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# 20 Meters Around the World — From My Backyard
- URL: https://k1wiz.net/20-meters-around-the-world-from-my-backyard/
- Published: 2026-09-01T17:19:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-01T17:19:01.000Z
- Author: John

Sometimes you don’t need a complicated antenna farm or a kilowatt of power to enjoy what HF radio has to offer.

Pictured here is my **20-meter end-fed half-wave vertical**, supported with guy lines and using three ground radials laid out across the yard. A feed line runs back to my HF station on the back porch, and this relatively simple setup has proven to be a surprisingly capable antenna.

With **100 watts**, I’ve used it to talk with stations locally, keep in touch with friends back up north, and make contacts around the world. When 20 meters opens up, it’s remarkable how far a modest station can reach.

The antenna has also been a lot of fun for digital modes, including one of my favorites: **slow-scan television (SSTV)**. There’s something uniquely satisfying about watching an image slowly appear on the laptop knowing that it traveled hundreds—or even thousands—of miles over the air rather than through the Internet.

![](https://k1wiz.net/content/images/2026/09/IMG_1868.jpeg)

Receiving slow scan on 14.233MHz

One particularly memorable experience happened on Thanksgiving two years ago. **14.233 MHz was alive with SSTV activity**, and it seemed almost like an impromptu worldwide Thanksgiving image party. I spent part of the day receiving images from other operators and transmitting some of my own. All I needed was my HF radio, the laptop connected to it, and this antenna standing in the backyard.

That’s part of what continues to make amateur radio fascinating to me. A piece of wire, some aluminum, a radio, a computer, and 100 watts can become a communications system capable of reaching across continents.

**You never quite know who—or what—you’re going to hear when 20 meters opens up. And that’s half the fun.**