Half the Hassle, Same Low Angle: Why Two Half-Squares Beat a Four-Square

Ah, the legendary four-square. Nothing says “serious operator” like four verticals in a muddy field, a control box full of relays, and enough phasing line to wrap your house twice. The brochures promise razor-sharp switching, deep nulls, and the ability to bend ionospheric physics to your will.

But here’s the punchline: two humble half-squares will give you the same low radiation angle without needing a degree in plumbing, four seasons of trench warfare with your lawn, and a lightning protection budget that rivals your amplifier.

The Four-Square Fantasy

The idea is seductive: four elements, carefully phased, producing textbook cardioid patterns. In theory, you’ll null Europe while sipping coffee and pulling VK pileups from the noise. In reality?

• Coax phasing lines that drift with every temperature swing.
• Relay boxes that sulk in the rain like soggy teenagers.
• Pattern “nulls” that politely disappear whenever a cloud sneezes over your QTH.
• A footprint large enough that your neighbors think you’re auditioning for a remake of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The Half-Square Reality

A half-square is beautifully dumb: two vertical wires, joined by a horizontal top wire, fed at the bottom corner. No phasing lines. No weather-sensitive relays. Just good old geometry doing its thing.

Want bidirectionality? Put up two half-squares at right angles. Congratulations, you now have broadside gain at low angles that matches a four-square’s brag sheet—without needing to waterproof a box of coax spaghetti.

Low Angle, High Sanity

Both arrays excel at launching DX-friendly low angle radiation. The difference? The half-square doesn’t lose its mind every time the sun warms your feedlines by 3 °C. It doesn’t demand perfectly symmetrical grounds or prayer circles around your phasing box. It just… works.

Moral: A four-square is like buying a Formula 1 car to fetch groceries. Two half-squares? That’s the bicycle—cheap, reliable, and still gets you to DX-land in style.

So next time someone preaches the gospel of the four-square, smile gently. Then show them your logbook filled with the same DX—earned with two bits of wire, a mast, and zero headaches.

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