RMHAM-U Antenna Workshop

Three instructors spent the morning discussing the ins and out of various antennas for use on our amateur radio bands. The morning started out with Chris AE5IT bringing the class up to speed on the theory of Radio Frequency (RF) radiation and who the signals from our transmitters made it from our shacks to receivers down the block and around the world. We are truly fortunate to have Chris as an instructor, not just for his knowledge of the subject, but his down-to-earth explanations and his use of unique props to that represent the behavior of radio waves. Doug K2AD brought the perspective of a contester, DX’er and experimenter to the group. Doug’s years of working with many “Elmers” allowed him to impart the importance of design, construction, testing and most of all “trial and error”. The phrase “it looked good on paper” comes to mind. One of his mentors had a statement “You shouldn’t buy an antenna that you can build.” Doug showed us examples of antenna systems designed for use in the nay specialized aspects of the amateur radio hobby including contesting, EME, satellite and more. The last of our presenters was Willem AC0KQ. Willem enlightened us with simplicity, low cost, and great utility of wire antennas. baluns, various feed lines, tuners and analyzers were explained. He also discussed vertical antennas where they could be beneficial in mobile operation. All three instructors relied heavily on displaying examples of the items that they were discussing, and these were on display at the front of the class. We hope you will be able to attend our final installment of RMHAM-U on April 25 when Mike K7AIH will present a class on Grounding and Lightning Protection.