SkipRD
Advanced Member
So, I use both end-fed half-wave and end-fed random wire antennas. For POTA activations and in my RV, I use a 40m EFHW which is about 66' long and is resonant on 40, 20, 15, and 10m, meaning that it can be used without a tuner on those bands. I'm actually doing a "build session" this weekend at our local hamfest, walking through folks through the process of building one. If you're interested, ARRL has a very nice EFHW kit that goes for about $70 and is what I use as my main antenna while RV'ing. There are lots of other kits out there, and I've built and used kits by KM4ACK, N5FY, and others. And since the antenna is little more than a toroid with a 7:1 ratio of windings (plus usually a 100 pF capacitor), building one from scratch is PDE (pretty darn easy).
At home, I use an end-fed random wire. As you probably know, a "random wire" is anything but "random." It has to be cut to a precise length so that it is not resonant on any frequencies of interest, nor any of those frequencies' harmonics. My home antenna is 71' long and is usable on 80 through 6 meters. But since it's not resonant on anything, it definitely needs a tuner. For me, since I live in an HOA neighborhood and the only antenna I can have is a wire thrown up in a tree, a random wire gives me the most flexibility for my situation.
For my POTA activations, I use lightweight versions of either antenna, but mostly the EFHW. In fact, I can keep my radio (a KX2), my paddle, the antenna, a throw weight, coax, and a bunch of other stuff, in a little pack smaller than a lunch box.
I'm not really aware of any disadvantages to either antenna, although the random wire probably isn't as efficient as other wire antennas. But, as they say, everything's a tradeoff and the band flexibility more than makes up for it.
Hope that helps,
73 Skip K4EAK
At home, I use an end-fed random wire. As you probably know, a "random wire" is anything but "random." It has to be cut to a precise length so that it is not resonant on any frequencies of interest, nor any of those frequencies' harmonics. My home antenna is 71' long and is usable on 80 through 6 meters. But since it's not resonant on anything, it definitely needs a tuner. For me, since I live in an HOA neighborhood and the only antenna I can have is a wire thrown up in a tree, a random wire gives me the most flexibility for my situation.
For my POTA activations, I use lightweight versions of either antenna, but mostly the EFHW. In fact, I can keep my radio (a KX2), my paddle, the antenna, a throw weight, coax, and a bunch of other stuff, in a little pack smaller than a lunch box.
I'm not really aware of any disadvantages to either antenna, although the random wire probably isn't as efficient as other wire antennas. But, as they say, everything's a tradeoff and the band flexibility more than makes up for it.
Hope that helps,
73 Skip K4EAK