KC8AON's Tips for End Fed Wire Antennas

[Lamewolf]

1. If your tuner has enough range to match it on all the bands you want to operate without using a balun or unun, then don't use a balun or unun as this only adds losses to the system.
2. If you have the room, use a half wave end fed wire for the band of interest.  This can be matched with an easy to build LC network and is less dependant on a ground system or radials and is very efficient.
3. Be careful when near the end of any end fed wire as certain frequency/length  combinations can produce high voltages which could cause a shock, arching, and or fire. Always use insulated wire and insulate the ends of the wires with electrical tape if they are low enough for humans or animals to come in contact with it.
4. If you are using a quarter wave or end fed random wire, also use at least one quarter wave length counterpoise wire from best performance. Run this wire 180 degrees from the main wire.
5. The best place for the tuner when feeding an end fed wire is at the feed point of the wire, this helps eliminate  feed line losses due to a high swr on the feed line.
6. If a manufacturer is selling an all band end fed antenna that "must use a tuner for all band coverage", one needs to understand and expect that the antenna will work but will have losses and will not be a top performer.