Multi-band HF vertical?

[G6NHU]

I got my ticket back in 1982 and I've had absolutely no interest in HF whatsoever since then. Not a bit. I know nothing about it at all, I'm a complete HF n00b. I know what the bands are, that's it.

So I bought myself an FT-847, mainly for use on VHF/UHF but because it's also a decent HF set I figured I may as well make use of that part of the wireless and finally drag myself onto HF.

I have no HF aerial.

Outside I have two poles nailed to the side of the house, one has a 2m beam on it and the other has a VHF/UHF colinear.

Ta-da:



Both those masts are the same length, they're 20ft thick walled aluminium scaffold poles but perspective is making the rear one look a lot shorter.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to take down the front pole, replace the rotator, fit a longer stub mast and put the beam back up. I'm going to put a smaller VHF/UHF colinear on top of the stub and then remove the long one (Diamond X500) from the rear pole. It'll be guyed with Kevlar guys.

So I will have a spare pole towards the rear of the house that I may as well fill with an HF aerial. A multi-band vertical seems the ideal thing but I don't even know what to consider.

I appreciate that whatever I put there will be a compromise but something has to be better than nothing, right?

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas?

73
Keith.

[5B4AJB]

R5's are pretty good, if you want 80m too, then an R7.
OK - scrap that, they've been updated:-
http://www.hamradio.co.uk/acatalog/C..._Antennas.html

There's basically two types of H.F. multiband vertical. Resonant traps VS tuned stubs (I think that's what they're called) - I've used both types, there's not much in it really.

The Butternut HF-6V is pretty good http://www.hamradio.co.uk/acatalog/A...Butternet.html

~€500 is quite a bit for an antena IMO - if you look real hard, you'll find plans to homebrew either on the web...

[G6NHU]

Interesting, thank you. Out of those ones it looks as though the Cushcraft R8 would be the best option but bloody hell, how expensive!

[m0bov]

Why not try a dipole?

[G6NHU]

I thought about a dipole (something like a G5RV) but the problem with that is that my shack is at the front of the house and getting a feed down to a central point would be a logistical nightmare. I've also spoken to a few locals and they don't exactly have a glowing reputation either.