Cross band antenna?

[DanTaylor]

OK guys Im thinking about getting a HAM license. that being said can a Antron 99 work as a CB and a HAM antenna? I tried searching the forum here with a bunch of different combo's of search queries to no avail. If it will not work is there something out there I can use on both?

['Doc]

Yes, an 'A99' can be used on both 11 and 10 meters with just a bit of tuning. Actually, it could probably be usable on more than just 10/11 meters. Maybe not the best, but usable.
HF antennas are not hard to make.
- 'Doc

[DanTaylor]

Thanks Doc. I'll admit though I have never done anything in the HAM world so my knowledge is VERY limited. As I get older though it's appealing more and more to me.

[goofy]

There are several reasonably broadbanded antenna designs that will work on 10 and 11. Like a dipole or a moxon, or a 5/8 grandplane (the a99, and Imax200).. Just tune for 27.5 or so and you'll get most CB channels, and the first 500KHZ of 10 meters, which is where the action is anyways.

[Circuit Breaker]

The A99 is only a half wave antenna as far as I know.

[DanTaylor]

The A99 is only a half wave antenna as far as I know.

um this one lost me sorry. Keep in mind here I have only EVER run on cb and up until recently did not know it was classified as 11 meter. So it's all one big learning lesson for me still.

['Doc]

11 meters or 27.??? Mhz.
Just two different ways of measuring or describing the same thing. The 'meter' thing measures the length of one cycle of RF energy, how far it goes in one cycle. The 'Mhz' thingy is another way of measuring the exact same thing, but in terms of time rather than in length. How many 'cycles' in one second. Both have their uses. The frequency measurements are probably the most commonly stated now, rather than how long one cycle of RF is. Why? Cuz' the means of doing that measuring is much more exact than it used to be, it can be divided into unbelievably small 'parts'. Actually, doing the same thing with wave length is possible, it's just not as convenient in most cases. You wanna deal with very small fractions, or very large number? About what it amounts to, which is easier for you?
All antennas deal with the same things, doesn't matter if it's a "CB" antenna, 'ham' antenna, commercial service antenna, whatever. They all deal with frequency and wave lengths, which are interrelated. Basically a "how long is it for a particular frequency of use" thingy. That's true for all ranges of frequencies, broadcast band to microwave stuff. There's no -one-, set, absolute, 'magic' number that divided by frequency will give you an absolutely definitive length for all frequencies. Why? Cuz there are a lot of things that affect that 'length' electrically. The commonly used 'magic' numbers will typically give you a length that is slightly too long, which is good! It's much easier to cut something off than to add to it in most cases, right? The results are in the 'ball-park' close range of things. Once you get that far, to really make it 'right', you are going to have to do some adjustments (called tuning) to compensate for environment, etc, etc. That's normal.
A lot of things affect wave length. Proximity to 'dirt' is probably the biggy. That means that if you expect 'exact' numbers you will be disappointed. Nothing wrong with wanting to be 'exact', but after a point, there's no -practical- benefit from it.
There are huge numbers of factors that affect all of this stuff. You never quit learning about them, something 'new' always creeps in somewhere. The 'trick' is figuring out just how 'picky' you really need to be to achieve 'reasonable' results. ... Beer helps!
- 'Doc

[721HACKSAW]

I have a MFJ 969 Antenna Tuner that I primarily use for my long wire antenna on HF bands. Occasionaly I do use it with my Imax on 10m, 12m and 20m though also. There is no one antenna that will work any band but an external Tuner will help broaden an antennas capability.

[DanTaylor]

Thanks for the responses guys. Doc you seem to have a wealth of knowledge matched by few for sure. Sounds to me like ill do ok with the antron to start and once I can get another one up it'll be better.