HR2.0 - Ham Radio Antennas | Base Station Antennas - What Do The YouTubers Use? YTB #19

HAM RADIO ANTENNAS! We get asked this question often - What Ham Radio Base Station Antenna do you use? What is the best ham radio base station antenna? There are many, many choices out there and none of them are necessarily wrong, but today the YouTubers Bunch talk about what we personally use for both base station and portable operations.

This is a long video, so check the short-links in the Description of the video to move around.

 

You guys need to put up some real antennas!

 

um, you realize these guys do radio every day and have a passion for it.. that commit is ignorant.

and your qrz page says the best antenna is the one that is on the air. Woah, dude .. upset you weren’t invited to the show?

 

When was "home station" dropped for the dubiously fashionable "base station"?

 

Hi Guys this was GREAT , I belief that the 49:1 or 64:1 end fed is the most useble for all fast no ant tuner needed and easy to get up an go
up to 100 w ,Thanks, Pieter--zl1pdt

 

I've got a SteppIR three element. Seems pretty real.

 

20m, 4 element, 1"3/8 non tappered on a 30' boom, home brew, can hear a pin drop. I can just lift it off the ground. Been up for 15 years with regular maintenance. Survived many 100 mph winds.

Doesn't anybody make their own any more?

 

Sure you had a big discount too knowing the game. I make my own for HF. Store bought VHF and Above except for satellite which I built. Maybe you all should bug the ARRL for a free copy of the Antenna handbook so we can see what skills you all have.

 

I watch a lot of your videos and have found them very informative and you address a wide variety of topics. I watched the videos of you Step IR build and installation. From the videos, it looks like you have a single story home. With a 4 ft roof tower and the antenna on top, my guess the antenna is about 20 to 25 feet off the ground. My question is why didn't you choose a 9 ft. roof tower with a 15 ft. heavy duty mast to get the antenna up another 10 feet?

 

I enjoyed watching what the guys use for their antennas. I'm a 100 watts and a wire guy. It's rewarding to me when I work a ZL, JA or DL using just a wire antenna. Sure I could have a 50 ft tower with multiple beams, but that would take the fun out of it for me. This hobby is supposed to be fun and continually learn as you progress.

 

When did hams stop using the proper Phonetic alphabet? A whole new world today!

 

Now that's the way its done.

 

It's CB lingo. The first time it hit me was when I was showing a class in Electronics my Kenwood radio. Comments were "Oh you have a BASE" and "Gee, that's BIG". Up until the '70s CB craze a Ham Station was presumed to be fixed and at the licensee's home address. Exceptions were noted with /mobile, /portable, etc.

 

I sorry it came across wrong. Hope to talk to all of you ON the Air
73

 

Ah CB that's another reason I hated living through the 70's. I can say I never owned on not did I want one!