[Elecraft] Advice on First HF Antenna

[Augie "Gus" Hansen]

On 12/7/2015 3:41 PM, Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT wrote:
> Wire antennas are flexible, work well and are incredibly inexpensive.

Agreed - you can afford to experiment and learn a lot about antennas by 
building simple wire dipoles and loops before investing big money in 
towers and aluminum. And getting a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book, even 
an old edition at a swap meet or from a ham friend is highly recommended.

> Put up as many as you can as big as you can.  If they stay up, they 
> were too small.

Nah, let's get Craig started in the right direction. When I got into ham 
radio in the 1970s I often heard the expression "if your antenna didn't 
fall down last winter it wasn't big enough." But that's kind of like 
saying "If you're driving on the highway and you don't crash you're not 
driving fast enough."

I prefer to suggest that we should try to design and construct antennas 
well so that they stay up and work right. Putting a pulley and weight on 
the support of one end of a dipole suspended between two trees to 
accommodate tension changes from wind is an example of good technique.

Happy antenna building Craig.

Gus Hansen
KB0YH