Anyone use aluminum tape over PVC poles to make a vertical?

[TheSpaceMann]

Was thinking that this might work as well as aluminum poles on a ground mounted vertical for less $$, and have a greater bandwidth than just running a wire radiator.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Aluminum poles may have lower resistive loss than the tape. You might want to measure with a milliohmeter.

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[krokus]

Was thinking that this might work as well as aluminum poles on a ground mounted vertical for less $$, and have a greater bandwidth than just running a wire radiator.

How tall are you thinking of going?

 

[mmckenna]

I've used aluminum tape to make ground planes under antennas.

Issue I ran into was under a plastic roof on an ATV. While not a PVC pipe, it was similar material. Contraction/expansion from temperature changes and flexing eventually damaged the tape. It would basically wrinkle when the plastic contracted, and when it expanded, the tape would tear.

So, interesting idea, and if you could find some way of making sure the tape didn't get damaged, it might work.
But I think you might be better off using a thicker material, or just using the pipe to support a wire internally.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

How tall are you thinking of going?

About 8 1/2 feet for a ground mounted 10 meter vertical, or around 16 1/2 feet for a ground mounted 20 meter vertical.

 

[krokus]

I wonder if copper tape would work any better.

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[TheSpaceMann]

I wonder if copper tape would work any better.

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Probably would, but at a higher cost.

 

[k9wkj]

save all the work and just run a wire inside the pvc pole
cap over the end on the top
hole for wire egress on the bottom
done

 

[majoco]

No, I haven't, but I've been looking into this for a while......

Perite

.....but I only want it for reception at the moment and I wonder how well it would work with a 9:1 balun (or higher ratio) at the bottom instead of the tuner.