Vertical Antenna Project
In March 2010 I finished a simple, hanging vertical antenna for ten meters, using the tree on the western side of my property (where, in the picture on the QTH page, the 100-foot, 55-foot, and 20-meter dipole terminate.) This puts the vertical a little more than a half-wave away from the house.
Here is how the project looked on paper...
...and here it is, in a picture taken the day it was hoisted up
into the tree
The radiation pattern, as calculated by EZNEC
antenna modelling software
showing a low take-off angle of 17 degrees typical of vertical antennas.
Also note there's even some gain!
As seen below, the antenna has a 1:1 SWR at the target frequency of 28.400 MHz. The Vertical also measured X=2 and R=50 across the target range of 28.3 to 28.5 MHz.
SWR vs.f (MHz)
Readings taken with an MFJ-259B
With both the ten meter dipole and the vertical on an antenna switch, I can select the one that provides the best performance. The Vertical wins on 4-land, carribean, and South American signals, the dipole wins with Europe and western US (no surprise as the dipole is oriented N/S.)