End Fed Gutter Antenna

Over a quarter wavelength for 40 meters and almost a half wave for 30 meters.

End fed gutter antenna.

This automatically tunable antenna coupler is an ideal solution for this type of installation due to the fact that the rain gutter looks like a non resonant end. The point of course is stealth. Also if you have a non aluminum gutter plastic you can snake wire inside as well and load that. The house is made of brick so the entire system is isolated from ground.

Next run our jumper wire from the top of the alpha match and clip it onto your gutter make sure the jumper wire is not laying on or touching the ground. Put a telescopic mast against a pole hook the antenna to the top and slide it out. An advantage of end fed antennas is of course the simplicity especially for fieldwork this is a huge advantage. Take a brillo pad to the feed point tap.

Including the feed wire into the shack the total length is in the neighborhood of 42 feet. You are on air within 5 minutes. Place any metal rod that is between 3 8 to 1 inch in diameter into the ground then slip our top of mast mount over it. In hopes of finding a low profile antenna for shortwave listening the rain gutter and downspout on the back porch were tried as a random length antenna.

The links at the end of the article are really good idea joggers. Rain gutter which is about 16 feet long across the front of the house. Of all the things in this hobby antenna design and use is the most fun for me. The automatic antenna coupler is designed for use with end fed unbalanced antennas such as whips and long wires.

An additional advantage is that the antenna can easily be polarized vertically.