No Radial Antennas for Multiband Operation What Works and What Doesn’t

Many operators seek the convenience of multiband antennas that don’t require radials. The promise: plug-and-play simplicity, smaller footprints, and fewer installation headaches. But as always in antenna engineering, there’s a difference between what’s possible and what’s effective.

For Those with Horizontal Space

If you have room for wire, you can achieve efficient multiband coverage without radials using end-fed designs. These antennas leverage harmonic resonance and proper impedance transformation.

Recommended options:

• EFOC series — Off-center-fed wires covering 80–10 m. Easy to install, choke-integrated, tuner-friendly.
• Dual-band EFHW Inverted-L antennas:
  • EFHW16080 — 160/80 m coverage in ~30 m space
  • EFHW8040 — efficient 80/40 m operation
  • EFHW4020 — compact 40/20 m version

These designs don’t need radials because the feedpoint and choke system create the required return path. Installed correctly, they deliver low SWR and strong DX performance.

For Those with Limited Horizontal Space

When space is tight, vertical or loop-based solutions shine. But not all “no-radial” verticals are equal.

Recommended options:

• DeltaRex (80–10 m) — A low-mounted delta loop. No radials needed, efficient, and ideal for gardens with low supports.
• TermiLoop (160–6 m) — A terminated folded loop. Ultra-broadband and compact, with stable impedance across HF. Less efficient than DeltaRex but unbeatable for all-band convenience.
• XentriX (20–6 m) — A vertical off-center dipole. No radials by design, covers the high bands with a low takeoff angle. Excellent for DX when horizontal space is impossible.

Why We Don’t Build “No-Radial Verticals”

We’re often asked why RF.Guru doesn’t sell classic “no-radial” multiband verticals. The reason: they don’t work well enough.

A vertical without radials forces return current through lossy soil or the coax shield. The result is wasted RF, distorted patterns, high noise pickup, and elevated risk of RFI in the shack. Even if tuned to resonance, ground losses dominate because true radiation resistance remains low.

Our position: We only deliver antennas we’d use ourselves. If you want vertical performance, use a design with proper radials — or pick a no-radial design (DeltaRex, TermiLoop, XentriX) engineered around loop or dipole geometry that doesn’t require them.

Multiband antennas without radials can work — if the geometry is correct. Wire-based EFHWs, loops, and OCF dipoles like XentriX outperform “magic” radial-less verticals in almost every case.

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