Antennas
As a newly licensed amateur you only need one antenna for HF work. I'll say that again, but louder, AS A NEWLY LICENSED AMATEUR YOU ONLY NEED ONE ANTENNA FOR HF WORK. And that's the one in the picture at the top of every page on this website.
There's probably more discussion among amateurs on antennas than any other subject. I've read heaps of web sites on antenna design, had numerous discussions with other radio amateurs and bought and made all sorts of antennas including G5Rvs, off centre dipoles, bazookas, Carolina Windoms, nested Marconis and verticals but I keep coming back to one antenna, it is:
The half-wave centre fed dipole
My main antenna at home is a 40metre/20metre fan dipole. There's a photo of it at the top of this page. It's made from 2mm hard drawn copper wire and the centre is at 10 metres, supported by a telescopic aluminium pole. It has a 1:1 balun and about 20 metres of RG58 feed line. This antenna has worked all over the world including Puerto Rico on 40 metres and Norway, England and Ireland on 20 metres. If you think I'm exaggerating check out this YouTube video made by EI4IT in Ireland.
There's probably more discussion among amateurs on antennas than any other subject. I've read heaps of web sites on antenna design, had numerous discussions with other radio amateurs and bought and made all sorts of antennas including G5Rvs, off centre dipoles, bazookas, Carolina Windoms, nested Marconis and verticals but I keep coming back to one antenna, it is:
The half-wave centre fed dipole
My main antenna at home is a 40metre/20metre fan dipole. There's a photo of it at the top of this page. It's made from 2mm hard drawn copper wire and the centre is at 10 metres, supported by a telescopic aluminium pole. It has a 1:1 balun and about 20 metres of RG58 feed line. This antenna has worked all over the world including Puerto Rico on 40 metres and Norway, England and Ireland on 20 metres. If you think I'm exaggerating check out this YouTube video made by EI4IT in Ireland.