End Fed Antennas
One of the simplest antennas to make, deploy and use are end fed wire antennas. The number of variations are endless. Probably the most familiar is the end fed half wave antenna. But random length end fed antennas are also popular and offer the added advantage of being multiple band though requiring some sort of tuning arrangement. Some often used lengths are 35 ft, 51 ft and 84 ft, lengths I have played with. Some commercially available ones include the "tuning" in a small box at the feed end which allows the antenna to present a reasonable SWR to your radio on several set bands. Some include 4:1, 9:1, 49:1 or other baluns or ununs which attach between the antenna and a coax feedline which in turn goes to a tuner. Almost all end fed antennas benefit from a counterpoise or one or more radials. End fed antennas are set up in various configurations such as a sloper, a vertical, inverted L, etc. Their versatility both physically and electrically make them very attractive, particularly in portable situations.