Contact information:

Dave, AI7R
Development and Manufacturing

Charlie, AD7MD
Design & Engineering

Linda, NI7Y
Shipping and Accounting

CCDAntennas
1605 W Barrow Drive
Chandler, Arizona 85224
(480)-510-1721

With antennas, size is everything.  Bigger is always better!

The fact is, the more metal you have in the air, the better your antenna is going to work for you.  Both transmit AND receive.  A normal half wave dipole on 40 is 66' long.  Imagine one that is 114' or even 230' but is still resonant across the entire band?  An 80 meter half wave dipole is 132; long.  How about one that is 230' long instead, but still resonant and usually under 2:1 across the entire band?  Or a 20 meter dipole that's normally 33' long having 140 feet of antenna!  That's what is so special about our antennas.  More antenna, yet still resonant so there's no tuner needed.

Through some intensive modeling and testing we've found that perfect set of designs to give you two bands on each antenna and both are at least double or triple the length of a dipole for the same bands.

Bigger is better!

If you are looking for:

• A wire antenna with about 3db+ gain over a half wave dipole
• An antenna that is markedly quieter on receive...generally as quiet as a loop or better
• Something you can mount up high, close to the ground, or even laying ON the ground!!
• It doesn't compromise by working marginally on all bands - it works exceptionally well on the band(s) it's designed for.
• Handles static discharges as needed all along the antenna in lightning and sand storms.  (You should still disconnect all antennas in lightning storms however...and before, not during!)
• Can handle 800 watts on the band(s) it's designed for. (note: if installing it along eaves or fence lines power should be lowered to safe exposure levels)  Many have run more power, however, we suggest keeping it around or below this power level.  This really depends on your grounding system.  People with well grounded stations run more power without a problem.  The computer model, and actual use, shows they can easily handle 1.5KW.

For those of you who want to know how and why it works on a technical level please visit AD7MD's web site and get the full scoop.  He's always happy to answer questions too.

Check out reviews on eHam!

The CCD antenna is like nothing else on the market.  And it just might be that bit of magic you've been looking for.

CCD means Controlled Current Distribution.  This is a full wave dipole (or can be a long wire style) that has a series of capacitors mounted along the wire on specially designed boards.  The capacitors allow us to have a impedance that is able to be matched to ladder line or baluns while having an antenna about twice as long as a standard half wave dipole.  See the About CCDs for more info on this.

This antenna is well worth looking into.  We have a full set of articles that have appeared over the years that shows the advantages of the CCD.  The disadvantage has always been that they are a total pain to build.  Now, for the first time, you can have one that is commercial quality and built to last!

Q: What is it?
A: It's a full wave dipole that has anywhere from 22 to 28 capacitors evenly spaced along the wire.

Q: What does 'controlled current distribution' mean?
A: The name is misleading because it's not really about current.  It's about bringing a full wave antenna to an impedance that can be matched with our various feel line limitations of 50-600 ohms.

Q: What else does the antenna do other than put more wire in the air for me?
A: Let's see, there are a lot of interesting properties of the CCD...

• It is very quiet because of the caps keeping static on the wire down.  About as quiet as a loop generally.
• It doesn't interact with metal or ground around it as much.  Run it close to a chain link fence or flag pole and see little change in resonance.  Transmission pattern may change a bit.  This is a perfect LARGE antenna that can be put under eaves, along block fences, and other places to avoid the HOA Gestapo. Note that a tuner would probably be required if it's mounted right against something.

Q: What bands are available?
A: After a LOT of research we've found there are some bands that just don't make sense to use CCD technology on.  For example, if someone has room for a 160 meter CCD they have room for a 160 meter loop and on that band a loop works really well.  Loops fight noise as well as a CCD does.

Q: Can I use it on other bands?
A: Sure.  With a tuner.  But, receive is a very important advantage to a CCD and it receives far better on the band(s) it is designed for.  To really do multi-band well we suggest you use ladder line feed.  We do sell these antennas without the balun and you provide the center insulator and feed line.

Q: Can I feed several CCDs with the same coax? (assuming no remote antenna switch - those work okay)
A: Nope.  CCDs are not the harmonic animals that half wave dipoles are.  Any one band on a CCD might be relatively resonant on another band.  This is enough to mess up the match on that band even though there might be a specific element for the band.  The more you add the worse it gets.

Check out the various magazine article collection on CCDs (you'll see it's not just us who think these are

pretty darned dynamic antennas!)

Take a look at the coverage charts

See how we build them! (yeah, messy shop, but great antennas come out of it!)

Below is a peek at the capacitors as they are on the antenna.  These are VERY strong antennas!

Below shows a completed 40 meter antenna ready to install!!