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Some simple portable antennas for 10 and 6 metres 10 and 6 metres really come alive in the summer. Sporadic-E propagation can make even low powered signals strong at 1000 km or more distances. These temporary portable antenna ideas will let you get your share of the action.   10 and 6 metre link dipole Pretty much the simplest antenna there is but gives exceppent performance. Just lower it and change two clips to swap bands.   10 and 6 metre dual band fan dipole Want both bands at once? Build one of these and become a fan of the flexibility this dipole offers.   Loaded dipole for 10 and 6 metres Limited for space? Wish to try pedestrian mobile? Need both 50 and 52 MHz operation? This loaded dipole can help. Made from old TV antenna parts.   Quick and dirty 50 MHz half wavelength wire vertical Some hams don't want their home to look like a communications base. They might only have two or three antennas permanently up. That might include an inconspicuous wire dipole or end-fed for the HF bands and a vertical for VHF/UHF. Unfortunately this arrangement likely misses some bands. If that describes your situation then why not make some lightweight temporary antennas that can be quickly erected? Then you don't miss out on the great conditions that can occur on bands like 10 and 6 metres over summer. Described and demonstrated below is a wire vertical perfect for this application. It's just 3 metres tall and can be hung on a fishing pole. And, if needed it can be scaled up to work on other bands as well.   Oblong loop for 10 or 6 metres Need some bidirectional gain in a narrow space? The oblong loop might be the choice for you. Construction is simple with a 50 ohm feedpoint with no matching section. And it works well for DX too!   2 element wire yagi for 28 MHz A handy project for someone who needs some gain and has trees or poles in just the right places. And it's easy to take down when not needed.   Making a 28 MHz vertical dipole into a beam Here I add a parasitic element to a 28 MHz wire dipole to make it into a beam. I also describe how to switch it to be either a director or a reflector to flip directions.   Learn more about element switching for bidirectional yagis in this M0MCX article. This reactance calculator helps you calculate values if you wish to scale up or down for different frequencies. You might also find this single mast wire beam interesting.

Books by VK3YE Ham Radio Get Started (USA) Australian Ham Radio Handbook (Aust) Hand-carried QRP Antennas More Hand-carried QRP Antennas 99 things you can do with Amateur Radio Getting back into Amateur Radio Minimum QRP Illustrated International Ham Radio Dictionary Make your Passion Pay (ebook writing)   All material on this site (c) Peter Parker VK3YE 1997 - 2026. Material may not be reproduced without permission. Read privacy policy.