Homebrew HF vertical - Elmers Forum at eHam.net

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Homebrew HF vertical	Reply
by 2E0WAG on June 23, 2007	Mail this to a friend!
Hello all ! I've ben watching this site for a while, but this is my first post. I am looking at home brewing an HF vertical, as I live in a first floor apartment, and with my licence category I have 50W to play with. I am considering three possibilties : 1) Used indoors, with cut radials 2) On my balcony (with balconies directly above and below) with cut radials 3) Out of the house portable ops. I am looking at this design : http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0004033.pdf and would be interested in any opinions, or if any of you guys have built one. Two design possibilities I am considering for a base are either a small tripod, or a small (about 2ft square) baseplate for stability. Another thing I am thinking about is making the centre section between the coils (of that design) shorter, more like a W3FF Buddistick. How would that effect performance ? I know that a dipole or fan dipole would be easy to construct, but where I am,I don't have the space, so what I ideally want is a multiband antenna in a small space. I've been researching this for a while, and it seems to me that for any decent performance, the bigger the antenna or whip, and more radials the better, which makes sense ! Any comments appreciated, and thank you in advance, Dave, 2E0WAG

RE: Homebrew HF vertical	Reply
by SSB on June 23, 2007	Mail this to a friend!
I suggest that you rethink your reason to use a vertical and your objections to a dipole. A vertical with its radials ends up consuming even more space than a simple dipole. Dipoles don't have to be straight. Short dipoles can be made to be very efficient. Alex.....

RE: Homebrew HF vertical	Reply
by VA7CPC on June 23, 2007	Mail this to a friend!
For portable operation, a _full-size_ vertical is practical, and will give you better results than a short loaded vertical. A 16' fishing pole, supported by a PVC-pipe base (or a steel pipe in the ground, or a picnic table) will give you a 1/4 wave vertical on 20m. You'll need to spread out the radials on the ground. You can find instructions for a home-brew Buddipole on the Web. That -- mounted vertically on a long pole -- might perform better than a loaded vertical with a small number of radials. I'm running a 31' fiberglass pole off my balcony, with a full-size 20m dipole taped to it. But I only operate after dark -- it's a _very_ visible antenna. Charles

RE: Homebrew HF vertical	Reply
by G4AON on June 23, 2007	Mail this to a friend!
Dave I would second the comment by Charles, fishing pole verticals and antenna supports are worth considering. They are better performers than "loaded" verticals and cheaper/easier to put together. I've had great fun with a 32' one that I use against 16 radials in my lawn. G3CWI sells a selection of fishing poles for quite a modest price (http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/SOTAPole.htm). Don't forget to put some PVC tape on the joints to stop fishing poles collapsing. If you are planning to go portable, 6m is a brilliant band at the moment. Any of the simple antennas will get you plenty of contacts, the band is similar to fishing... You sit patiently waiting for something to come along! Ground planes, Moxon rectangles, quads and yagis are all easy to make and small enough to make at home and transport by car. They can give incredibly good results. My best DX on 6m has been 7500 Km with a 4 ele quad that costs very little using DIY store bits and pieces. 73 Dave http://www.astromag.co.uk/portable/

RE: Homebrew HF vertical	Reply
by W3LK on June 23, 2007	Mail this to a friend!
Ditto most of what was said, but let me add that an indoor antenna of ANY kind should be your absolute last resort. Even at 50w, you are likely to get RF into the shack and every electronic device in the house - not to mention that (1) the performance will be lousy and (2) even if you can fit a vertical into your house (doubtful!) the radials will be all over the place and you will trip on them, get tangled in them, get someone burned if they step in the end of one while you are transmitting ... BAD idea! 73, Lon - W3LK Baltimore, Maryland - soon to be Naugatuck, Connecticut

RE: Homebrew HF vertical	Reply
by WA3SKN on June 25, 2007	Mail this to a friend!
The indoor antenna is your "Last Choice"! You did not mention bands, but it appears you are looking for an HF antenna. A tuner and an "end-fed" wire is probably your best bet. Is there anywhere to tie the other end of wire to? Does it have to be hidden? How much room for radials and what type of ground system is available? Which bands did you hope to use? And, time of day you will be operating? These are all good questions that can help direct your planning! Good Luck! -Mike.

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