g00f
Newbie
I'm new to UHF radio and I have yet to hook a decent antenna up to my Kenwood HU8360 radio. I'd like to build a custom antenna but I am quickly learning that doing a good job means learning a confounding number of topics. I have seen several J-pole DIY guides but they are all focused at the 440 frequency which is a bit different than the 467Mhz I'm licensed to use.
Does anyone know of a good one-stop-shop guide to building a J-pole? They seem like the easiest construction and require only a $20ish investment in materials.
Here are things that I have learned are important for me to understand:
Baluns are a thing I might need to balance the line.
Chokes are another thing that may or may not be the same as a balun.
RG8X is either wonderful or horrible.
Vertical and horizontal antenna-connected radios are not compatible.
Not having an SWR meter makes me the only kid in kindergarten without a TrapperKeeper.
I can avoid needing an antenna tuner if I magically get everything to have 50Ohm impedance.
Impedance is not necessarily a bad thing... magically.
Capacitance is a mysterious force which keeps engineers employed.
The UHF connector on my radio is somehow a terrible connector for UHF radios.
J-poles do not need a ground plane.
A ground plane is not, in fact, an old WWII fighter plane that ceases to fly now.
Coax either has a foam dialectric core or a mesh dialectric core. They are both the wrong choice.
As you can see, I've read tens of articles from preppers, to shade-tree engineers to ARRL and the result has left me with a fragmented understanding and more questions than answers. Someone please throw me a rope!
-Geoff
WQYU265
Does anyone know of a good one-stop-shop guide to building a J-pole? They seem like the easiest construction and require only a $20ish investment in materials.
Here are things that I have learned are important for me to understand:
Baluns are a thing I might need to balance the line.
Chokes are another thing that may or may not be the same as a balun.
RG8X is either wonderful or horrible.
Vertical and horizontal antenna-connected radios are not compatible.
Not having an SWR meter makes me the only kid in kindergarten without a TrapperKeeper.
I can avoid needing an antenna tuner if I magically get everything to have 50Ohm impedance.
Impedance is not necessarily a bad thing... magically.
Capacitance is a mysterious force which keeps engineers employed.
The UHF connector on my radio is somehow a terrible connector for UHF radios.
J-poles do not need a ground plane.
A ground plane is not, in fact, an old WWII fighter plane that ceases to fly now.
Coax either has a foam dialectric core or a mesh dialectric core. They are both the wrong choice.
As you can see, I've read tens of articles from preppers, to shade-tree engineers to ARRL and the result has left me with a fragmented understanding and more questions than answers. Someone please throw me a rope!
-Geoff
WQYU265