The idea
Antenna theory is one thing; a real yard with real trees and real neighbors is another. This project is where the two meet.
What it does
The current installation is an approximately 80-foot inverted-L wire antenna, fed through a 9:1 unun, with a counterpoise and an antenna tuner completing the match. It’s measured and tuned with a NanoVNA rather than guessed at.
How it works
Getting a wire antenna into a workable impedance range involves iterating on geometry (the inverted-L shape, wire length, and height), the counterpoise, and the matching network (unun + tuner), then verifying SWR and match quality with NanoVNA measurements rather than trusting the theory alone.
Interesting challenges
Applied RF engineering runs headlong into residential constraints — available trees, wire runs, and mounting points rarely match the “ideal” antenna geometry from a textbook. The story here is measurement, impedance matching, and iterative testing against what the yard actually allows.
Progress and outcomes
The inverted-L is up and in use, matched via the 9:1 unun, counterpoise, and tuner, and verified with NanoVNA measurements.
What comes next
Exploring an end-fed half-wave configuration as an alternative, along with elevated wire supports and improved mechanical mounting — both still planned rather than built.