Antennas & Feedlines
Dipoles, verticals, Yagis, baluns, and coax — building and tuning antennas that work.
The antenna is the single biggest upgrade in any station. A modest radio feeding a good antenna, high and clear, will out-hear and out-talk an expensive radio feeding a compromise. That is why most experienced operators spend their money on wire, coax and height before they spend it on a new transceiver.
For HF, almost everyone starts with one of three designs: a half-wave dipole, a vertical with radials, or an end-fed wire. Each trades space, cost and performance differently. From there the topics widen into feedlines and connectors, baluns and ununs, tuners, common-mode chokes and, eventually, directional beams and rotators.
Start with the guides below to choose and build a first antenna that works, then use our antenna length and SWR calculators to cut it and check it.
Start here
- Choosing Your First Antenna: Dipole vs Vertical vs End-Fed
- Building a Dipole Antenna from Scratch: Step-by-Step DIY Guide
- End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna: Build, Theory, and Why It's So Popular
- Antenna Tuner Explained: Do You Need One for Ham Radio?
- Feedline Chokes and Common-Mode Current: The Fix for 90% of Station Problems
- Best Coax for Every Situation: RG-58, RG-8X, LMR-400, and Hardline