On this page, I want to share and document my experiences flying and using a kite antenna. There's nothing too special about a kite antenna. It's a fun, novel approach to the ham's age-old question about where to hang a wire antenna. When I lived inland, I could usually find a tall tree in which to hang an antenna. After relocating to the Galvston Island, tall trees are hard to come by. While the beach may lack trees, it usually does not lack wind.
A kite antenna setup is pretty straight forward and once you deploy it a couple times, it's downright simple. The key factor is having enough wind!

Neugierig wurde ich durch eine Veröffentlichung von W9SCH in der SPRAT Nr.69 unter 'A Four-Band UP & OUTER Antenna' und später durch einen Artikel im QRP-Report. Die Antenne ist als 'Upper & Outer' bekannt geworden. Sie besteht lediglich aus einem vertikale Strahler, dünner Draht, der locker um einen Glasfiebermast gewickelt wird und einem horizontalen 'elevated' Radial. Dieses Radial, als 'zweiter Strahler' bildet das einzige Gegengewicht, keine weitere Erdung. 'Wenn Strahler und Radial die gleiche Länge, λ/4 haben, funktioniert die Antenne schon recht brauchbar. Ein Tuner sollte aber eingeschleift werden, um das SWR zu optimieren.

Amateur radio (Ham radio) operators and engineers, have been experimenting with radio and antennas since Marconi. The use of a kite to support an antenna makes for great days operating and a wonderful HF antenna.

The linked pages that are listed below describe
various elements of a typical kite-antenna flying
field setup. One important lesson that we have
learned so far is that good kite-antenna contacts
result from flying the best possible antennas.
Another lesson learned is to keep the time that is
required to set up and put away as short and
convenient as possible - otherwise we will not do it!

Admittedly, we already have a page about our kite antenna exploits which makes for interesting reading. However those pages are about the practical use of these antennas. This talk given by Henryk M0HTB covers some of the background and the equipment considerations to supplement the practical exploits.