This webpage, last updated in May 2009, describes my antenna system and its construction and performance. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me.

Nine years ago I began to experiment with vertical arrays because a beam up on a tower has several serious drawbacks for my situation. We have a lot of ice here in the winter and, of course, ice is tough on beams and towers. A beam on top of a tower is an expensive proposition, too. Having reached an age where climbing towers no longer appeals to me, I hoped that vertical arrays would allow me to work some dx.

Vertical arrays have several aspects which I like. They are inherently good low angle antennas and properly situated, they don't have to be put up in the air to perform well. The systems described here are several orders of magnitude less expensive than a tower and a beam, and they can switch direction instantaniously. Also, I want to be able to easily work on my antennas, and you can't beat a ground mounted vertical for accessability.

At present I have a 6 element inline array (E/W) on 17m. In the past, when 17 was more active, I had 2 of these, one on a N/S axis and another on an E/W axis. Each array can be fed to radiate from either end. These beams have fairly wide beamwidth, so with headings of roughly 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees nearly universal coverage is achieved. I have an identical set of arrays for 20m as well. Using dot notation, I describe these arrays as ......

With the help of EZNEC, it appears that these inline arrays (......) do not work as well as 3 x 2 (: : :) arrays. The 3 x 2 array produces about 3 dB more forward gain (see the bottom of this page). Using this configuration, a four element array (: :) will outperform the six element inline array. Experience has shown, however, that inline arrays are easier to implement and switch.