k3cfc
Silent Key
Good for you. now refine it a little don't worry if the swr is a bit high and don't give too much merit to the alarmist because dollar for dollar you have a nice 2 meter antenna.
Have fun and enjoy the hobby.
K3CFC
2m/70cm dual band j-pole antenna project
- Thread starter wesm1957
- Start date
- Status
Good for you. now refine it a little don't worry if the swr is a bit high and don't give too much merit to the alarmist because dollar for dollar you have a nice 2 meter antenna.
Have fun and enjoy the hobby.
K3CFC
Glad to hear you got it working.
Enjoy it for a while, but do look at building or buying a better antenna in time unless you can reach every station that's important to you.
The antenna and coax are the heart of a VHF/UHF system, the better they are, the more distance and less noise you will get.
I'm in a valley with three very tall mountains that no antenna I have tried will get signal over except for "Knife edging". This put's my signal way past the towns on the other side I'd like to talk to and gets me into repeaters at about 100 miles. That's the way knife edging works.
So I've decided to build just a small duel band antenna for the valley and the repeaters on the mountain and try a high gain beam antenna for getting more distance out of the open end of the valley. It's just too much signal from the high gain vertical doing nothing in the valley. I can point the beam where I want it and not put way too much signal in all directions that is not needed.
Making your own antenna is always fun, glad it's working for you, but do look ahead, plan and figure what will get the job done the very best for you. Every location is different, so no one set of rules applies to every place you transmit from. The higher you can get the antenna (within reason), having the best coax you can afford and keeping the run as short as possible all help as does keeping the antenna in the clear, away from buildings, tree's ect. An antenna analyzer is a great help in building and setting up antennas. If you plan to keep making your own and getting into HF, it's a worthwhile investment. The more you know about what your antenna is really doing, the better it will work for you.
If you are doing a lot of UHF, try to use "N" connectors if possible. They do cost more, but keeps the impedance of your feed line much closer to the ideal 50 ohms than the UHF connectors do. Many times it's looking at every little thing that makes for the best system. All of those little things add up and when you have your system as close to perfect as you can get it for your location will pay off in far better connections. There is nothing better than having many compliments on how good your station sounds, especially on long distance contacts.
Anyone can throw up an antenna and transmit, but I'm sure you have listened to that one guy who always sounds better than 95% of the stations out there. That is what you should strive for.
It's OK to have several antennas. The high gain vertical I have will stay up, just because the gain it has gives me good ears in all directions and there may be times it will work better than one of the others. The small antenna is perfect for local work, you don't want to use more power than what you need. The Beam has a lot of gain and of course is directional. In many cases, I can hear a weaker station with my high gain vertical, then point the beam at them and have a much better signal both ways. Also and read reviews on EHam and ask a lot of questions before buying or while making something, a lot of money is wasted buying lower priced things that just don't get the job done and some things are overpriced for what they deliver. Most of all, Have Fun !!!!!!!!!!!
73's John
Enjoy it for a while, but do look at building or buying a better antenna in time unless you can reach every station that's important to you.
The antenna and coax are the heart of a VHF/UHF system, the better they are, the more distance and less noise you will get.
I'm in a valley with three very tall mountains that no antenna I have tried will get signal over except for "Knife edging". This put's my signal way past the towns on the other side I'd like to talk to and gets me into repeaters at about 100 miles. That's the way knife edging works.
So I've decided to build just a small duel band antenna for the valley and the repeaters on the mountain and try a high gain beam antenna for getting more distance out of the open end of the valley. It's just too much signal from the high gain vertical doing nothing in the valley. I can point the beam where I want it and not put way too much signal in all directions that is not needed.
Making your own antenna is always fun, glad it's working for you, but do look ahead, plan and figure what will get the job done the very best for you. Every location is different, so no one set of rules applies to every place you transmit from. The higher you can get the antenna (within reason), having the best coax you can afford and keeping the run as short as possible all help as does keeping the antenna in the clear, away from buildings, tree's ect. An antenna analyzer is a great help in building and setting up antennas. If you plan to keep making your own and getting into HF, it's a worthwhile investment. The more you know about what your antenna is really doing, the better it will work for you.
If you are doing a lot of UHF, try to use "N" connectors if possible. They do cost more, but keeps the impedance of your feed line much closer to the ideal 50 ohms than the UHF connectors do. Many times it's looking at every little thing that makes for the best system. All of those little things add up and when you have your system as close to perfect as you can get it for your location will pay off in far better connections. There is nothing better than having many compliments on how good your station sounds, especially on long distance contacts.
Anyone can throw up an antenna and transmit, but I'm sure you have listened to that one guy who always sounds better than 95% of the stations out there. That is what you should strive for.
It's OK to have several antennas. The high gain vertical I have will stay up, just because the gain it has gives me good ears in all directions and there may be times it will work better than one of the others. The small antenna is perfect for local work, you don't want to use more power than what you need. The Beam has a lot of gain and of course is directional. In many cases, I can hear a weaker station with my high gain vertical, then point the beam at them and have a much better signal both ways. Also and read reviews on EHam and ask a lot of questions before buying or while making something, a lot of money is wasted buying lower priced things that just don't get the job done and some things are overpriced for what they deliver. Most of all, Have Fun !!!!!!!!!!!
73's John
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k3cfc
Silent Key
When you get this one done take a look at this. now this a fun project and you don't have to spend the national debt either. i bought all of the except the wire on ebay for cheep. the wire i got at a place that rewinds electric motors. as soon as i ask he said are you a ham. LOL oh by the way they both work fantastic and the best part no ground radials. NOT REQUIRED!!!
Emergency Amateur Radio Club - Hawaii - Homebrew Projects
Be sure to scrape the ends of the wire well, they are covered with a clear insolation.
You'll have a lot of fun with your project. If your like many of us, seems they are never done, always some little thing to make them work better and that's half the fun.
73's John
You'll have a lot of fun with your project. If your like many of us, seems they are never done, always some little thing to make them work better and that's half the fun.
73's John
I've made this and used it for SOTA activations with my KX3. I think it's just as good as the "PAR End-Fedz"
However I need to invest in some poly stealth wires for my backpacking portable HF setup. It's not needed but I am trying to go light weight and small.
k3cfc
Silent Key
Yes just as good and a lot less money!
Enjoy
K3CFC
Enjoy
K3CFC
I went today and got 2 sections of top rail, ground rod and wire. I hope to have the antenna up tomorrow. I may add a 3rd section later on. But that will depend on coverage. Just waiting on my call sign. I am also going to join the club here in Allegan County.
Wes
Wes
I got the antenna up today. I ran out of daylight so I did not get the coax into the house. That will happen next week providing I have good weather to drill through the concrete block. The base of the antenna is about 20 feet up. I will post pictures later on.
Wes
Wes
Keep things in perspective. A 'J'-pole is a vertical 1/2 wave antenna fed by means of a sort of odd shaped 1/4 wave section. It works like any other 1/2 wave length antenna for the most part. Comparing a typical 'J'-pole to a 1/4 wave or some sort of vertical array is an apples/oranges thingy. The vertical array I would expect to 'beat' a typical 'J'-pole in range or performance. There's quite a bit of difference between those two antennas. Might as well compare a Ford Focus and a 'Vette, you know?
- 'Doc
- 'Doc
k3cfc
Silent Key
Building your own antenna is half the fun. you build you learn as you go and who knows maybe you will come up with something new. but Doc is right. you have to start somewhere.
73's
K3CFC
Build or buy? That's up to you. I used to be able to build most of the "new and improved" sort of thingys. Because of a lot of reasons, I don't do much 'DIY' stuff any more. The attitude is, "if they can do it, so can I", you know? In most cases, you can do the same thing all by your self. In other situations, you may not be able to, so but the silly thing! The bottom line is if you don't try, you'll never know... sort of.
Do it how ever you need to. Then don't worry about it. You might be surprised at how good'a 'rocket scientist' you are...
- 'Doc
Build or buy? That's up to you. I used to be able to build most of the "new and improved" sort of thingys. Because of a lot of reasons, I don't do much 'DIY' stuff any more. The attitude is, "if they can do it, so can I", you know? In most cases, you can do the same thing all by your self. In other situations, you may not be able to, so but the silly thing! The bottom line is if you don't try, you'll never know... sort of.
Do it how ever you need to. Then don't worry about it. You might be surprised at how good'a 'rocket scientist' you are...
- 'Doc
I enjoy trying new things. Now that I have my call sign I will see just how well this J-Pole works. I got the holes cut in the concrete block today. I still have to run the coax in for the J-Pole, but did get the scanner coax back in the house. Had a rainy day doing that. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nicer day. I may run new coax for the scanners when I pull the J-pole coax. Then move things around for a better shack. The wife will be thrilled about that, but she knows it will be my small corner of the basement.
Wes
Coax is ran and the antenna is working great!! I was able to bring up a 70cm repeater that is probably 40 miles away on 4 watts. I will see later tonight how well things work
Wes
Wes
k3cfc
Silent Key
Looks like ya did a good job. how do they work?
They work great!! I am located near the Kalamazoo River, so I am in a lower area. That is why I am going to add another 10 feet of mast in the spring. I have no problem getting the repeater here in my county on 2 meters on 4 watts. I also have no problem hitting a 70cm repeater that is about 20 miles north of me on 4 watts. I got a Mirage B23 amp last week that will boost me to 30 watts so I can reach a few more. I know in spring I will have to guy the mast when I go up another 10 feet. We can get some wind here living close to Lake Michigan.
Wes
Wes
k3cfc
Silent Key
Well this great. i am glad you ventured into making them as commercial antennas are costly. this is half the fun in ham radio trial and error. remember nothing ventured nothing gained no matter what others say.
Good luck
K3CFC
Good luck
K3CFC
I checked the SWR with 2 different meters I have for 11m and they both show flat SWR. I have to turn the mast back to where the antennas are on the pictures. We had 60mph winds here Sunday and with the discone mounted on the wast it turned the whole top section. I had a rivet to hole it from turning but I think it sheared off. I am going to see if someone in the local club can come check both antennas for me to make sure that are ok.
Wes
Wes
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