The Versatile Inverted-L Antenna
The inverted-L antenna is very popular for 160 meter operators due to the simplicity of it’s design and ease of mounting. Most of the time the inverted-L antenna is made of a simple wire that goes up a support such as a tower, mast, or even a tree. The bottom of the antenna is tied to an appropriate radial system to provide the ground plane.
The inverted-L antenna is usually made of 14 gauge wire and, amazingly enough, it can be used on many of the other amateur radio bands (assuming it was cut for 160 meters). The horizontal part of the inverted-L should realistically be horizontal but there are some radio operators who will slope the horizontal section. This isn’t a real inverted-L antenna but a trade off in performance is sometimes made for the sake of places to mount the end of the antenna. An inverted L antenna is also an excellent antenna SWL (shortwave listeners) to use as well.
This diagram by Arnie Coro, CO2KK is an excellent example of an inverted-L antenna.
Diagram copyright by Arnie Coro, CO2KK.Page tags: portable antennas, longwire antennas, vertical dipole antennas, monopole antennas, single band antennas, inverted-vee antennas, inverted-L antennas, longwire antennas