openduck

Personal Site of Dr Peter Hannay

HF Wire Antenna Build and Test

Sep 23, 2022 5 min read
Radio

I had been working on getting a HF wire antenna assembled for some time, there were a number of issues in getting this atenna built and erected. These were primarily attributed to my location, I am in a small villa in an urban area. I determined that I could erect the antenna in my courtyard, with a wire extended down the side of my home.

The images below show the configuration of the antenna, it was not ideal as I was unable to get the wire tight due to the layout of my home. Future designs will attempt to take this limitation into account.

The base of the antenna, 9:1 unun, feedline, squid pole, and ground spike are visible.

The upper section of the antenna, squid pole and a portion of the long wire are visible.

The extent of the antenna, the squid pole and long wire are visible.

I made use of a home made 9:1 unun based on vk6syf’s design. The unun reduces interference and helps to match the impedance of my antenna to that of my transceiver.

I checked the VSWR of the antenna using a NanoVNA which was kindly provided by VK2AFD. It appeared as though 20M, 15M, and 10M would be usable. However, my license limited me to operation on 15M and 10M.

Screen of nanovna showing VSWR chart which indicates 10.31mhz - 30.89mhz are below 2:1.

I managed to make some contacts both locally and in Indonesia via FT8. Using WSPR I was able to reach over 15,000KM with my signal reaching EA8BFK in the Canary Islands.

FT8 QSOs

Date	Time (UTC)	Callsign	Frequency	Mode	Location	Country
22/9/2022	8:08	YC1JEL	28	FT8	OI33sd	Indonesia
22/9/2022	7:46	YC0HLE	28	FT8	OI33is	Indonesia
22/9/2022	7:32	VJ6X	28	FT8	OF78wa	Australia

WSPR Contacts

Note: The 40M contacts were made using a different antenna.

Timestamp	Call	MHz	SNR	Drift	Grid	Pwr	Reporter	RGrid	km	az	Mode
2022-09-22 09:14	VK6HAX	7.040095	-15	0	OF78vc	5	VK4CT	QG62jv	3603	91	2
2022-09-22 09:14	VK6HAX	7.040096	-16	0	OF78vc	5	VK7AAE	QE36	3008	124	2
2022-09-22 09:14	VK6HAX	7.040100	-10	0	OF78vc	5	VK7BO	QE38mo	2962	120	2
2022-09-22 09:14	VK6HAX	7.040093	-20	0	OF78vc	5	VK2RG	QF56mc	3283	104	2
2022-09-22 09:14	VK6HAX	7.040129	-26	0	OF78vc	5	VK6DV	OF78wa	12	140	2
2022-09-22 09:14	VK6HAX	7.040095	+4	0	OF78vc	5	VK7JJ	QE38lr	2952	120	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040095	-10	0	OF78vc	5	VK7JJ	QE38lr	2952	120	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040096	-16	-1	OF78vc	5	VK7AAE	QE36	3008	124	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040097	-20	0	OF78vc	5	VK2AMA	QF54	3261	107	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040128	-25	0	OF78vc	5	VK6DV	OF78wa	12	140	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040115	-25	0	OF78vc	5	ZL2NEB	RE68xl	5195	119	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040096	-22	0	OF78vc	5	VK5FQ/W	PF95gc	2133	105	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040095	-21	0	OF78vc	5	VK2AMF/1	QF44pu	3112	106	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040096	-22	0	OF78vc	5	VK3KHZ	QF22pe	2759	112	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040095	-23	0	OF78vc	5	VK4CT	QG62jv	3603	91	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040095	-18	0	OF78vc	5	ZL2005SWL	RE68mx	5127	118	2
2022-09-22 09:04	VK6HAX	7.040096	-13	0	OF78vc	5	VK5WA	PF95ig	2148	105	2
2022-09-22 08:52	JA5NVN	14.097180	-34	0	PM74ec	1	VK6HAX	OF78vc	7592	197	2
2022-09-22 08:52	VK6BMT	14.097106	-17	-3	OF78ve	0.1	VK6HAX	OF78vc	9	180	2
2022-09-22 08:50	VK3QN	14.097131	-17	0	QF22fr	5	VK6HAX	OF78vc	2681	274	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096088	-18	1	OF78vc	5	VK4CT	QG62jv	3603	91	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096058	-4	2	OF78vc	5	VK7JJ	QE38lr	2952	120	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096089	-17	0	OF78vc	5	AI6VN/G	BL10rx	11011	71	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096089	-23	0	OF78vc	5	AI6VN/A	BL10rx	11011	71	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096089	-28	0	OF78vc	5	AI6VN/KH6	BL10rx	11011	71	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096089	-20	0	OF78vc	5	VK3KHZ	QF22pe	2759	112	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096097	-23	0	OF78vc	5	7L4IOU	PM95wr	7928	20	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096090	-21	0	OF78vc	5	BM2KVV	PL05vc	6370	6	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096089	+6	1	OF78vc	5	VK5EME	PF95hd	2141	105	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096186	-27	0	OF78vc	5	VK6DV	OF78wa	12	140	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096110	-31	0	OF78vc	5	PH4RTM	JO31ai	14043	313	2
2022-09-22 08:46	VK6HAX	21.096109	-19	0	OF78vc	5	JA7KBR	PM95ws	7932	20	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096099	-25	0	OF78vc	5	7L4IOU	PM95wr	7928	20	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096089	-23	0	OF78vc	5	AI6VN/G	BL10rx	11011	71	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096186	-27	0	OF78vc	5	VK6DV	OF78wa	12	140	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096081	-25	0	OF78vc	5	NH6V	BK29cw	11019	72	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096100	-20	0	OF78vc	5	BX7ABR	PL02en	6075	5	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096088	+3	0	OF78vc	5	VK5EME	PF95hd	2141	105	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096089	-25	0	OF78vc	5	VK7TAZ	QE38np	2968	120	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096057	-7	0	OF78vc	5	VK7JJ	QE38lr	2952	120	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096088	-15	0	OF78vc	5	BM2KVV	PL05vc	6370	6	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096089	-18	0	OF78vc	5	VK3KHZ	QF22pe	2759	112	2
2022-09-22 08:36	VK6HAX	21.096088	-19	0	OF78vc	5	VK4CT	QG62jv	3603	91	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096109	-17	0	OF78vc	5	JA7KBR	PM95ws	7932	20	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096088	-20	0	OF78vc	5	VK4CT	QG62jv	3603	91	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096090	-22	1	OF78vc	5	EA8BFK	IL38bo	15210	279	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096089	-26	0	OF78vc	5	AI6VN/G	BL10rx	11011	71	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096089	-20	0	OF78vc	5	BM2KVV	PL05vc	6370	6	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096187	-27	0	OF78vc	5	VK6DV	OF78wa	12	140	2
2022-09-22 08:26	VK6HAX	21.096092	+8	0	OF78vc	5	VK5EME	PF95hd	2141	105	2