What is G5RV Antenna?

What is G5RV Antenna?

G5RV Antenna is a multi-band Amateur Radio Antenna designed by Louis Varney, who passed away in 2000 at the age of 89 years. Currently the callsign is held by Mid Sussex Amateur Radio Society for use on special occasions. Though the G5RV antenna was designed in 1946, it was published in RSGB Bulletin only in 1958. A PDF written by G5RV is available at the Mid Sussex Amateur Radio Society website at: https://msars.org.uk/downloads/g5rv_multiband_antenna.pdf. According to that article, it is a multi-band antenna with special feeder arrangement capable of efficient operation on HF bands from 3.5 to 28 MHz.

While the initial description was with a flat top of 102 feet length, a half-size G5RV for efficient operation from 7 to 28 MHz was also conceived. Special options for 1.8 MHz were also described. G5RV antenna was designed as a 3λ/2 centre fed long wire antenna on 14 MHz. 34 feet open wire matching section functions as a 1:1 impedance transformer, matching with a 50 Ohms coaxial feeder. 102 feet was calculated using the formula for long-wire antennas. An antenna tuner unit is useful to prevent automatic reduction of power for modern radios when the SWR is higher on other bands.