160m Band 1/4 Wave Kite lifted Vertical Antenna
This is a basic ¼ wave vertical for the 160m band which is lifted into the air using either a 1m diameter Helium filled balloon or a high lift, stable Delta Wing kite.
This is one of the first Airborne Antennas I experimented with and it has proved to be extremely good on the low bands.
I’ve used this antenna from both small and large gardens & fields with excellent results, so don’t let a small garden put you off !
The antenna is raised/lowered via a telescopic 6m aluminium mast with a clever pulley system installed. This allows the conductive flying line (A special weave of nylon cord and 6 x tinned copper conductors) to be wound in/out via the inside of the telescopic mast thus keeping the antenna under control at body height.
(Note: Never use stainless steel wire for antennas, the losses are huge at RF.)
To stop the antenna from shorting on the inside of the aluminium mast the lower 6.25m of conductive flying line is insulated.
The antenna can be cut for resonance on the 160m band if preferred however, I prefer to use a simple LC matching circuit at the feed point of the antenna thus enabling the antenna to be used across the whole band rather than being limited to a particular frequency.
The antenna can also be tuned to resonance by many of the automatic ATUs available on the market today, I have used the AF41 antenna with both the SGC SG230 and SG235 500w ATUs with excellent results.
I use a ground radial system installed here at the F5VKM QTH which consists of in excess of 150 x 41m long 2.5mm wires laid out in a circular pattern, however the antenna performs extremely well with just 4 x 41m 2.5mm radials.
In a small garden QTH just run as much wire as possible in all directions for the ground system, you’ll be amazed how well it works.
For night flying I use a micro-flashing beacon attached to the balloon or kite line thus enabling me to find the antenna position against the night sky, it’s visible for quite a distance and often gets comments from the neighbours 2km away.
Below are some pictures of the antenna in use along with the antennas modeled radiation pattern.
Antennas
