Hawaii Emergency Radio Club End-Fed Antenna

What on Earth does Hawaii have to do with Wales?  Well, as far as supplying excellent, simple - and above all - cheap antennas is concerned, actually quite a lot.

Given the simplicity of the first random wire I used, and its success in getting to VK land on just 50W one morning, I was reluctant to give up on end-fed wires altogether.  What was needed was one that didn't radiate in the shack and occasionally cook my PTT finger!

An idle search on the internet turned up the Hawaii Emergency Radio Club 40-6m end-fed wire, which has a simple 9:1 transformer, helping keep the antenna under good control.  The club makes these as finished items, but they also provide clear instructions on how to make one if you prefer.  I just paid the money on ebay!

A few weeks later, slowed down by the pre-Christmas post, the wire arrived.  I strung it up in minutes as a sloper, but it didn't seem to be as effective as I'd hoped, even though it could comfortably handle 100W as opposed to the 50W my 'wild-fire' end-fed could work.

One day, I struck on the idea of stringing the wire up a fishing pole to make an end-fed vertical.  I had no idea whether or how well it would work.  Did I need radials?  To hell with it!  I fired-up on 10W and no radials - no problem.  Then 50W - still no problems.  Then 100W.  Again, no problems.  It tuned beautifully and easily on all bands to less than 1.3:1.  It pulled in stations from across Europe and out to Asiatic Russia quite readily.

Then, around sunset, I heard a ZS calling CQ North America on 20m.  I'd ordinarily have respected his wishes, but somehow felt the signal would make it, and at the time, ZS wasn't being heard that much.  I called him anyway, and he was good enough to respond very politely.  The $40 Hawaii vertical on a $30 fishing pole pulled in a 58 to South Africa.  I was very pleased with that! 

'Simple' verticals give you low radiation (depedent on band and environment) - something not to be sniffed at.

Soon after, and to my considerable amazement, I got through a pile-up with this bit of wire to Japan - a 57 was reported!  I have since tried it with radials, but I haven't done any robust tests yet.  It probably improves the efficiency a bit, but so far, I can't see any apparent difference.

At some point, I found this excellent video which, like me, gives you a 'real world' feel for what the antenna can do, as opposed to moaning about its performance relative to a big yagi.  Unlike this video, though, my assessment is based on 'phone working:



Oh, one evening, on 40m, which isn't a band I'm otherwise equipped for (the 20m delta will work, but not very efficiently), well-known seafarer Ginel - YO4RYU/MM - kept in touch on his way across the Atlantic, near Bermuda, by my using this antenna.  The signal was much better both ways on the vertical than the delta.  Again, it might not be a cubical quad, but it allowed a good contact to be made.

Keeping in touch with Atlantic-crossing /MM, thanks to the Hawaii vertical.

And then, during an early-morning session in February, my old mate ZL3OZ responded to a CQ call on 15m!  I was only about a 41, but even so, keep in mind how simple this antenna is, that it has no radials, and cost a pittance.  When I switched to my 15m delta loop, the signal jumped to a 557.  Again, that antenna was put together for peanuts.

A photon emitted by a simple vertical antenna in Anglesey arrives in New Zealand.  Pretty amazing!

Yep, I agree entirely with those of you who will say a 41 on this vertical, or a 57 on the delta, is not a very blistering performance.  But you see, those people miss the point that for a new amateur operator - and some not-so-new ones, making the contact is the amazing thing.  When it's done with so little money compared to a commercial product, then it's even more rewarding.


And do keep in mind that the propagation has an awful lot more to do with whether - and how well - you are heard than many - especially those who spend a lot on the hobby - seem to want to accept.

Indeed, what I've come to realise is that it is the skill and timing of operation that is the crucial thing.  Don't get me wrong - my delta loops have bust pretty big pile-ups quite often - they are certainly not in any sense a useless antenna.  But if you avoid the shoutiest of pile-ups, operate during quieter weekday mornings as opposed to contest-ridden bands during the weekends, then you will soon start to realise that even the 'simplest' antennae can very easily make global trips and allow long, meaningful QSOs to be held.

The Hawaii end-fed - up a fishing pole in Wales - and out to the world!

Sadly, the remorseless advertising, materialistic approach and the macho need to build ever-bigger stations with ever-more power is, in the end, simply taking amateur radio backwards, not forwards.  There is little to be proud of when 1500W through your 7x7x7 yagi array at 50m is causing splatter across a huge swathe of the band half way across the world.  That's just daft - and unnecessary.

And, inevitably, when someone like me sends a positive report of the Hawaii antenna to eham, someone else then finds it was useless.  That's the internet for you; lots of opinion, no consensus!  My tuppence-worth?  I think you can afford to have a go, see what it might do at your QTH.

UPDATE: (4 years later!)

Armed with a SARK-110 analyser, this is how a full HF sweep looks for the end-fed, attached to about 8m of simple hook-up wire, mounted vertically:

A reasonably high SWR across most of HF means good quality coax is recommended to limit feedline losses.