End-fed half-wave O...
 
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End-fed half-wave ON STEROIDS

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AB0L
 AB0L
(@3d0g)
Maker of fjords.
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 178
Topic starter  

I've been a big fan of the QRP Guys End-fed Half-wave antenna for a bit over a year now. No tuner needed, just toss a half wavelength of wire up in the trees for the band you want to operate. No counterpoise needed as long as you run 20 or so feet of coax on the ground to your rig. When I saw I was getting coast-to-coast coverage on PSKReporter with 4 watts out of my FT8 DSB transceiver last winter I knew this antenna was a keeper.

But times have changed and now I've got an FT-891 for portable ops. I don't think that QRP Guys antenna would take kindly to eating 100 watts...

So, I did a little Internet digging and found a great how-to on end-fed antennas. Theory, parts, detailed build instructions, this document has everything! I snagged 240-43 toroids and a 15kVDC 100pF cap from Mouser and 14 AWG enameled wire and waterproof project box from Amazon. Under $20 all-in for a 100 watt capable end-fed half-wave! Woo hoo!

Before it got dark I tossed 70' of wire into the tallest tree in my yard and hooked up the antenna analyzer. After a couple trims, I had the antenna pretty dialed in with 1.5:1 SWR on 40M and 1.2:1 on 20M. Nice. Time to hit a POTA or SOTA with the FT-891, methinks!

AB0L (Formerly N0KAI)
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Kenwood TM-V71A, Kenwood TS-590S, Icom ID-4100A, Yaseu FT-891, TYT MD-UV380, TYT MD-380, Kenwood TH-D7A, BTECH UV-5X3, µBITX V5, µBITX V4, QRPGuys 40/30/20m DSB Digital Transceiver


   
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