The 10m 0.64 Wavelength Ham Radio Vertical Antenna - One of the Best 

Man, you are so great at explaining the details with antennas. And that fact that you even spoke about your mistakes, don't see many doing that. Please keep making these videos! I have learned so much from you.

Fascinating discussion of a rarely used DX antenna. I've built several 5/8 wavelength antennas throughout the years and have never been disappointed by the results. Thanks for the most informative video. Aloha, Russ (KH6JRM).

Back in the 70s and early 80s, they had the Penetrator and Super Penetrator verticals that out performed many of the verticals of 5/8 wavelength made by other manufacturers, the only reason others were sold was due to the price of the Hy-gain Super Penetrator being almost three times the competition! But you got what you paid for with the Hy-gain brand! They used aircraft aluminum, and excellent clamps. When the weather turned bad, the competition would literally fold and fall apart! The reason I bring it up, is many hams would also buy them and tune them up for 10 meters! The Hy-gain brand became one of my favorites and one I would buy again!

Hi , made a dipole ,turned it vertical, worked US, Brazil, Uraguay and more. Dead simple. Thanks.

Look... so, I've been tracking your videos for a long time, and every time I think to myself "Holy shnikeys!!! This guy is a mad genius!!!" you go and out-do yourself and prove that you are even smarter than I thought you were before. Well, you've done it again! Very well explained, and very motivational! The best videos aren't ones that just make you think, they are ones that make you feel like you can do the thing, and that motivates you to actually do something and not just think about it! You should be charging for this content!!!

Hello Colin few years ago I made a 10m 5/8 antenna by the plans of N2FFL. This antenna uses a 5/8 element and a classic inductor for impedance matching while the radials are only 103 inches. I did not use the capacitor that he uses, please check on his site. This antenna works vey well . I only use two radials because i do not have room for four. The radials extend about 3 feet on each side and than drop down, always because of lack of room. The tuning is quite broad extending to 29 and more Mhz by memory. Noise is quite low. I also made a 20 meters 5/8 vertical about 12.7 meters tall and the radials are 5.3 meters long . In this case I used your LC matching system. It tunes well but the bandwidth is reduced respect the broader bandwidth of the 10 meters 5/8 .

Colin, your attention to detail is 2nd to none. Well explained, well presented. Thankyou

Excellent video Colin

I'm here to follow your efforts and build my own Five Eight 10.

A shootout between the Moxon and the 0.64 Vertical would be great. Your comment about everyone wanting an instant antenna is spot on, I have found doing POTA/WWFF that it gets easier to setup everytime you go out.

Good video Colin 😀 I've been on 17m today and worked China with 5W FT8 using a 5/8 vertical. Interesting observation about your vertical being 'quiet' The higher Q the antenna, the less noise it receives. Its a bit like reducing the IF bandwidth of your RX. As you narrow the BW, the noise is reduced. Its the same for antennas -- so you are correct! When I get a moment I'll try and replicate your 10M antenna. One other way of making low value capacitors is to use double sided FR4 PCB material. I can't quite remember the rule but I think its about 1Pf per square mm. Great for QRP and maybe up to 25 watts but not too good for 100W and certainly not for 400w! 73 Bruce G4ABX

Interesting. Many, many cycles ago, I used to rag chew with the Brits on 29.000 (and up) on FM direct. No repeaters involved. I had a 3 element inverted Delta Loop, tuned for 10M repeater work, mounted on my roof. This placed the boom at about 40 feet. The band was open, not long after my sunrise, for most of their daytime. What a grand cycle that was, but I can't remember the years. I had a Kenwood TS-430 with the FM module installed. I'm not certain, but I think when operating in FM mode, the output was limited to 25 Watts. (A mind is a terrible thing to looooz) HaHa I'll put this antenna into my Bucket List, maybe to use this Fall/Winter. Actually, I'm planning on a Half Square for 20M later this summer and might also include one for 10M. Thanks for the video, Colin. BTW: You Do Good Work..... 73 OM

Nice one Colin, will try this, have my Sigma 4 copy up and she works well, Patel is a great chap👍🏻.

OUTSTANDING video Colin! I agree, the .64 antenna is the best vertical. Now what I see from your first set of measurements,....it looks like Simsmith (a great program that I also use), gave you the correct approximate values, but it displayed them as a LOWPASS when they should be configured as a HIGHPASS (C - series, L - shunt on the load side). I wonder if this is a software glitch in Simsmith even though the screen says it is set to lowpass. I'm basing these findings on the data shown in the 4th schematic on the web page at 7:09 in the video. That bottom schematic shows 819nH (shunt) and 22.7pF (series) The first set of values from Simsmith (the wrong ones) are 819.7nH and 18.53pF and these are very close to what you ended up with, BUT they are presented with the incorrect schematic. Keep up the great work!! We need to build more, and buy less....just like our forefathers did. One doesn't learn much from buying a massproduced storebought item. 73 OM

Thanks for the video!

Well done Colin. Explained very well. I’d opt to say this antenna Will complete with my Mosley ta33 with the beam at the base point of the vertical. Elevated verticals work very very well on 15.12.10 and 6m. Would love to hear the comparison with the moxy.

Only just found your channel and glad I did (apart from needing an interpreter - kidding) very nicely presented and content and technical and smartly assesed all details. Poss only 2nd of yours I watched because after 1st really knew I needed to subscribe. You already have a great 10M Mox (we should liase) and still build and use another type for the same band. I like that very much. All the best. G7VYH and 73's

Great video Colin and such and interesting aerial. Can you do another video on air

...there are a few folks around that can actually 'smell' RF...and they have a good sense and understanding on how things really work particularly on a practical basis rather than theoretical.. Colin is one of them.... you might have missed it but Colin's remark on putting 4 tuned radials on a half wave vertical (really a single band efhw) also makes good sense and might pull the takeoff angle to the horizon down another few degrees..I have limited resources here in Mexico so you have to work with what you got.... Richard VA7AA/XE1

Very interesting video, thanks! It seems to me that it is not necessary to conduct a detailed calculation of matching and make them constant, but simply install a L-Match. This will make it easier to quickly and accurately tune the antenna in various other places. Also, what if, instead of all those radials, I installed a folding aluminum mat with a GTU?

That might be a close match on 10 MHz too. Im working on a vertical that will cover both bands. Basically a quarter wave on 10MHz with a coil that lowers the resonant point on 28 MHz to make it nearer the bottom of the band. It will end up closer to 5/8 on 10m. GM4SVM

Well done again, very well explained and presented. I am surprised you did not stay with 1/4 wave radials though (unless I misunderstood that part), You may find that 1/4 wave radials perform slightly better. As for the vertical section... it MIGHT be interesting to use ladder line shorted at top and bottom to simulate a fatter conductor, it may give you some bandwidth advantage. Or possibly shorted at the bottom and cut to slightly different lengths at the top. Regarding the noise... it MIGHT be your decent polar diagram, "ignoring" ground based interference sources very close to the antenna. FWIW MMANAGAL can also create matching circuit values... Keep up the good work, 73

just thinking out loud, have you ever tried feeding a vertical antenna with ladder line, to get a doublet multiband result. This works quite well for inverted V dipoles, just wondering if it would work on a vertical - of course a tuner is required

Isn't it the case that the height of the antenna is the critical element here and that a 1/4 wave who's tip is at the same height as a 5/8 wave will perform just as well over anything apart from a theoretical perfect ground?

That's a low noise floor considering you are using a vertical. Are you going to market this antenna as a commercial product, as you did with the Ajustiwave?

Are you aware of any multiband antennas that can be made using a coil and capacitive section of coax or are they always monoband?

...going to try both the 5/8 and the 1/2 wave Colin and compare the difference. I have the room to tinker high up on a flat concrete roof full of rebar. My 80m 1/2 wave does resonate on 10 meters, but it's way too high in the band to be useful, unless you're really into FM repeaters. You, The Evil Lair (who has a thing for "Experts"), and Bret from Survival Coms sold me on the Fair Rite 264325002, and it's improved efficiency due to form factor. I've scored 2, not an easy task in small town Mexico.. Tnx again... Richard VA7AA

How close are you to the coast. just wondering if you're getting an assist w the salt water

Cheers Man " er Whit Next HI thanks

I need to try a different antenna. I've never even *heard* a station from India on 10 here.

Main concern is usa guys say the 5/8 wave is no flame thrower. My thoughts are most guys your trying to contact are on beams etc so horizontal. So the only people dx who should get you well are other verticals. A good link would be a 5/8 talking to a 5/8

The length should be exactly 2/π, which gives 0.637*λ

0.64 is not the way Owen did it Colin He actually makes it a tad shorter, he designed one for me for 20 metres and didn’t agree with the 0.64 “old wives tale”

too much talking