Economy End Fed 80, 40, 20, and 15 Meter Antenna Without a Tuner!

Contributed and courtesy of John T. (Jack) Downey - K0DTQ

"Here's the only antenna that I have used for the past 11 years and it has done a good job for me with my Heathkit HW-8 & SB-101 transceivers.  Please email me with any questions."

Economy QRP Antenna 80-40-20-15 End Fed w/o a tuner! Contributed by John T. (Jack) Downey - K0DTQ A long wire antenna that will load up on 80, 40, 20 & 15 meters without an antenna tuner and without balun coils!  I originally designed this antenna to fit in my back yard so I could work 80 meter cw using my Heathkit HW-8 QRP transceiver that I built in 1978.  After installation of this antenna I was surprised to see it load up on all 4 above mentioned bands and I have received reports from all over the United States and Canada on these bands.  It seems to load up the best on 40 meters and 15 meters with an estimated output of 1 to 2 watts.  On 80 & 20 meters it still loads up with approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of a watt.

This antenna consists of 66 1/2 feet of copper stranded antenna wire strung between a rooftop on one end and a 25 foot long steel pole support on the other end.  Add an insulator on both ends and on the steel pole end I used about 15 feet of copper stranded wire to secure it to the pole and about 10 feet of nylon rope which is tied to the insulator on one end and to the wire that attaches to the steel pole on the other end of the rope.  I used the nylon rope so there wouldn't be any chance of inter-action with the antenna on the back side or steel pole end of the tie down.  On the rooftop end I used about 45 feet of stranded copper wire to secure it to the roof which was real close to the insulator and then I ran the balance of the wire down the side of the house and into the ground about 6 inches deep in the ground and ran it parallel to the antenna underground until I ran out of wire.  This piece of wire is called a radial or counterpoise for the antenna.  I used 30 feet of RG-58/U thin coaxial cable to feed the antenna and soldered the inside conductor to the main antenna and the outside shield of the coaxial cable to the tie down radial wire on the other side of the insulator.

This antenna has served me well in the 10+ years that I have been using this antenna as my only antenna I have never had to use a tuner and it is still performing admirably with both of my Heathkit rigs and loads well on the 80, 40, 20 and 15 meter bands.

Email questions to:

jackjuly11 AT gmail.com

(insert @ instead of AT and remove spaces on either side of the @

Editor note: Although Jack designed this antenna for QRP use, it can be readily used with higher power. Use larger diameter coaxial cable. Your milage without a tuner will vary depending on your installation.