Everyone is going to have their own "favorite" antenna story to tell you about as Radio Amateurs are always on a never ending quest to find the "ultimate" antenna.

… Well here is the story about mine.

According to the ARRL Antenna Book, a quarter wave vertical antenna with fifteen 1/4 wave ground radials may have an efficiency of only 50%; with fewer radials the efficiency suffers even more.

Efficiencies of short mobile whip antennas listed in the same reference are often only 10% or so - and that is with a car body as a ground plane. With a poorer ground it is even worse!

According to this principle, maximizing your HF antenna efficiency must then be mostly dependant on your ground, counterpoise or radial system.

To further clarify this point in question, finding that “ultimate” antenna may not necessarily depend on the antenna per se, but rather, the type of counterpoise or ground radial system that is attached to it in order to operate it at maximum efficiency. .

However, “what if,” we remove this aspect from the equation for a moment? That is to say, what if there was an antenna that does not require a ground radial system or counterpoise to operate at maximum efficiency?

Is there such an antenna design available? Surely, this must be quite a feat of high tech expert engineering and design. …Or is it?

I recently dusted off and opened the yellowed pages of one of my earlier editions of the ARRL operating manual that described the best multi band antenna to be extremely simple to build, erect and use.

The End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna (or EFHWA, pronounced "EFF-WAA") is not a new design by any standard, but after exploring all these newfangled portable antenna designs on the market these days, I decided to explore this classic antenna design a little bit further.

Why you might ask?

Apparently, this antenna seems to have several advantages over some of the newer computerized antenna models & designs currently on the market for portable HF operations today.

Let's explore a few considerations and benefits of using this “old” but “new again” antenna:

A) A single wire antenna - multiband coverage without a tangle of multiple wires.

B) Produces more gain than some traditional multi band dipoles.

C) Provides a more uniform and omni directional radiation pattern when compared to other multiband dipoles which tend to have more directional characteristics and less gain.

D) Is not as complicated to construct, erect or tune as a multiband wire dipole design seems to be. (Although an antenna tuner is usually recommended)

E) Is very lightweight to suspended (7 ounces) therefore is not as susceptible to wind and ice damage from storms.

F) Does not require any additional ground radial system or counterpoise. (Antenna efficiency is maximized without this being a requirement as discussed earlier.)

G) Very portable, fits in a Ziploc bag - Makes a nice "backpack" HF antenna. Can be erected in seconds flat!

I was listening to an Amateur located in New Jersey on 75 meters using one of these "end fed" antennas a few weeks ago. He was describing how he had this 100 watt portable HF station inside a "toolbox" case and it was connected to a small marine battery. He was operating his "homebrew" portable HF station temporarily from his living room.

He said he had an auto tuner installed inside the toolbox and it was connected directly to the end fed wire antenna.

The antenna he was describing was of the "portable" roll up variety.

He said he strung the wire outside his home, out the front door, and merely "flung" it up into a tree in his front yard in no particular fashion.

I was very impressed as he had a really big signal here in Ohio. It was a very Solid 40+ db signal - He never faded below S-9 ...ever! In fact, if he didn't tell anyone what he was using, I would have assumed that he was running 1 KW and a "big gun" beam antenna on a 100 foot tower.

… Not too bad for a "portable" HF station in my books.

After hearing this guy on the air that night, (I forget his call sign) I researched this antenna design a little further and found it described as "Possibly the best HF antenna" in the ARRL operating manual. (third edition 1987)

This antenna is not new by any means, but I often wonder if sometimes such simplicity may be the key to efficient antenna design & construction. There are no lossy traps or feed lines, and the antenna is easy to erect. They are very stealthy too. They can be drooped out a window in an apartment high rise, or installed permanently in an antenna restricted neighbourhood.

The following website described the end fed antenna as the following:

"The end-fed half wave (vertical dipole) routinely outperformed the horizontal dipole on <2000 miles paths by AT LEAST an estimated 6dB"

Quote Source: http://www.qsl.net/aa5tb/efha.html

This versatile antenna can actually operate as many other antennas. It can be configured to operate as an inverted “L”, a sloper, a vertical, or even a half square. Each one of these antennas has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. The interesting part about all of this is you can have ALL of these antennas rolled up into one package for the grand total of $4.00 and a trip to the hardware store!

Most of the time, some of the newer portable antenna designs we use are intentionally simple, and because of this - they don't always put your portable and precious watts where they belong.

Most portable antenna designs today seem to be a good compromise and if nothing else they are small practical antennas for SW radio receivers.

My thoughts after hearing this powerhouse signal a few weeks ago out of New Jersey was that perhaps we are spending way too much time trying to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps it's time we place some serious thought into what many hams have already done so many years past. ….It worked well then, so why change it now?

Build this latest & top performing 1930's design and see for yourself !

Here is a good place to start:

http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup12.html

Good Luck!

73

Charles - KC8VWM