Inverted L Antenna for 80m and 40m (and some other HF Bands from 80m to 10m)

 

The basic layout of the Inverted L Antenna (Practical Wireless)

The first antenna that I installed was for HF. I decided on an Inverted L that incorporates a 7MHz trap so that it can be used on both 7MHz (40 metres) and 3.5 MHz (80 metres).
The design of this Inverted L is well known and a good design has been published previously in Practical Wireless by Len Paget GM0ONX. It is based on one half of the famous W3DZZ trapped dipole antenna.
It can be made entirely from scratch as a DIY project, or the 7MHz trap could be purchased commercially as a ready made item, or whole antenna can bought as a complete kit from Tony Nailer, G4CFY, at Spectrum Communications. I opted to buy the 7MHz trap from Spectrum Communications, as I already had most of the other materials required - rope, egg insulator, plastic box, and some good aerial wire. The Spectrum Communications trap is solid and well made and 'potted' to protect against the elements.
This antenna is tuned for 40 metres and 80 metres, but the VSWR is acceptable on several other bands being in the region of 2:1 to 5:1. The designer anticipated that this antenna would be usable on five of the H.F. bands between 80m and 10m.
I have found that with the use of the Antenna Tuning Unit it can be used on all of the H.F. bands. However the polar radiation pattern may very well be less predictable on bands other than the intended 40 and 80 metres, and it may well be less effective than might be desirable - but it does work!
The antenna is in the back garden, while the shack (radio room) is in a bedroom at the front of the house. It is fed by a 30 metre length of RG213 coaxial cable (it is not possible to use twin feeder for this type of antenna as the Inverted L is an UN-Balanced aerial, whereas twin feeder is balanced). With this length of cable I estimate the loss in the feeder alone to be about 1dB at 7MHz. The feed point of the aerial is located at the base of a 16 foot high wooden pole near the bottom of the garden. The horizontal top wire returns to a fibreglass pole installed at the apex of the roof.