Hour Glass Loop Antenna

2-Mtr Hour Glass Antenna is an Ideal Solution for the Attic

Berlin NJ November 2025 - AA2SD.  Operating from a home QTH in an apartment of HOA with restrictions can be a challenge for Ham Radio Operators. In seeking a simple and effective horizontally polarized antenna for 2 Mtrs.  I recently built this very simple odd shaped antennas for 2 MTR operation horizontally. I read about the Hour Glass Loop antenna from an ARRL publication and decided to give it a try. This antenna is tall but has a very low foot print and could easily be mounted in the backyard as a trellis or in the attic. This antenna is claimed to have more gain than a dipole and is bi-directional. I chose to mount his antenna in the attic with zip ties to give it a test, you could easily hang it from a tree, or disguise this in your backyard garden.

The link from the ARRL with the plans can be found here. https://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/December2018/Stanley.pdf

Here is a video from VK3YE of his own build.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1DEOv4E-RA

I was able to build this antenna with scrap wire, for less than $5.00 for some ¼ round from Home Depot. The SWR Tested at 1.2 with little adjustments. I was able to check into a 2 MTR Net with the Pack Rats and make a contact at 40 miles with 5 Watts from my attic. The Hour Glass antenna can be built for 222, 432, and 144 MHz.  If you are looking for a simple low cost antenna with horizontal polarization and some gain give it a try and you will be surprised.

Hour Glass Antenna Mounted in my attic

Here is the final build ready for testing and placement in my attic for 2 Mtrs

73    Scott  AA2SD/R

www.aa2sd.com

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