“The Great Ice Storm” that ravaged southern Ontario in December 2012 regrettably effected a permanent toll upon virtually all of the home-brewed wire “...sky-hooks” at my home QTH, by way of the accumulated heavy coating of ice felling the very trees that kept my creations aloft...
Gone --- but certainly not forgotten! --- was my 160-meter phased 3-element inverted-extended “L” array, my multi-band low frequency dipole, my multi-band center-fed Zepp, a pair of K9AY receiving loops, and a 1,600-foot long N/S Beverage. How my 3-element rotary tri-band yagi beam managed to survive the onslaught surely serves as solemn testament to its stellar original design and construction by the “Hy-Gain” corporation from some four decades before!
Lamenting of the loss of my prized “...wire weaponry,” I essentially remained off the air in rueful frustration --- until, that is, the happy day that my XYL convinced me to bring my venerable old Yaesu FT-980 transceiver along with us one weekend to our summer cottage location. It was an easy enough thing to do (despite the rig's considerable weight!), and I immediately warmed-up to the idea, having many fond memories from decades earlier of my operating a Heathkit SB-102 transceiver, and a 120-foot long end-fed Zepp antenna at the exact same spot. But again, that original sky-hook could never be, because a TV tower that did double-duty in keeping one end of the Zepp aloft had been replaced by a satellite TV dish years ago --- and the tall cedar tree at the eastern end of the antenna's span had long ago fallen prey to a chain saw.
So --- what to do...?
I had a fairly good cache of thin-walled aluminum poles in my well-stocked backyard of “...ye oldden golden junque boxxe” holdovers from an old “Gotham” quad antenna that came my way from a Ham buddy of some 45 years ago...that, and the remnants of an aged “Avanti ” phased vertical CB aerial that was graciously donated to me by our next door neighbor.
The cottage itself is just a modest two story affair, with an upper level balcony surrounded by side wood guard rails at its west end. I quickly surmised that its height would be a boom to the erection here of a 20-meter ground-plane vertical, lashed to a corner handrail post, its feed point being at a height of 10-feet above actual ground. I simply calculated the length of the radiating element required (234 divided by the frequency in megahertz) for the mandated 1/4-wavelength physical length of the vertical aluminum span --- I then wrapped the base of the pole with ordinary black electrical insulating tape for the length of its travel just where it might come into physical contact with the wood post of the handrail support (previous experience, from back in my formative radio years, taught me that a bare copper wire antenna with one of its ends simply lashed to a wood pole --- with no insulator whatsoever at that end! --- is a very bad idea on wet, rainy days)...
The different sections of aluminum pipe needed to span the prescribed length of 16.7-feet (my longest pole maxed out at 10-feet, after all) are held together by ordinary rad hose-type automotive ring clamps, securing two abutting sections to a shorter, and just slightly narrower diameter inner pipe. The vertical is held aloft by three short “bungee” cords, lashing the mast to the vertical corner post...
No, I hardly expected the cords to ever last more than the length of a single summer --- the verticals are, after all, seasonal only: they are erected every spring, and then dismantled and stored, indoors, at the beginning of each October. And yes, the bungees are certainly more than trash-worthy by then, having been exposed to the outdoor elements for some four months by that time. But that's all just very minor and insignificant “...collateral damage” in the grand scheme of things.
The aluminum pole satisfied my requirement for 20-meters --- the 15- and 10-meter bands were covered by virtue of two lengths of insulated copper wire, each cut to its respective proper span, per band (again, applying the formula of 234/f MHz), and attached to a common feed point at the bottom end of the pole by virtue of a rad hose ring clamp. The balance of these wires is merely taped, every so often, up and along the aluminum vertical itself, thus placing them both essentially electrically and physically “...in parallel” with it.
I originally used two sets of ground-plane counterpoise wires, each going off in opposite directions and away from the vertical-proper, as dictated by the guard rail support posts. The counterpoises are simply “threaded” between the actual posts themselves out of the way of any pedestrian traffic, surrounding the upper deck (see attached photo). These “ground” wires are bundled together at intervals of their length with electrical tape, and consist of little more than three insulated copper wires, each 1/4-wave long per band, i.e. 20-, 15-, and 10-meters. Last year I added a third set of counterpoise wires, simply dropping them vertically down from the antenna feed point making the system to appear, additionally, like a vertical dipole. The positive effect of this --- if any --- has not been especially noteworthy in terms of performance, however, as compared to the original use of just two horizontal counterpoise wires...
The opposite end of the balcony was prime real estate for a mono-band 40-meter ground-plane vertical. In this instance, the feed point is just below the lower balcony, some 10-feet beneath the upper one. I measured-out, and hose-clamped together, about 23.5-feet of aluminum pole and lashed the base of it to the vertical corner support post at the north end of the balcony in the exact same manner and style as I did with the 20-meter vertical. However, a 10-foot length of insulated copper wire from the lower balcony level feed point extends up to, and is attached --- again, via a rad hose ring clamp --- to the base of the aluminum vertical, thus completing the approximate 33.4-feet of total 1/4-wave vertical mandated for 7-MHz.
This vertical has as its counterpoise two 1/4-wave long horizontal insulated wires running alongside, and physically close to, the walls of the cottage, away from any hazards of possibly being chopped-up by a passing lawn mower. A third counterpoise wire is simply unfurled across the front lawn of the place, and is rewound each time that the grass might require cutting. The base of the 40-meter vertical is about 3-feet, or so, above the actual surface ground (lawn) level.
SWR with the 40-metre ground-plane can be set “...on the nose” by judicious tweaking of the length of the wire portion of the vertical --- and I have actually done so, too, but not with any particular sense of urgency because it, and my 20-, 15-, and 10-meter ground-plane antennas, are all fed by way of a home-brewed transmatch at the FT-980, anyway. Consequently, I hardly feel compelled to bother with “...sweating the details” in this regard. I feed each of the two ground-planes with its own dedicated run of 52-ohm coaxial cable directly to each base, utilizing RG-58U for the higher frequency vertical, and a short length of RG-8 coax for the 40-meter version, simply because that's just what happened to be available here at the time.
Results on all bands have been most gratifying, to say the least, but especially when it might come to working DX. On most occasions, the maxim of, “...If you can hear them, you can work them,” holds true, more often than not. This has been very gratifying for me on a band that is as low as 7-MHz, and with an output power of just 100-watts maximum there, too.
Now, that was the set-up successfully used here for the past several years. A sudden curiosity as to my exploration (finally!) of the “...new” WARC bands compelled me to cut 1/4-wave insulated wires for 18- and 24-MHz, and to attach their feed-points, in common, at the bottom end of the original 20-meter aluminum pole. I then cut a 1/4-wave insulated wire length for 14-MHz, and taped its length (alongside the vertical element lengths of the new WARC bands) along the full span of the aluminum --- but at the very top tip of the pole, I secured --- by way of a rad hose clamp --- a 6' 4” extension of insulated wire which, when added to the length of the pole itself, equaled 1/4-wave on 10.1-MHz. I tied a thin twine to the end of this wire, & extended it away from the pole, in the fashion of an inverted “L” antenna --- the end of this twine was simply secured to the hand railing, a fair distance away from the aluminum pole, proper..
I never bothered with the task of incorporating specifically-cut counterpoise wires for all these extra bands --- and the results to date would hardly justify that particular hardship. Tuning with the transmatch on the different bands can be rather sharp, and “on the nose”--- but that is not a particular source of concern, or worry, to me. The antennas all load-up nicely, & in the course of just the first couple of weeks of my being on the air with the new bands, contacts have come about as easily for me as they have on the “traditional” bands. Their inclusion has served up an especially nice “spice” to the usual variety of Ham life at the cottage --- but especially the 10-MHz band, which has already impressed me as being an ideal, laid-back, and decidedly unhurried rag chewers' CW haven.
I am now weighing the possibilities of adding either a base (removable) loading coil, or a loading coil installed (again, removable) at the 10-foot level of the 40-meter ground plane, to see if it might facilitate operation on the 80-meter band, as well as on 40-meters. A section of some old "B&W" coil stock has already been selected from my junk box for this specific (proposed) purpose...
So, there you have it, all you wannabe seasonal portable operators --- a (possibly) eight-band set-up with a low take-off angle of radiation, and one that impacts just a reasonably small “footprint” upon your vacation-portable site, and which is reasonably “stealth-worthy,” to boot...and all from just a pair of surplus thin-walled aluminum poles, some wire, a bit of pre-thought, and the application of very basic mathematics...! Seriously evaluate your own particular personal situation, and then act accordingly. There is no hard and fast rule that might forever condemn you to the use of just a simple “... end-fed-random-length-of-wire” whilst away from home.
Leave the notion of any tree-mounted horizontal antennas, literally, "...to the birds," and take advantage of the pluses and superior performance of an elevated ground-plane vertical, leaving all of the tedium of endlessly having to bury countless counterpoise wires beneath a ground-mounted vertical, to somebody else...!
...For you have far and away much better things to do at the front of your rig, actually manning its controls --- not the very least of which is immersing yourself in some “HAPPY DX'ING...!”
~73~ de Edward “Eddy” Peter Swynar (VE3CUI – VE3XZ)
NOTES:
PHOTO #1 The base of the 30- through 10-meter ground-plane vertical, and how it is secured to its supporting balcony guardrail post by means of sequence of simple bungee cords. Note the black electrical tape applied to that portion of the aluminum pole that comes into contact with the wooden post itself, and how the counterpoise wire is "threaded" between the bases of the balcony support poles away from the aluminum radiator, proper...

PHOTO #2 The mid-section of the 40-meter ground-plane at the same balcony level, but on the north side. If you look closely, the 10' insulated wire extension dropping down to the first-level balcony feed-point can be just seen attached at the bottom of the pole, by way of yet another ubiquitous and ordinary radiator hose clamp. As with the higher-frequency ground-plane, bungee cord "anchors" and black electrical tape are the order of the day here, also... 
| VE3CUI | 2020-08-09 | |
|---|---|---|
| Re: Multi-Band Ground-Plane Vertical Antennas | ||
| Good day to you, KJ4DGE... Think "...multi-band wire dipole" with that parallel element next to your main vertical GP vertical, & you've got the idea, alright...! Remember all those old Ham radio introductory ARRL books, that featured a drawing of a bunch of wire dipoles drooping down from the span of the one single dipole cut for the lowest frequency band of choice, but which all shared a common feed point...? Well, a multi-band ground-plane is the exact same idea --- only instead of using a shorter drooping wire element cut for the higher frequency band you may wish to operate on, you use an insulated 1/4-wave long piece of wire that's simply taped, at regular intervals, alongside the longer lowest frequency vertical element --- but with a common feed point, of course... It's so ridiculously simple an idea. I guess that's the very reason why so very many of us have probably never even considered it before, as in, "...Gee whiz, it can't REALLY be all THAT easy, now, can it...?!" Hi Hi And just think: guys pay HUNDRED$ for commercially-built "...appliance antennas," that do essentially the very same thing that this humble home-brewed affair does. Yours & mine may not be as especially "...pretty-looking," of course --- but then does the guy at the other of the QSO know...? Or even CARE, for that matter...?! :o) Reply to a comment by : KJ4DGE on 2020-08-09 I recently made a 1/2 wave 10 meter vertical. So far so good. Have not had conditions to test on the air but the results of SWR and power are surprising to me. Its fed at 4.5 feet above ground level with a 16.5 foot counterpoise. The radiator it attached to the bamboo mast and stands at 23 feet in the backyard. Am running a FT-990 so have 100 watts to play with. I also cut a similar 17 meter length of wire I may attach to the rig in parallel to see if can make it dual band. Think it may work. Thanks again for the ideas! Reply to a comment by : VE3CUI on 2020-08-08 Many thanks for taking an interest in my GP antennas --- I hope that my success here with them may well serve as inspiration to others who may be in want of a decent radiator whilst back-packing, camping, etc. A seasoned old sage once advised me that you need AT LEAST 50 ground radial wires beneath an effective ground-mounted vertical, before the "...law of diminishing returns" kicks in (the ideal number, of course, is 100 radial wires)...& as for a GROUND-PLANE vertical, 3 radial wires below the radiating element is the MINIMUM to assure anything approaching respectable performance... Fact, or fiction, those "truisms" remained lodged in my head for some reason, or other, over the span of my Ham radio years, & I oft-times referred back to them as a sorta "...bench mark" in the execution of my own vertical antennas here. And I HAVE raised a variety of them here, too, including a gigantic 3-element phased inverted "L" 3/8-wave array for 160-meters, a Bobtail array for 80-metres, an inverted Bobtail array for 40-meters, etc. etc. etc. Lotsa fun, with lotsa positive & surprising results, too...! Reply to a comment by : KJ4DGE on 2020-08-06 Nicely done job! You have given me ideas for a 17,15,24 and 10 meter vertical design from your tinkering. My lot here is very small and I currently have a 20/40 vertical and a 80 meter inverted V at about 22 feet. Now if I can put up a vert for the rest of the bands I will be happy. Great pics also. BTW, I use bamboo poles for masts and they work very well. 73 KJ4DGE | ||
| KJ4DGE | 2020-08-09 | |
|---|---|---|
| Re: Multi-Band Ground-Plane Vertical Antennas | ||
| As far as ground elements below the radiator, I have found that even 3 that I use running various directions but at an angle and from the elevated feed point for ground pull the SWR down. basic 2 meter coat hanger GP idea but for HF. put up at a 45 degree angle its best. The key is cutting them to match the vertical element. a bit longer and with a loading coil at the base gives me a great 20/40 antenna even though the top part is cut for a quarter wave on 40 it does quite well. Reply to a comment by : VE3CUI on 2020-08-08 Many thanks for taking an interest in my GP antennas --- I hope that my success here with them may well serve as inspiration to others who may be in want of a decent radiator whilst back-packing, camping, etc. A seasoned old sage once advised me that you need AT LEAST 50 ground radial wires beneath an effective ground-mounted vertical, before the "...law of diminishing returns" kicks in (the ideal number, of course, is 100 radial wires)...& as for a GROUND-PLANE vertical, 3 radial wires below the radiating element is the MINIMUM to assure anything approaching respectable performance... Fact, or fiction, those "truisms" remained lodged in my head for some reason, or other, over the span of my Ham radio years, & I oft-times referred back to them as a sorta "...bench mark" in the execution of my own vertical antennas here. And I HAVE raised a variety of them here, too, including a gigantic 3-element phased inverted "L" 3/8-wave array for 160-meters, a Bobtail array for 80-metres, an inverted Bobtail array for 40-meters, etc. etc. etc. Lotsa fun, with lotsa positive & surprising results, too...! Reply to a comment by : KJ4DGE on 2020-08-06 Nicely done job! You have given me ideas for a 17,15,24 and 10 meter vertical design from your tinkering. My lot here is very small and I currently have a 20/40 vertical and a 80 meter inverted V at about 22 feet. Now if I can put up a vert for the rest of the bands I will be happy. Great pics also. BTW, I use bamboo poles for masts and they work very well. 73 KJ4DGE | ||
| KJ4DGE | 2020-08-09 | |
|---|---|---|
| Re: Multi-Band Ground-Plane Vertical Antennas | ||
| I recently made a 1/2 wave 10 meter vertical. So far so good. Have not had conditions to test on the air but the results of SWR and power are surprising to me. Its fed at 4.5 feet above ground level with a 16.5 foot counterpoise. The radiator it attached to the bamboo mast and stands at 23 feet in the backyard. Am running a FT-990 so have 100 watts to play with. I also cut a similar 17 meter length of wire I may attach to the rig in parallel to see if can make it dual band. Think it may work. Thanks again for the ideas! Reply to a comment by : VE3CUI on 2020-08-08 Many thanks for taking an interest in my GP antennas --- I hope that my success here with them may well serve as inspiration to others who may be in want of a decent radiator whilst back-packing, camping, etc. A seasoned old sage once advised me that you need AT LEAST 50 ground radial wires beneath an effective ground-mounted vertical, before the "...law of diminishing returns" kicks in (the ideal number, of course, is 100 radial wires)...& as for a GROUND-PLANE vertical, 3 radial wires below the radiating element is the MINIMUM to assure anything approaching respectable performance... Fact, or fiction, those "truisms" remained lodged in my head for some reason, or other, over the span of my Ham radio years, & I oft-times referred back to them as a sorta "...bench mark" in the execution of my own vertical antennas here. And I HAVE raised a variety of them here, too, including a gigantic 3-element phased inverted "L" 3/8-wave array for 160-meters, a Bobtail array for 80-metres, an inverted Bobtail array for 40-meters, etc. etc. etc. Lotsa fun, with lotsa positive & surprising results, too...! Reply to a comment by : KJ4DGE on 2020-08-06 Nicely done job! You have given me ideas for a 17,15,24 and 10 meter vertical design from your tinkering. My lot here is very small and I currently have a 20/40 vertical and a 80 meter inverted V at about 22 feet. Now if I can put up a vert for the rest of the bands I will be happy. Great pics also. BTW, I use bamboo poles for masts and they work very well. 73 KJ4DGE | ||
| VE3CUI | 2020-08-08 | |
|---|---|---|
| Re: Multi-Band Ground-Plane Vertical Antennas | ||
| Many thanks for taking an interest in my GP antennas --- I hope that my success here with them may well serve as inspiration to others who may be in want of a decent radiator whilst back-packing, camping, etc. A seasoned old sage once advised me that you need AT LEAST 50 ground radial wires beneath an effective ground-mounted vertical, before the "...law of diminishing returns" kicks in (the ideal number, of course, is 100 radial wires)...& as for a GROUND-PLANE vertical, 3 radial wires below the radiating element is the MINIMUM to assure anything approaching respectable performance... Fact, or fiction, those "truisms" remained lodged in my head for some reason, or other, over the span of my Ham radio years, & I oft-times referred back to them as a sorta "...bench mark" in the execution of my own vertical antennas here. And I HAVE raised a variety of them here, too, including a gigantic 3-element phased inverted "L" 3/8-wave array for 160-meters, a Bobtail array for 80-metres, an inverted Bobtail array for 40-meters, etc. etc. etc. Lotsa fun, with lotsa positive & surprising results, too...! Reply to a comment by : KJ4DGE on 2020-08-06 Nicely done job! You have given me ideas for a 17,15,24 and 10 meter vertical design from your tinkering. My lot here is very small and I currently have a 20/40 vertical and a 80 meter inverted V at about 22 feet. Now if I can put up a vert for the rest of the bands I will be happy. Great pics also. BTW, I use bamboo poles for masts and they work very well. 73 KJ4DGE | ||
| KJ4DGE | 2020-08-06 | |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Band Ground-Plane Vertical Antennas | ||
| Nicely done job! You have given me ideas for a 17,15,24 and 10 meter vertical design from your tinkering. My lot here is very small and I currently have a 20/40 vertical and a 80 meter inverted V at about 22 feet. Now if I can put up a vert for the rest of the bands I will be happy. Great pics also. BTW, I use bamboo poles for masts and they work very well. 73 KJ4DGE | ||