4WAVE Antennas — portable HF vertical

4WAVE is the portable HF vertical this site recommends when a wire in a tree is the wrong answer: tailgate POTA, RV, HOA stealth, parking-lot DX. Handmade in the USA (KB3CMT, KB3WAV, KB3KLT, KC3RW). Packs down under 4 feet.

Shop, field reports, gallery: 4waveantennas.com

This page is the operating manual companion — not a substitute for the hardware that shipped with your mast. Park rules still win.

4WAVE regular deployment

What you are deploying

A mast + radiator + 9:1 UNUN, not a mag-mount CB whip and not a classic 17 ft quarter-wave with a ground spike (that architecture is on Verticals). The 9:1 is why a tuner on the radio (or a sane length choice) matters. Treat it like a well-behaved portable vertical / inverted-L family member: radials are not optional.

Piece	Why it is in the bag
Mast + radiator	The radiating element. Inspect connectors before CQ.
9:1 UNUN	Presents a workable impedance to the coax.
Coax + choke	Keep RF off the braid. A 1:1 choke at the feed is cheap insurance.
Radials 12 / 17 / 33 ft	The missing half of the antenna. The $35 radial set on the store is the lengths this design expects.
Mount	Hitch, RV ladder, or stealth/HOA plate — pick one that matches the sitting.

Same antenna, side view

Which mount for this sitting

Prices on 4waveantennas.com change; use the store. Architecture does not.

Model	Use when	Do not use when
Standard 2" hitch + mast + UNUN	Truck / SUV POTA, Field Day parking lot	SOTA (vehicle-independent rules) · no hitch
Extended hitch + mast + UNUN	Need the mast off the spare / out of the hatch vortex	Tight parking stall where the boom becomes a weapon
RV ladder mount + mast + UNUN	Coach on a park pad	Ladder that is not yours / not rated
Stealth / HOA mount + mast + UNUN	Home / HOA / fence-line, low visual	You actually have a hitch and a park — use the hitch
Antenna + UNUN, no mount	You already have a mast plate / clamp	You were hoping “no mount” meant “no support”
Antenna only	Spare radiator	First purchase — buy the UNUN

RV ladder mount

Stealth / HOA plate when a hitch is the wrong visual:

Stealth / HOA mount

Extended hitch for getting the mast out of the hatch:

Extended hitch tailgate

Packed antenna (mast down):

4WAVE packed

SOTA reminder from program rules: the station cannot depend on a motorized vehicle. A hitch mount on the truck you drove to the trailhead is a POTA tool, not a summit tool. Hike the mast, or use an EFHW in the AZ.

Radials — 12, 17, 33

Lay them on the grass. Do not bury them for a two-hour activation. Do not skip them because “the hitch is grounded.” The vehicle chassis is a random counterpoise, not a radial field.

Practical field pattern:

Three radials (12, 17, 33 ft) at roughly 120° as the minimum kit that matches the store set.
Keep them inside the park boundary (and inside a SOTA 25 m AZ if you ever carry this onto a summit without the truck).
Tape or a painted rock on the far end so a civilian does not clothesline themselves.
More radials help. Zero radials is a dummy load with a view — same rule as any vertical.

If the ranger, the snow, or the boardwalk forbids radials, this is the wrong antenna today. Use the EFHW.

Deploy (hitch) — ten minutes, not forty

Park in the unit. Photograph the boundary sign if the map is ambiguous.
Hitch pin in, mount tight, mast vertical before the radiator goes up. People walk into tilted masts.
UNUN at the feed. Coax dressed so a car door cannot shear it.
Radials out. Look at the pattern from the tailgate: no radial across the travel lane.
Radio on, low power first. Sweep SWR on the bands you will actually use.
Tuner: use it as a trim, not as a way to ignore an open radial lead.
Only then: 100 W if the radio and the park allow it. The IC-705 is 10 W on a box; the FT-891 will cook a bad match.

Stealth / HOA: same RF steps, slower mechanical steps, less orange wire. You still need radials even if they are ugly.

Bands, tuners, and expectations

20 / 17 / 15 / 12 / 10 m: this is where a portable vertical earns the hitch. Low-angle, hunters on the East Coast hear you from a Western PA parking lot.
40 m: works with the 9:1 + tuner + radials. It will not replace a 66 ft EFHW for close-in NVIS.
80 m: possible-ish, not the reason you bought it.
No tuner on the radio: stay on the lengths/bands that look decent at the UNUN. The G90 / KX2 internal ATU is the easy button. The IC-705 has no HF ATU — pack an external (mAT-705Plus, AH-705) or accept the bands that are already kind.

Chooser on Antennas: pick DX + radials allowed + not a summit AZ and you should land on a vertical. That vertical, for this site, is 4WAVE.

Kit list (print with the field sheet)

Mast + radiator + UNUN (continuity check at home)
Mount that matches the vehicle (hitch pin / RV hardware / stealth plate)
Radial set 12 / 17 / 33 + two spare dogbones
Coax (length you measured, not a mystery 50 ft coil)
1:1 choke
Tape, gloves, spare hitch pin
Printed field sheet with grid
Replacement radiator / bottom cap if you own spares (store)

Videos and more photos

We host our product photos above. Other people’s activation videos stay on YouTube (copyright). Search:

Gallery on the store: 4waveantennas.com (community field reports).

Next: Verticals theory · Antenna chooser · Ethics / guy lines / trails

Habits / gotchas / checklist (4WAVE)

Hitch pin in, mount tight, mast vertical before the radiator.
UNUN + 12/17/33 radials actually laid. Chassis is not a radial field.
Radials inside the unit; none across the travel lane; far ends flagged.
Low-power SWR, then 100 W if the radio and the park allow it. 705 is still 10 W.
Tuner is a trim. Open radial lead is not “tune through it.”
SOTA: hike the mast or use an EFHW. Hitch on the trailhead truck is POTA, not SOTA.
Continuity check at home. Spare hitch pin in the bag.

Notes & edits

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