One antenna two inputs via a splitter?

[BcobboldParticipant]

Good evening all,

Just a query. as a new ham licensee, I am browsing various base transmitters and see a few with dual antenna inputs, one for HF and one for Vhf/UHf. for example a Yaesu or Icom.
As there are numerous antenna out there with wideband and power capability for all the bands these units cover, can one just use the one antenna with a proper splitter for both inputs, rather than have two antenna?

Regards
Brian

[M0PWXParticipant]

wideband antenna’s are good for receive but not so much transmitting, as getting a good SWR across multiple bands can be a challenge, and the bigger the difference in wavelength or the more bands the harder it is

i have a FT991a with a HF fan dipole on the HF antenna connect and a Diamond X300 on the VHF/UHF antenna connector

HF antennas tend to be horizontal due to the length of them and VHF / UHF tend to be verticals or YAGI’s so another reason they tend to be separate antennas

you can get some good vertical HF antennas, but they tend to be pricey and a bit of a compromise, horizontal wire HF antennas tend to be cheaper and you can build them yourself (look at a nanoVNA about £30 on amazon to help with tuning)

with any splitter connecting two outputs to a single antenna you have the risk of failure causing damage to the radio, its far better to have separate HF and VHF/UHF antennas, with my FT991a also the antenna tuner only works on the HF connector so you need the VHF/UHF antenna thats pre-tuned with SWR below 3:1 (ideally better than 2:1)

the best antennas for your situation depends on the amount of space you have, as well as your budget

73

Peter M0PWX (Not Pete M0PSX who runs this site)

[Author]

Posts