HF Shortened antenna

[tvining]

I have a vehicle mounted HF. The original tuner/antenna combo had 16' in 4 elements. Due to a few issues with keeping them mounted properly, We have eliminated 2 and sometimes 3 of the elements on the antennas.

Can we still safely transmit and receive on the radios, knowing that we are likely changing the SWR of the antenna?

I don't want to burn up some 3-4k dollar radios on an experiment.

 

[jhooten]

You may get the tuner to tune a 4 foot whip on 10/12. IF the bands are open you may even be able to make contacts.

At 8 feet you should be able to work 20 and up.

12 is the shortest I choose to go. Currently that is where I'm at but I have another 4 foot element in the tool box, along with a 50 foot wire with a 3/8-24bolt to use while stopped.

 

[prcguy]

Sounds like you may have a Shakespeare AT-1011 HF whip that can be 16' or 32' long depending on how many sections you use. What make/model tuner do you have?

Some tuners will not tune with a whip much shorter than 8' but the tuner or radio should tell you it cant find a match and warn you not to transmit. Depending on the frequency range you are using, a whip less than 16' can give grim results on performance. If your operating frequencies are say 20MHz and above then 2 antenna sections might be ok, but if your down at 10 or 4 or 2Mhz you won't talk very far even if the tuner can find a match.
prcguy

I have a vehicle mounted HF. The original tuner/antenna combo had 16' in 4 elements. Due to a few issues with keeping them mounted properly, We have eliminated 2 and sometimes 3 of the elements on the antennas.

Can we still safely transmit and receive on the radios, knowing that we are likely changing the SWR of the antenna?

I don't want to burn up some 3-4k dollar radios on an experiment.

 

[rfradioconsult]

Dusting off my crystal ball, I'm guessing a Micom SSB ALE radio with a WIMA antenna base/tuner. 8ft should be ok with performance falling off on the lower channels.