Dan wrote:
I just got an Icom 726 and am trying to decide on an antenna. Is
there any antenna that will allow me to work all of the bands without
the use of a tuner? I do not need perfect SWR, but I don't want to
shorten the life of my 726. I was looking at dipoles on ebay but they
all say they need a matching tuner.

Depends on how much you want to spendgrin.

I have a tribander Yagi with a 40-meter rotatable dipole add-on kit and
separate wire dipoles for 80 and 160 meters; they work great, no tuner
required. However, the whole thing is pretty expensive and may not be
"spouse-practical" in many cases. (being single I don't worry about
such things!)

I do also have a Windom. It's a dipole, with 88 feet of wire on one
side, 44 feet on the other, and a 4:1 balun at the feedpoint. (the
classic Windom design has some 300-ohm TV flat leadin between the
feedpoint and the balun. There are mechanical advantages to doing it
that way, but electrically it works fine either way.) This antenna
works well on most bands - it does require a tuner on one band (15m if I
recall properly) but if your rig has an automatic tuner built-in it'll do.

Multiband verticals are generally easy to erect and work on all bands.
You may require a system of ground radials.

One can attach several dipoles to a common feedpoint; only the dipole
that's cut for the current band will be active.

Really if you have the space for a tuner it's probably most
cost-effective to put up the longest dipole you have space for and use
450-ohm ladder line and a tuner.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com