Does an Inverted-L EFHW Have a “Direction”?

What the Horizontal Leg Really Does (DX vs NVIS)

An inverted-L EFHW looks like it ought to “point” somewhere. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it really doesn’t. The difference usually comes down to three things: band, height, and whether your feedline is accidentally part of the antenna.

Geometry sets the pattern, not “end-fedness”

If your transformer/choking is doing its job and the coax isn’t radiating, an EFHW is not “magically directional.” A half-wave radiator behaves broadly like a half-wave radiator whether it’s end-fed or center-fed. What changes the pattern is the shape in space: straight, sloped, inverted-L, height above ground, and what it’s near.

The vertical leg is not an “upward (NVIS) radiator”

“Vertical” does not mean “straight up.” A vertical radiator generally has stronger radiation toward lower elevation angles and is typically weaker (often a null or near-null) toward straight up. That’s why verticals are popular for DX when installed efficiently.

For NVIS, the vertical section is usually not the hero. If you’re getting strong high-angle energy, it’s most often because the horizontal section is low enough to support it.

What direction does the horizontal leg favor?

A simple horizontal wire tends to radiate strongest broadside to the wire (perpendicular to it), and weakest off the ends (along the wire). So if your horizontal run is East–West, the strongest broadside directions are typically North and South (all else equal).

Note: an inverted-L is not a pure horizontal dipole. The vertical section (and any feedline radiation) can “fill in” nulls, skew lobes, and make the pattern look less like a neat figure-8.

On the fundamental band, “direction” is often subtle

On the band where the wire is about a half-wave long, the inverted-L’s azimuth pattern is often fairly broad. The horizontal leg can introduce some broadside preference, but it’s usually not beam-like.

If you’re chasing DX on the fundamental, the bigger wins are usually:

• More effective height (as much wire as you can get up and away from clutter).
• Better return path (counterpoise / ground reference that makes the system efficient and stable).
• Less feedline radiation (strong choking and sensible coax routing).

On harmonics, direction can matter a lot

This is where people suddenly “discover” directionality. A typical 40 m EFHW used multiband is also approximately:

• 20 m ≈ 1λ
• 15 m ≈ 1.5λ
• 10 m ≈ 2λ

Once the wire is multiple wavelengths long, the pattern develops multiple lobes and nulls. The horizontal portion can behave like a long-wire / multi-wavelength radiator, and azimuth can become “lumpy.” That’s why the direction of the horizontal run can change which regions sound loud (and which fall into a null) on 20/15/10.

Practical tip: if you can’t model it, measure it. WSPR, RBN data, and “who answers you” during openings quickly reveals where the lobes land on each band.

NVIS: height matters most, but azimuth isn’t “zero”

For NVIS you want strong high-angle radiation. The biggest lever is the height of the horizontal portion. A common rule of thumb for strong high-angle energy is roughly 0.1–0.2λ above ground.

NVIS often “smears” coverage because you’re going up and down through the ionosphere and multipath does the rest. But a horizontal wire still tends to be stronger broadside than end-fire, so if you want to favor a particular region, you can still orient the horizontal leg to put broadside energy where it matters.

If you want more all-around NVIS coverage from a limited space, layouts that soften nulls often help:

• a dogleg (two directions instead of one long straight run),
• or multiple wires in different directions (space permitting).

The real wildcard: feedline common-mode can dominate “direction”

EFHW feedpoints are high impedance, so it’s easy for common-mode current to appear on the coax shield. When that happens, the coax becomes part of the antenna, patterns shift, and “directionality” becomes unpredictable. Many “it points somewhere weird” stories are really feedline stories.

If you want the antenna to behave predictably, prioritize:

• A strong common-mode choke right at the transformer output (coax side).
• A second choke further down the line if the coax run is long, routed through noise, or bundled with other cables.
• A sensible counterpoise / ground reference appropriate to your EFHW setup.
• Coax routing that avoids running parallel and close to the radiator for long distances.

Practical guidance: choosing the horizontal direction

If you mostly want DX on the fundamental band

• Get as much wire as high as you realistically can.
• Keep the vertical portion as “clean” as possible (less coupling into building wiring, gutters, fences, etc.).
• Choose the horizontal direction for quietness and practicality, not “aiming.”
• Spend effort on choking and return path; that usually beats chasing a few degrees of azimuth.

If you mostly want NVIS on 80/40

• Favor a longer horizontal portion at low height.
• Don’t stress azimuth unless you have a region you want to favor.
• If you do care about azimuth: remember broadside to the horizontal leg is usually stronger than “along the wire.”

If you use it heavily on 20/15/10 via harmonics

• Assume the pattern will be multi-lobed and sometimes “surprising.”
• Horizontal direction can strongly affect which areas land in lobes vs nulls.
• Use WSPR / RBN reports to experimentally “aim” the wire for the bands you actually use most.

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