Antennas for 10 Meters
Antenna: 10 meters, Range: 28 to 29.7 MHz
Good 10 meters antennas are quite easily built using readily available materials. Since 10 meters covers the frequency range of 28 to 29.7 MHz you can use a few simple formulas to compute antenna sizes.
Antennas for 10 meters are among the easiest to make due to their size which is smaller than the rest. In fact, you can easily convert CB radio antennas over to 10 meters with little to no work. Some CB antennas are quite broad-banded so no modifications are necessary to operate them on 10 meters. Creating your own antenna for 10 meters is quite easy to do using the formula for a quarter wave antenna as explained in the next paragraph.
This formula: 234/f can be explained by dividing 234 by the desired frequency in megahertz which will give you the length, in feet, of a 1/4 wave antenna. This formula isn’t exact in that it assumes the radiating element is infinitely small. What this means is if the radiating element was one inch in diameter then the resonant length of the antenna would be a little shorter than the calculated one given by the formula gives you.
Using the formula above you will soon see that an antenna for 10 meters is approximately 8 feet 2 and 7/8 inches in length. This antenna measurement can be used for either a vertical antenna for 10 meters or a horizontal antenna for 10 meters.
Antennas for 10 meters are small and easy to deploy for survivalist needs.
10 meters can be both a fascinating and occasionally challenging band to work. During times of the solar cycle’s greatest sunspot activity 10 meters can be busy because of the many long-distance signals present on the band. The 10 meter band is sometimes referred to as a day-time band meaning it is the most effective during the daylight hours of the radio operator’s current QTH (location). During certain periods of increased sunspot activity (solar activity), “band openings” have been evident from hours before sunset and continue to stay open into the late evening hours.
It would pay for a survivalist to include an antenna for 10 meters. Many current and older CB radios can easily be converted to run on 10 meters.
