Amateur radio has been around for nearly 100 years.  Early amateur radio enthusiasts homebrewed almost everything they needed, from transmitters and receivers to antennas.  Some hams still practice the mystical art of homebrewing, but in recent years our amateur radio culture has slowly been changing.

Buy It or Build It?

Today, many individuals are caught up in the great ham radio technology chase.  Vendors dazzle them with new radio technology and Swiss army type antennas, implying success can’t be achieved unless you buy their offerings.

Nice try vendors, but that dog doesn’t necessarily hunt.  I’m not saying all the vendor radio offerings are bad.  SDR shows great promise, although personally I feel it doesn’t totally replace well designed superhet or quadrature receivers – yet.  What SDR does for the vendors is maximize profits by minimizing the cost of production.  A corporation’s ultimate dream!

Whereas designing and building a modern SDR radio is likely beyond a current ham’s ability, magazines, books and the Internet haveplenty ofham radio antenna construction articles that exude build-ability by most hams.  And for those who learn visually, YouTube has no shortage of videos stepping you through design, construction, and use of HF, VHF, and UHF antennas.

It seems an ever increasing number of hams have turned to buying commercial antennas – no matter the simplicity of construction.  However, you don’t always need to go the commercial route.  Sometimes, the grey matter between your ham ears is all you need to design and build a practical antenna.

A 30-meter Vertical Antenna

At a recent breakfast get together of the local HF & DX Group I mentioned building a 30-meter vertical antenna.  30-meters is a truly unique band, combining the propagation characteristics of 40- and 20-meters.  30-meters provides opportunities for both regional and worldwide DX communications.

The 30-meter antenna I built uses a “Crappie” style telescopic fishing pole and a couple of elevated radials.  (See Treasure Coast Hams Alchemist article for construction details.)  I explained that the antenna was very easy to construct, with most parts purchased from local stores.  It’s so simple to build that even a ham with no prior antenna construction experience can easily assemble it and enjoy successful 30-meter QSOs.

One of the hams at the table asked almost satirically if I had caught any fish with the crappie pole.  Sipping my coffee I responded, “Nope, no fishes” and then added “but I have caught over 70 counties.”

And that ain’t no fishing tale!