This antenna installation consists of a ground rod, that is bonded to your existing house ground, as per the National Electrical Code; as well as, the ARRL Handbook.  The outer conductor of your coax is connected to the ground rod.  The center conductor of the coax is connected to the antenna wire itself.  The Antenna wire is insulated from it's attachment points with simple wire antenna insulators.  The antenna wire is run vertically from the feed point insulator to another insulator at the bend, then run horizontally, terminating at another insulator on the end.  The bend insulator is tied to shack, or tower, or other support.  The end insulator is tied to a tree or other convenient support.  I like to add a bungee cord to help keep the wire taught and to also prevent it from breaking on windy days when the trees sway.

    For this antenna project, we will use 12 AWG to 14 AWG stranded copper wire, WITH THE INSULATION ON.  So pick a color that the XYL or neighbor's won't complain about, like white.  Lighter colors are nearly invisible at any height above the ground and make for great stealthy antennas.

    The reason for leaving the insulation on, is two fold:  1.) It protects the wire from the elements and makes your antenna last longer;  2.) I calculated this formula using the velocity factor of 12 AWG and 14 AWG stranded, copper wire with the insulation left on.  It's different for bare copper, and certainly changes once that copper oxidizes in the weather.

    So, knowing the aforementioned calculations of velocity factor for the wire, gave me a constant of "234."  With that constant, we can now work the formula for the Inverted L length calculations.

    I wanted an antenna to work the "Top Band," 160 meters.  I decided to calculate my antenna to a center frequency of 1.84 MHz; therefore, I divided 234 by 1.84 and got a result of 127 feet. 

    I cut my wire to 127 feet, 8 inches.  I allowed myself an additional 4 inches to feed the wire through the insulators and solder it for strength.

    If you are prone to a lot of noise or static, and the front end of your receiver is overloading, you can get a 1 Mega-Ohm, 1/2 watt resistor and install it at the feed point.  Connect one end of the resistor to the center conductor of your coax, the other end goes to shield.  Yes, short the coax, at the feed point with a 1 Meg, 1/2 watt resistor!

    You do NOT need an antenna tuner for this antenna to operate on or near the frequency for which you cut it. 

                                                                                                                             AI4JI