Bruce arrays for 80 and 160m

The Bruce array is a simple, often-forgotten wire antenna array that is advantageous for 80 and 160 meters, where typical gain antennas are very large. This bi-directional broadside vertical array is only 14 lambda high and does not require a ground system. It offers substantially greater SWR bandwidth than the half-square or bobtail curtain. A 4-element Bruce array used by N6LF showed a gain of about 4.6 dB compared to a 14 lambda vertical with 8 elevated radials, with a 2:1 SWR bandwidth greater than 400 kHz. The antenna is simple and its dimensions are flexible.