[Elecraft] Advice on First HF Antenna

[Barry LaZar]

Craig,
     Let me start with there is such thing as the perfect antenna. Each 
is a compromise. Now having said that, there are several antennas that 
come to mind. First, there is a simple dipole, fan dipole, or off center 
fed dipole. This assumes that you have supports, trees or equal, that 
can allow you to get the antenna up at least 35' and are at least 70' 
apart. I prefer a 40 meter off center fed dipole, OCFD, as it covers all 
the bands, and being off center fed, allow it to be tuned fairly easily. 
A simple 40 meter dipole fed in the center will work on 20, but it will 
require a 4:1 current balun in the system. Fan dipoles can be made to 
operate on both bands, but tuning is interactive.

     If you want to spend ~$600, a Gap Titan is a good antenna. It is a 
bit cumbersome to stand up, but they work. Just make sure the bottom of 
the antenna is about 10' above ground. This height prevents clothes 
lining friends and relatives, and no radials are required.

     There are other antennas. Each has something good or bad, price, 
performance, difficulty, etc. My belief is simple is best. And, the same 
should be true field work.

73,
Barry
K3NDM

------ Original Message ------
From: "CRAIG SCHROEDER" <craigschroeder at mac.com>
To: "elecraft at mailman.qth.net" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: 12/7/2015 5:13:22 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Advice on First HF Antenna

>I am pretty new ham and a brand new KX3/PX3 owner excited to try my 
>hand at DX'ing!  If you were buying your first HF base antenna, 
>primarily looking for performance on 20 and 40 meters, what would you 
>recommend?  Also, what do you suggest as a high performance field 
>antenna for QRP?
>
>Thank you,
>
>Craig
>KD0TXL
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