As amateur radio operators we put a lot of time and effort in order to make our signal go further. We pick antennas with a low RF radiation takeoff angle, we search for efficiency in design, and we spend vast amounts of time and effort analyzing the propagation charts for that rare DX opening. But The post NVIS vs DX: Why you need to master local propagation appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

Early on, when I started doing portable operating and Parks on the Air more consistently, one of the first antennas I built was a 20 and 40 meter link dipole antenna. This antenna was heavy, made out of PVC and 14 ga THHN wire. But I used that antenna for a long time, and it The post I built a Link Dipole Antenna (and you should too) appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

POTA Roves are a great way to spice up your Parks on the Air activations. Instead of going out to just one park and getting on the air, you chain together several parks and hit them in rapid succession. Speed the process up and you’ve got a sprint; quick activations of a dozen or so The post It’s a Six Park POTA Sprint! appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

If there is one ham radio accessory that I couldn’t live without, it’s probably my headset. I love the convenience of not holding a microphone, and as my ears get older, I really appreciate how the headphones help me pull out weak signals. I can get by without my antenna analyzer, I can ditch the The post I Put Heil Ham Radio’s All New BM-17 Headset on the Air appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

There is no shortage of end fed half wave antennas on the market. Over the years I’ve tried many variations and one of my personal favorites is the Spooltenna, both for it’s ease of deployment and very good performance. Their new Ultra model is my top pick and last week I put it on the The post Compact Wire Antenna, Massive Performance – Spooltenna Ultra Delivers appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.