DIY Antennas, QRP, SDR & Ham Radio Projects from VU3DXR
The Antenna category collects all of our HF, VHF, and UHF antenna designs in one place — from compact balcony loops to multiband wire antennas and portable verticals. You’ll find step‑by‑step builds for 80 m to 70 cm, including delta loops, trapped dipoles, doublets, magnetic loops, collinears, J‑poles, Moxons, and more, each with practical dimensions and matching options that actually work on the air.
Many designs are optimised for small plots, apartments, and portable operation, with notes on noise behaviour, radiation patterns, SWR results, and tuning tricks. Whether you are chasing DX on 40 m, experimenting on 6 m “magic band,” or improving repeater coverage on 2 m and 70 cm, this section helps you choose and build the right antenna for your station
Space is often a premium for radio amateurs, but you don’t have to sacrifice performance to enjoy HF bands. The capacitor-loaded shortened dipole antenna, popularized by G7UNF, is a compact, multi-band antenna design that uses a center-mounted adjustable capacitor to tune resonance across several amateur radio bands. This post explains how the antenna works, gives […]
The delta loop antenna represents one of the most versatile and efficient antenna designs for HF amateur radio operations. This triangular closed-loop antenna configuration offers excellent performance characteristics while maintaining relatively simple construction requirements. Understanding the fundamental principles, design considerations, and performance characteristics of delta loop antennas is essential for amateur radio operators seeking to […]
GOES-R satellite reception guide — assemble an L-band dish/patch, filtered LNA, and RTL-SDR to capture continuous high-resolution weather imagery without internet
DIY Active Antenna for superior HF and VHF reception! This DIY electronics project amplifies weak signals to lift hard-to-hear broadcasts out of the noise
Improve AM signals! Build an active am band antenna with this simple circuit. Boost weak signals with JFET input & multi-stage amplification. Easy DIY
Boost your HF reception with this classic Active Antenna circuit covering 0.5 to 30 MHz. Learn how to build a high-gain, low-noise wideband antenna perfect for SDRs and shortwave receivers in space-constrained environments.
If your receiver needs a higher level of signal across the entire matching network, this signal booster circuit can furnish the solution. This Signal booster circuit, built around a few transistors and support components, offers an RF gain of about 12 to 18 dB from about 100 kHz to over 30 MHz
If you’re working with RF circuits and need to improve signal reception or create a compact antenna solution, the Signal Grabber circuit is an excellent project to tackle. This clever design creates a short pull-up antenna that delivers impressive performance in a small package. The Signal Grabber is a specialized RF circuit designed to create […]
Tired of static on your AM or shortwave radio? Do you struggle to hear distant stations? There is a simple fix. You can build a special antenna that makes radio signals much stronger. This guide shows you how to build a DIY active antenna. It is a fun project that can give you crystal-clear reception. […]
Radio frequency work can be tricky business, especially when you need to measure signal strength without the complexity of tuned circuits. Enter the untuned field strength meter (FSM) a simple effective tool that every electronics enthusiast should have in their toolkit.