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Is There a Ham Radio Cloud Burner in Your Future?
Conventional ham radio wisdom proclaims that when it comes to an antenna bigger and higher are better. There is even a ham radio joke stating, if our antenna stayed up over the winter it’s not big enough or high enough. Despite the "bigger and higher" mantra, higher is not always desirable. Let’s examine some practical antenna theory.
What is Ham Radio Cloud Burner Antenna
Firstly, if you are a serious DXer there is no such thing as an antenna being too high. As a generalization, the farther away a station the lower the ideal angle of an antenna’s radiation. Conversely, the closer a remote station the greater the desire for an antenna possessing a higher angle of radiation. If you have an interest in DXing an you have a ham radio relative residing within a couple of hundred miles or you’re a contester seeking better antenna performance within a couple of hundred mile radius you don’t want compromise antenna, you might consider a solution consisting of two different a antennas. The good news is that an antenna for close in communication a Near Vertical Incident System (NVIS) antenna is low, unobtrusive and inexpensive to construct.
NVIS antennas were discovered by Germans during WWII. For 40 meters the antenna can be as low as eight feet off the ground. A reflector (a passive element) very close to the ground increases the effectiveness of a NVIS antenna. Such a configuration is actually a two element beam pointing straight up to the clouds.
The following website and the embedded links contain all you need to know to understand and build a Ham Radio NVIS antenna.
NVIS Antennas
This is the Ham Universe website which has many interesting ham radio related links.
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