Contents
How long should an HF antenna be?
Read more about . . . . Dipole Length Calculations.
| Approximate Lengths for HF Ham Band Dipole Antennas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Band (MHz) | Length (Feet) | Length (metres) |
| 3.5 (80 metres) | 137 | 42.2 |
| 7.0 MHz (40 metres) | 68.5 | 21.1 |
| 10.1 (30 metres) | 47.5 | 14.7 |
How long is a 160 meter end fed antenna?
In fact, it looks more like an end-fed 1/4 wave 160 meter antenna (130 ft or 39.624 m long) which goes up some 25 feet (7-8 m), then over horizontally, at an average of 25 feet (7-8 m) above ground, to a tree at the far end of my property.
How can I make my antenna longer?
Here are my hints and tips to help you get the most channels with your indoor antenna.
- Experiment with Different Locations in Your Home.
- Use a Longer Cable To Reach That Window.
- Face it Towards the TV Transmitter Towers.
- Lay Your Antenna Flat Horizontally.
- Move it Higher Up (Highly Recommended)
Is low SWR good?
SWR 1.0-1.5: The ideal range! If your SWR is under 1.5, you’re in great shape. Occasionally, due to installations or vehicle variables, it’s impossible to get SWR lower than than this. You should try to get it lower, but performance should still be acceptable in this range.
What should the length of a random wire be?
The idea is that for a given ham band there are min and max frequencies which are easily converted to half wavelengths by the famous 468/f generally used by hams for dipole lengths. (QST, Oct 1926, “The Length of the Hertz Antenna” shows in line 2 of the table that a similarly installed random wire should use 423/f.
How long does a long wire have to be?
Technically a true “longwire” needs to be at least one wavelength long. but Hams commonly call any end-fed wire a longwire or more correctly random wire antenna. Figure 1 Typical ATU and long wire antenna configuration with an earth or earth plus counterpoise.
How long should a random wire antenna be?
The graph below shows lengths to avoid for different collections of bands. The fewer bands, the fewer high impedance regions to avoid. You also want the antenna to be at least 1/4 wavelength long for each band you plan to use. For instance, to work 40m be sure the antenna is at least 10m or 33′ long.
What is the power gain of a long wire antenna?
The first of these is that the power gain of a long wire antenna as compared to a half wave dipole is not considerable until the antenna is really long (its length measured in wavelengths rather than metres of feet).