Two months ago, in August, we started with a discussion of fundamental antennas and how they evolved. Probably 90% of the antennas you will work with over your amateur radio career will be one of those basic ones or a derivation of one. This month I want to discuss one of the currently popular antenna types that we are seeing a lot of in portable HF operations, the “end-fed.“ These antennas come in two varieties, so similar to each other it is sometimes hard to tell which is which.
The (EFHW) is a resonant antenna, with a fundamental half-wave electrical length which will work on its fundamental frequency and multiples of it. The other “end fed” could rightfully be called a “random wire” since it is not an electrical half wave, or multiple thereof, on any of the bands on which you might operate. It is reminiscent of the early days of the hobby when the antenna was “just
