Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!



Bobtails and Half Squares

These antennas offer big gun DX performance on the low bands,
yet they are surprisingly simple to build. Try one- you will like it!


Bibliography

"The 'Bobtail' Bidirectional Broadside Curtain"; Woodrow Smith, W6BCX;
Antenna Manual, Editors and Engineers, 1948, p.204-205
1948 Antenna Manual article about the Bobtail antenna by Editor W6BCX

"Bet My Money on a Bobtail Beam"; Woodrow Smith, W6BCX; CQ, March 1948
The original article by the inventor of the Bobtail antenna

"The Half Square Antenna"; Ben Vester, K3BC; QST, March 1974, p.11
"Before the four square array, there was the half square array..."

"The 20-Meter Double Bobtail"; Jerrold A. Swank, W8HXR; 73, May 1980, p.44
Interesting article with rave review of a 20 meter bobtail

"The Half Square Antenna"; Robert "Hasan" Schiers, N0AN; Ham Radio,
December 1981, p.48
Excellent Article- discusses coaxial capacitors, multiband use

"The Bobtail Curtain and Inverted Ground Plane, Part One"; Woodrow Smith, W6BCX;
Ham Radio, February 1983, p.82
Excellent Article- fully explains the development of the Bobtail antenna in the mid-1940's

"Bobtail Curtain Follow-Up: Practical DX Signal Gain"; Woodrow Smith, W6BCX;
Ham Radio, March 1983, p.28
Discusses exceptional low band performance of bobtails and half squares, why voltage-feed is best

"Rotate the Bobtail Curtain"; Jerrold A. Swank, W8HXR; 73, May 1985, p.48
A clever method of switching the half square's pattern to end fire using a quarter wave stub
Editor Note: The antenna is not as exciting a DX performer in end fire mode- Think of it as behaving more like a dipole with closer-in coverage.

EMAIL Send Comments to K3KY Grounding and Feeding PREV

HOME K3KY's DX Toolbar   Bobtail Tuning Networks NEXT

Web page created by K3KY. All original content including text and photos is Copyright © 1996-2015 by David E. Sinclair. Use elsewhere without permission is expressly prohibited.