is broad banded enough to cover 10 to 180 meters? I just want something basic as far as the antenna goes but i don't know what to get. I do not have my ticket yet as i have just not had the time to take the test but i would like to be able to listen. Understand this. I WILL NOT TRY AND TALK ON ANY HAM BAND WITHOUT MY TICKET so you guys have no reason to worry, i know how high the fines can be and i don't want to take the chance. I would just like to be set up and ready to go as soon as i walk into my radio room with that ticket.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Unless I mised it there is not an antenna that covers all of HF with out some sort of matching device. The cheapest HF antenna is a dipole, use any wire you can find and cut it for the freq. or band you want to be on. 468 divided by the freq = total lenth, fed with coax that's 50, 75 or 100ft (if a longer run is needed add 25 ft increments). The most expensive part will be the coax.

There are many diffrent antennas, but one I have enjoyed for a few years is a 160 meter diploe fed with 75 ft of 450 ohm ladder line (very cheap) into a 1:1 and or 4:1 balum and antenna tuner. I don't run more than 300 watts (i have run KW's before) and this antenna works great for me on all HF bands.

The 160 meter guys will rag you for not having a lot of power and your not going to win any contest or be the strongest in a pile-up, but you can get on any band anytime you want. It's also a great AM and short wave antenna. Good luck.

73,
AC5PS
 
KM

Park and Beetle are correct. First give us alittle more info on the dynamics of what you have to work with on your property. Yes, you will need a tuner if you plan on a single multiband antenna. Ladder line works great with a balun if you don't have to run it too close to any metal objects. If you can run the ladder line down to the balun and then a short run of coax into the shack that is the best situation. Wire antennas can be had in many configuations and that is why we need more info. If you have room for mulitple antennas then you could do several resonate dipoles and not even need the tuner. The possibilites are only limited once again to what you can get on the layout of where you want to put an antenna(s).

73's

Wayne C.
 
'K.M.D.',
If you ever find -one- antenna that covers all the bands, get two and send me one! I'm afraid there just isn't any such thing that isn't very, very limited. Having said that, there is an alternative if you are going to be limited to just -one-, and I think you may already have the idea. A good, meaning large in size, antenna tuner capable of doing a random-wire antenna is probably the 'best' bet. That random-length wire should be as long as possible, or something like a 1/4 wave on the lowest band of interest. For 160 meters that's in the neighborhood of at least 120-140 feet, give or take some. Doesn't really have to be absolutely straight, it can bend, just not back onto it's self, sort of. It should also be as high as possible. The 'catch' with end fed wires like that is that they need a very good ground system, forget ground rods, they won't even come close (bury as much wire in the ground as you put into the air, 'times' three or four is even better).
Or, a doublet antenna as long as possible, fed in the center with ladder-line. A 1/2 wave for the lowest band of interest is nice. The other nice thing about doublets, or dipoles, is that they do not require a huge ground, none at all really.
Why a physically large tuner? 'Cuz the required capacitance/inductance at some frequencies will be quite large thereby requiring quite large capacitors and coils. You just can't cram all that into a small box. Manual tuners are better at doing that sort of tuning than the automatic ones, not to mention being cheaper! A few index cards to keep settings notes comes in handy. Are they difficult to use? Not really, and if you keep notes, the first time almost always takes the longest to get it tuned right. After a bit you won't need the index cards, you'll remember where things should be, sort of. 'Sides, twiddling knobs is fun...
- 'Doc
 
A horizontal loop is about as good a multi band wire antenna as you can hope for. Make it as long and high as possible, feed it with 450 ohm ladder line and use a tuner.

http://www.k5rcd.org/hor loop instruct.htm

I think i read somewhere that somebody managed to mount the tuner right at the antenna. certainly would need to be weatherized, but would give optimal bandwidth.
 
Ideally, that's where the "tuner" belongs: right at the antenna feedpoint. THEN, it really IS an antenna tuner and not just a buffer between transmitter and antenna.

Then, assuming it can maintain a 50-ohm resistive input impedance over the bandwidth of the antenna, you can use good quality coax all the way to the tuner with very low loss.
 
I use a 135 ft diopole fed in the middle with ladder line at my second QTH. (Similar to what W5LZ suggests...) If you can find an old Johnson Matchbox tuner to tune the thing with, your power loss will be very low across the whole HF spectrum.

Parts List

12 gauge insulated wire - 135 ft.- 15 cents a foot at Home Depot.

3 antenna insulators - $2.50 or so at Radio Shack

250 ft spool of nylon rope - $8.00 or so at WalMart

50 ft ladder line - .20 cents per foot on Ebay

Johnson Matchbox 250 watt (carrier) rated - $50.00 or so on Ebay BUT, it only works on 80-10 meters. However, it is MUCH more efficient into a high SWR load than the T-Match tuners such as MFJ, NYE Viking, etc...

***On 160 meters, you will need to double the size of your antenna to 270 feet, and go with a more lossy style antenna tuner. That is unless you want to spend a couple of hundred on a new commercial balanced line tuner.***

Total Price - Roughly around $100.00 or less depending on how good you are at finding "deals." I built mine for less than $10.00, but I already had some of the parts.

The loop is easy to build, too, but I thought I would throw in my two cents and tell you about this cheap yet great working antenna.

Good luck with your antenna project!
 
Beetle said:
Ideally, that's where the "tuner" belongs: right at the antenna feedpoint. THEN, it really IS an antenna tuner and not just a buffer between transmitter and antenna.

Then, assuming it can maintain a 50-ohm resistive input impedance over the bandwidth of the antenna, you can use good quality coax all the way to the tuner with very low loss.
Click to expand...

yes it is best to have the tuner right at the antenna, but it must be a tuner thats made to take a balanced antenna (non-coaxial). This way the antenna side of the tuner impedance can go anywhere with minimal losses.
If the tuner cant go right on the antenna, then ladder line (say 450ohm) must be used between the antenna and the tuner. 450ohm ladder-line has the lowest loss when the antenna is also at 450ohm impedance, but for hobby radio its usually fine.

And yes the other thing is the tuner at radio-coax side always maintains 50ohms regardless of what the antenna is at, and because of that the 50ohm coax can be a longer length because its operating at its proper impedance.

And the above should apply equally to loop or dipole antennas.
 
I have a large home on 4 acres of land with one tree that is at least 65 feet high and i am around 1400 feet above see level. The only amount of power i will be using is what my FT 101 EE is capable of for now although in time i may go bigger in power and also a more modern ham rig. Right now my main concern is helping my small radio talk and hear as well as it can with out spending a great deal of money.

I did give some thought to a small flat side beam with a good antenna tuner and low loss coax as well. Most of the time when i do hear some one talk on the ham frequencies they say they are using a beam on the flat side and for the most part they sound really good. I also understand that this is the best way to make a long distance contact so maybe i should go that way.

I need to read over my on web site ( duh!! ) because i think i may have a few articles posted there that will help me as well.....cant believe that i just now remembered that :roll:
 
If you want cheap, wires are the way to go. If you want best, beams are the way to go. I operated W1AW once on 20 meters with their beam at 90 feet (I think that's how high) and it was incredible!
 
Well I'll be darn !



KF4VGV Rating: 5/5 Sep 26, 2007 16:33 Send this review to a friend
Very Good Antenna! Time owned: 6 to 12 months
I love this antenna! My SWR is flat across much of the HF band and that includes 60 meters! No tuner is necessary! Even at 10 meters, my SWR is only 1.4! Another point is that it is only 83 feet long! Even though the antenna is somewhat pricey, it is worth the money! The only drawback on the YA-30 is that it is only rated at 150 watts. Thats no drawback with me though because I only run 100 or less watts when DX'ing!
 
The same antenna made by 'B&W' has been around for two or three dozen years, about the same price. Not a secret by any means. The only 'secret' is why the thing is still being sold at all.
Having had a friend own one, all I can say is that you'd be better off burning that money than spending it on that type of antenna. Take a good look at the 'reviews' of the thing. Lots of praise on how it "matches", not much at all on it's performance (there's a very good reason for that :)). It will NOT perform comparable to a 1/2 wave dipole on any band, at any height/configuration. If an antenna works you sort of see a lot of them around, right? (Even one'a them 'A99's!) How many of these 'YA-30's have you seen or heard of in use? Or the 'B&W' one? Good reason for that... they aren't worth the time and especially the price.
- 'Doc
 
The Yaesu YA-30 is a broadband folded dipole.
It doesn't need a tuner. Seems the way they get around the tuner is with a terminating resistor, and this is what seems to limit its power handling to 150 watts.
Looks to be priced at $270.
 
antenna

Just goto qthdotcom, and look for your antenna tuner, and your ladder line go to r&l both on web, and get 150 feet of nr 12 wire or similiar ..
take 33 feet of insulated wire, solder one side of the ladder line to it, suspend from the tree with an insulator from it,tie it off from the insulator<dangle>, or attach nylon rope to the insulator over the limb and tie at bottom to hold it up. on the bottom use a insulator where you soldered <like thread the one side of the ladder line thru it then solder..
other side thread thru the other side<obvious>, and take 3 33 foot pieces of insulated wire solder to the other side of the ladder line spread them out120 degs and attach each end to a 6 to 10 foot pole<I use fence post a couple of bucks each, of course tie off end with insulator and attach to the pole, and presto you have your antenna, cost 8 bucks for the posts, 3 bucks for the egg insulators<r&l>, wire 10 bucks, ladder line 12 antenna tuner used $50 or less, total $75 give or take, and when you get your license you can work the world, I do with 50 watts.....

DOCTOR/795 :shock:
 

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