HF antenna recommendations for small garden

Poula

Hi.

I've recently got into listening to HF radio. I mainly listen in on the 80m 40m and 20m bands and HF ATC at the moment. I've tried an end fed antenna with a 9:1 unun from moonraker but found this very noisy and in truth a good bit too long at 20m to stretch out fully. I tried a ground loop and this was much quieter but didn't pull in much. I'm currently using an mla30 mag loop which is ok but the signals are a bit weak to make out sometimes. Could anyone recommend an antenna for a small space that gives adequate performance.

Absolutely, I can recommend two such antennas, they blow me away each time I use them but one of them does cost a few bob.

First is the Bonito Mega Dipole MD300DX and it must be mounted on a fiberglass telescopic pole or it's performance will be effected and the coax needs to be coming away at an angle rather than vertical with the pole.

This antenna offers superb signal to noise ratio compared to a long wire and I've got it connected to my Kiwi SDR and People have emailed me as to how it can pick up low frequency beacons they can't pick up on any other SDR, unless maybe they're close enough.

It's performance drops off above around 18 Mhz and above this it starts to get noisy. But for 30 Khz to around 18 Mhz it performs superbly

https://www.bonito.net/hamradio/en/megadipol-md300dx-wideband-active-dipole/

You can listen to it on my Kiwi SDR here http://emeraldsdr.ddns.net:8073/

I do have some powerline noise to contend with but it is intermittent but check out the Kiwi and antenna tonight, also bear in mind that some of the fiberglass mast sections collapsed so one of the legs of the antenna is not extended fully but it still performs good, I need to take it down and fix the mast.

This Antenna will blow away the MLA30 loop especially up to around 18 Mhz. But it does cost a lot of money but I got it direct from Dennis of Bonito as a sample and he links to it on the internet on his site, in fact that reminds me, I mist give him the new URL.

I have the fiberglass mast a 12 m spider beam attached to a fence post and I dug a hole with a post hole digger and a post rammer to beat it into the round.

Next up is a lot cheaper but one might still consider it very expensive for an antenna but remember, a radio is only as good as the Antenna, you can have the best receiver in the world and just connecting some feet of wire won't do much good for it.

Here is the Bonito MA305FT https://www.bonito.net/hamradio/en/megactiv-ma305ft-wideband-active-antenna/

This antenna is newer than the one I have but the only difference is the FM Trap for those who live in areas with strong FM transmitters close by setting the jumpers inside will attenuate these signals in the 88-108 Mhz range.

Here's the mast bracket for MA305 https://hamradioshop.net/antennas/antenna-accessoires/181/antenna-mast-mounting-bracket-for-boni-whip-megactiv-gigactiv-and-megaloop?c=52

Optional longer whip for more gain highly recommended https://hamradioshop.net/antennas/antenna-accessoires/183/flexible-radiator-m6?c=23

Good quality Coax https://hamradioshop.net/coaxial-cable/coaxial-cable/229/h155-low-loss-coax-cable-bulk

Coax connectors for H155 Coax https://hamradioshop.net/coaxial-cable/coax-connectors/233/bnc-connector-crimp-version-for-h155-and-hyperflex-5-coaxial-cable

Ground Clamp connects coax shield to the clamp via this, need to strip some of the shield https://hamradioshop.net/coaxial-cable/coaxial-cable-accessoires/247/grounding-clamps-for-coax-cables-h-155-hyperflex-5-rg-58-airborn-5-kabel

Ground Spike/rod https://hamradioshop.net/antennas/antenna-accessoires/246/grounding-spike

Crimp Tool https://hamradioshop.net/coaxial-cable/coaxial-cable-accessoires/242/crimping-plier-standard?c=29

The antenna is the best investment you'll make in any receiving station. I think you will be highly impressed with the performance from the MA305FT for it's size it will blow any wire antenna away for signal to noise performance, the only difference is this antenna and the MD300DX are more DX antennas for pulling in distant stations, for local ham radio operators for instance a wire antenna will pull them in stronger.

Anyway try my Kiwi SDR and see what you think this will give you a good idea what you can pick up and compare it to your existing setup. I am out in the country with minimal noise, if you're in an estate or apartment then it could be a whole different story, mount the antenna as far from any house if you can.

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Poula

Thanks a million for your help. Very much appreciated. I've had a wee listen to your kiwisdr channel. Definitely much much better than I'm getting. I'll look into these antennas. Do you mind me Asking where you're based?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119525168#Comment_119525168

I'm down in Carlow, just outside Carlow Town in the sticks.

Location is also key, if you're in a housing estate or apartment you will probably not get such good results due to interference from some electronic devices, but a radio is only as good as it's antenna and for receiving a good low noise antenna such as the Bontio MA 305FM is a good place to start and get the optional longer whip.

martinedwards

I have a 1/2 sized G5RV. feedpoint in the corner so looking down from above, the legs are at 90 degrees.

I've worked Australia and New Zealand on 20m with it, so it seems to be OK!

Ah yeah the G5RV will work ok for TX and RX but for wide band SDR you really need a low noise general receive antenna. In fact the Bonito will give many ham antennas a run for their money on RX if you have an RX antenna on your Transceiver. For NVIS hams though the long wire would be the best especially on 160m.

I love the EFHW 49:1 because I can work several bands with no tuner and it's dead handy with the Acom 1000 because all I have to do is tune the Amp and not the antenna. I would need a tuner to work 60 and 160m though but the issue is the 49:1 and either way the EFHW becomes inefficient with the transformer inline on non resonant bands, it is a really good antenna though.

I'd love to install the 160 m version but it would be very difficult to install, if I had some 60 foot tall trees spread out 80 meters then sweet but I don't, it was hard enough to install the 40 meter long antenna I have because trees are never where you want them but even that would have been easier than a doublet for instance because you need to feed it in the middle, that can work good for some but either way just happy to have all the bands I need and not have to use a tuner, means all the signal is getting out and not a huge amount being lost in the coax depending on how high the SWR is.

Malmsteen

Small garden at my QTH also and tried numerous antenna's... this is now my everyday Antenna - Comet CHA-250Bx Vertical Antenna I have it about 30 ft of the ground its fairly good across the bands tho Verticals tend to be noise also.. here is a local link.. https://longcom.ie/product.aspx?id=94

its a bit pricey tho I did also see one for sale in limerick for half the price... if I find it I'll post it in another reply..

Best 73.