End feed Half Wave (EFHW)

I’ve not been to many Field days, but this was my second one in 2024 I decided to deploy an end feed half wave antenna with a 49:1 balun.

Operating the ICOM 7300 with a 20 amp hour LiPo

The balun was from my radio club and was provided in a kit which I had to assemble. If I find any footage of the balun I will update this page.

The wire is 20 metres long and hung between two masts, first mast – spider beam 12m HD available hear: https://moonrakeronline.com/spiderpole-12hd-telescopic-pole-12m-heavy-duty-fibreglass second mast is a tripod which is just under 4 metres tall and is guyed down to stop it tipping over,

My second attempt at an EFHW was to use the Spiderbeam 12 metre mast as above, an EFHW kit from HF kits available hear https://www.hfkits.com/product/10-15-20-40-80-endfed-antenna-kit-250-watt and a 10 meter fibre glass mast available hear https://moonrakeronline.com/tmf-1-5-30ft-heavy-duty-fibreglass-telescopic-mast with drive on mount by Maine Mast available hear https://www.facebook.com/share/1C6GjGr885/?mibextid=wwXIfr. I also used a screw in cork screw post mount similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/GeZu-Impex%C2%AE-Parasol-Galvanised-washing/dp/B0DSBLLBCW with a metal pole inserted into it which a fellow HAM made up, the Spiderbeam in held in place with a bungee cord.

This setup felt more stable but not so easy to transport. With this setup there is a lot of equipment to move around.

I am not going to go into the intricacies of EFHW antennas as this is well documented online, what is appealing about this setup is the ability to switch between 10/(15)/20/40/80 bands with only a 20 meter length of wire without having to psychically touch the antenna. Unfortunately the EFHW are not the best when is comes to DX and noise. EFHW tend to radiate their energy upwards instead of outward meaning that signals bounce back down from the Ionosphere and don’t travel as far due to the angle of reflection. There is not perfect antenna right?

Below are a few pictures

10 Metre fibre glass mast mounted on Maine drive on mount
HF Kits 49:1 balun mounted on top of fibre glass mast
Spiderbeam end of the wire with screw in mount held in place with bungee cord
Maine Mast drive on mount with 12 M Spider Baem

That concludes my little show and tell, hope it gives you a little inspiration.

73