What you can expect from what you have:
First things first, to be competitive on any band:
Put your antenna up as high as possible
Put your main antenna far from your house or any electric fields, other antennas, powerlines, your neighbors house, your house, your generator, wires, solar panels, tesla cars, etc)
Buy good coax ALWAYS.. LMR400 is the Minimum quality you should own
Under almost all circumstances a Horizontal antenna will beat a Vertical antenna. The exception is if you wish to speak with guys on 10 meters who have vertical base/mobile antennas, because they are/were CBer's.
Despite what most of your friends tell you, you do not need much power. 100 watts is fine. The issue of getting out to distant stations is ALWAYS related to the antenna not the amplifier. For the most part if you can hear them, they can hear you, depending upon their noise levels.
If you have 1.5KW and you still can't hear the same station the other local guy can hear, you need a better antenna not a new amp.
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Ok lets get started
We'll go band by band and rating from 1 (worst case antenna scenario) to 10 ( the best case antenna scenario).
160 meters:
Since you can't get that 500 feet of wire up in the air much higher then a fence post, most amateurs here are in the same boat. Wire, wire and more wire the better. Farmers often use electrified horse or cow pasture fence wire. Once the horses get the idea, you can turn it off, and they will never go near it anyway. If you live in a more suburban neighborhood I suggest a big Loop antenna around your property as your best bet. No matter what you use, you will need a tuner. It doesn't matter what you feed it with. Coax is fine and there is no loss at this frequency. rating........... (5) You can even use a slinky toy as the wire to make up your antenna. Or even multiple slinky's. It's been done with success.
If you even attempt a Vertical antenna here you need at least 1/4 wavelength (yikes) and alot of ground radials. What's alot ? How about 50..... 125 foot or longer wires along the ground! Benefit is, you now have the best 160 meter antenna you can get. Great if you have acres and acres of property. (8) You're very own radio station.
Some have tried ( not me ) groups of short verticals into directive arrays....you get lower noise to recieve, but not much directivity. (5)
80 meters : DX
A full size Vertical here does pretty well, again you'll need space to put at least 60 radials each 65 feet long around your spacious property. Its not that Vertical antennas are the best choice mind you, its just that the number of amateurs who can get a rigid 80 meter dipole or a Yagi 200 feet high in the air is less then .5 % (admittedly a guess on my part). (8)
That being said there is nothing wrong with putting a wire dipole in the highest tree you got, and keeping it as horizontal as you can. With that you will do very well, and will be competitive with most everyone on this band. (7) Your still a bit low for the height needed on this band, but you'll get out very well domestically, and your competition is mostly guys with the same setup as you.
The four square Vertical antenna system, also does well here, has lower noise, has some gain in switchable directions and since each of the 4 verticals in this system requires their own set of radials, you get excellent ground and the power gets divided among 4 antennas. (9)
If you are fortunate (read RICH enough) to own a 3 element 80 meter yagi on a 200 foot tower, this page is not for you, you already have everything you need to dominate the airwaves, and can hear stations so well, they needn't even key the mic to talk to you. Congrats. (10)
The 80 meter not so high loop antenna, 260 feet around, you can run it around your house or yard, 20-40 feet high. less noise then below but I wouldn't say your competitive here, but its not terrible. (5)
All the other 80 meter antennas: low strung endfeds, long wires, g5rvs, shortened dipoles, small verticals, little loops and other weird looking non sensical antennas (3). The band is whats helping you here, not your crappy low height antenna. This band is the most forgiving band other than 10 meters. String up a wire with 10 watts and you'll talk to someone. But you're not remotely being DX competitive. But they all will get you on the band for that regional rag chew.
40 meters DX: The competition is getting tougher
There are more guys on this band with 2 element even 3 and 4 element yagi's on 100 foot and more towers, although they are still uncommon. These are the top dogs on this band. Even though you see Japan on the cluster on 40M from the US, its probably one of these guys who has gotten him "59" (10)
Assuming you do not have a Yagi for 40 meters, you can still make some noise and get some very good DX with a Dipole 70 feet high in a tree. You ain't breaking no pileups but you'll be heard in time. (7) This includes wire dipoles.
The four square vertical antenna array here also works very well. It has low noise, gives some gain and is even more directive then the 80 meter version. If you can't do a high horizontal antenna, this is a good alternative. (7) I know they seem complicated but they work well here, where the competition isn't too tough yet.
All the other 40 meter antennas: low hung endfeds, long wires, g5rvs, shortened dipoles, small verticals, little loops and other weird looking non sensical antennas (4). A slightly higher rating then 80 meters, because lower heights aren't as bad as on 80 meters. But make no mistake, your still non-competitive. Basically your looking for DX scraps and rare quiet band conditions. How high your antenna is starts to make a measureable difference here on 40. Height is Might. No worries, regionally like 80 meters you'll be able to rag chew, at an even farther distance then 80.
20 Meters DX: The king of all bands, If there is DX at all it is here. But this is also the band that separates the men from the boys.
To sum it up, a drastic change has occurred here versus the bands below it. Where as 160-40 most everyone is just trying to get by. Here everyone has some sort of Yagi tribander at least. So I'm sorry but Verticals and Wires are just not gonna cut it. You want DX? You got it, but your going to have to earn it. (this means WORK for it , for those born after 1985)
The top dogs here as always are the Super Stations, this means Guys with Stacked Yagi's and 100-200 foot towers.(10) Sorry they rule the HF planet. But thats the least of your concerns. These guys are still a rarity. You will know when there on. They are talking to stations you can't hear half way around the globe. AAH, the world is their oyster.
Next up are the large single monoband antenna guys, and there are quite a few of them. This means 21 foot and more boom lenght 4-5 element Yagis and 3 and 4 element Cubical Quads. (9) Either one of these on a 65-110 foot tower will break or create pileups. These are often the European or Asia stations you can hear who are calling DX North America. You know the guys you have been trying to contact for the last 20 minutes. If you wanna be the first call from one of these stations most of the time, you'll need a to be a Cubical Quad or a long boom monobander Yagi antenna.
Slightly below this group is a smaller segment of antennas and these are the Large tribander guys. 20 foot and larger 10-20 meter multibanders and larger tribanders, for those trying to get all bands on one antenna and have some decent room and a good size tower. Multiband 3 element Cubical Quads are here as well. Its all about boom length and even if you have a compromised antenna like a multiband tribander at least you got some decent boom length. These most times do a bit better than the group below but buyer beware it's likely that not all bands use the entire boom length. If your using it mostly for 20 meters, make sure on 20 meters the antenna is using the full boom length (8.5)
Next we go to the standard sized tribander guys. 14-18 foot boom length antennas, most with traps, some with para-sleeve or linear loaded elements. Each manufacturer trying to convince you which is better. They often mention using the latest computer software, which of course wasn't invented when these trapped amateur radio tribanders came out. ( like in the early 1960's). These antennas on 35-50 foot towers will do fine domestically, and even into Europe from the eastern half of the US. You will wait a bit in a big pileup but you'll get in there in a minute or three most times. (8) This group also includes 2 element cubical quads, which equal or better the smaller boom length tribanders in DX capability. Generally you'll be happy.
Slightly below this but not by much is the Hexbeam guys. Yes enough of these has been sold to get its own category. Don't listen to that nonsense it works great at low heights. You hear that because they are similar to a open ended Cubical Quad. And for years one of the "advantages" of Cubical Quads were that they work well from lower heights. All this is true, BUT get that hexbeam up as high as you can.... 40-50 feet up and you'll be very happy with the results. (7) At this level you'll do well getting the stations you can hear, you will even be surprised with how much DX you can get. That QRZ.com Asia award doesn't look that far off now. There will be big stations ahead of you in a pileup, BUT you will contact who you can hear, even with just 100 watts. You won't be waiting for 25 minutes either for a break in the noise/stations calling.
Next: Multiband Verticals (no radial elevated types) (5) and small stupid looking 3-4 foot boom yagi's that you just know don't work well, but the price is very tempting and you won't need a tower. (1) Also in this group are multiband yagi's with 6 or 7 bands on a 10 foot or less boom length. Please don't waste your time with this marketing trick, they don't work well. (4) Get a Hexbeam instead.
You are far better off on 20 meters and up (the best bands for DX) using a dipole in a 40-70 foot tree than using ANY Vertical aluminum pipe mounted on the ground, regardless of how many radials you put down. You are still better off with a dipole, even if you raise the vertical above ground. You install any dipole at a height of half a wavelength above ground and you destroy any Vertical, at least in two directions you will. You will probably have less noise.
What about these wires? Well a 70 foot high 20 meter plain dipole will still beat out any other kind of twin lead fed wire nonsense your friends told you to buy. But the competition on this band is rough even for a 70 foot high dipole. (5) Sure you'll get on the band with a G5RV (2), but thats it, your the guy waiting in the pileup until the sun goes down to speak with Italy, and then he just fades away! So close yet so far. As wires go a 20 meter loop as high as you can get it, might be second to the 70 foot dipole, but still don't bet on winning any contests.(4)
Anything else you got, like ground mounted verticals and miscellaneous wires, will work and once in a while when Europe can even hear you, but make no mistake your the bottom rung on the DX ladder.(1)
17 & 15 meter DX: This is very similar to 20 meters with slightly less competition, since there generally few 15 or 17 meter long boom monobander Yagis. So to sum it up, all of the above that you see on 20 meters applies here as well, although there is less competition here, there is also less DX. 17 meters benefits from better DX then 15 and less noise and no contesting allowed, so a decent multibander yagi with a modest boom 14-20 feet long, can do reasonably well here.(8.5)
Otherwise big longer boom antennas like on 20 meters rule the roost.
12 meters: Never heard of it. Get a Hexbeam or a 2 element Cubical Quad, and Rule 12 meters, problem is you'll have no one to talk to.
10 meter DX:
Probably the most versatile band in HF. You can easily talk with a local group of guys and meet at the local diner, get to know each other, become good friends with people. ( No, I'm not trying to scare you ) . In the springtime you'll be greeted with Sporadic E propagation, Backscatter, Tropo ducting, Amazingly long groundwave, short skip, long skip, DX like Europe and Hawaii and Japan and South America all on at the same time vying for your attention. These plus a million other propagation modes that nobody can actually explain. And best of all you don't have to be a Zillionaire to compete or even dominate the band!
I know 10 meters is not open. What's not open is your mind. Stop reading the SFI report that says 10 meters has had poor DX conditions since the Industrial Revolution. 10 meters is fantastic. And guess what? All the super stations avoid it! Why? Because they think they have bigger fish to fry on 20 or like you they read that SFI report.
Almost any day of the year 10 meters is open. If not to local people around you, to the sudden impossible to get station in Asiatic Russia that is now S8 on your meter. Its a sporadic DX band for sure, but boy is it fun. Its so wide, that no one is always telling you please move "the frequency is in use" , like on 20/40/80 meters. There is room for everyone. South America at the very least comes in daily to the US.
Ok so what is here and how can you compete. Well this band is different then all other bands. Many here have Vertical antennas(8). 1/2 waves, 5/8 waves, 1/4 waves, mobiles, etc. And they all are capable of making contact with any station anywhere in the world. If DX is running on 10 meters the signals are always loud. ALWAYS. Japan from the car...no problem. Guy from England walking along the beach with a portable HF radio making contact to Ohio, thats easy. Lots of Auto/Truck/Pedestrian/Bicycle mobiles on here. Yes I said Bicycles. Does your antenna polarization matter to DX on this band...hardly. It seems that you can throw the lower angle of radiation rule for far DX out the window at times as well. Basically it's a crap shoot here. Alot like Vegas. And who doesn't like Las Vegas once in a while?
Cheapskates rejoice! Here you just need a $99.00 vertical antenna bolted to your chimney to work the world. Eventually. Well Ok you got it, but what is actually competitive in this 10 meter wonderland? Well as I said, this band is not a priority among the BIG DX hounds, like Super stations or, the long boom Yagi / Quad crowd. They don't want to wait for their "59" goodbye contacts. And they appear to have no interest making local friends they can actually hang out with. ( it's that scary personal relationship thing ) . So you won't have to wait to break the pileup, because there are few long pileups!
Ok, enough ...Competitive antennas: Height here is still important. Having a beam antenna is still important here. But you don't have to go nuts. If you have a small 3 element yagi or tribander (9), 2 element quad (9) or even a hexbeam (9), you'll be amazed at how well they work here, considering 90% of your competition is Verticals. The 20 foot boom 4 element Cubical Quad will obliterate any competition.(10) If you struggled with the size of Cubical Quads for HF, this is the band where they shine. And you don't have to get your antenna up very high. One wavelength here is only 35 feet high. Thats more then enough to get some good European DX. In fact putting your antenna higher then 75 feet to Europe means its probably TOO HIGH ! When have you heard me utter that phrase before? 40-70 feet with any reasonable sized beam antenna and 100 watts will easily get you across the globe. Its the highest HF frequency, that means its also the one with the lowest noise! Thunderstorms, yeah you'll hear them when they are close, but not half way across the USA like 160-40 meters. The biggest issue with noise on this band is locally generated noise. Like Powerlines, Transformers, LED lights, Televisions and other stuff. (This is revenge from all the interference you caused to TV's back in the day, when you were on the chicken band). However this noise is traceable! Unlike on other bands where there is so much noise you just accept it. Here you can alert your local powerline guy and get them out to fix it. Imagine that no noise.
So to sum it up: 10 meters: local friends you can meet, weird and exciting DX conditions sporadically and unexplainedly sometimes all night long, modest antennas, low cost of antennas, less noise. Sound good? Well then key the microphone and stop paying attention to people who haven't been on 10 meters in 20 years. Its the most cost effective and rewarding HF you can get. Did I mention cheap?
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