Any Ideas on making a Home made Antenna?

Status
Not open for further replies.

specman

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2005
Messages
171
scannermaniac said:
I was wondering if anyone could give me the advice/specs on making a home-made Antenna, like what I'll need, and where I can get the supplies...Thanks

That's a pretty broad question! I'm guessing since your alias is "Scannermaniac" you're looking for something for scanning vs. HF use.. so that narrows it down a bit. An excellent place to start is the antenna Wiki right here on this web site, but here's a few things to consider:

- where will the antenna be mounted? Outdoor antennas need to be sturdier than indoor ones.

- popular materials include metal tubing (aluminum or copper especially) and wire, although you'll also see insulative materials like PVC, fiberglass, plastics and even wood used. Hardware stores (Home Depot, Lowes etc) are popular places to get the raw materials you need; some things you may need to get from Rat Shack or similar (connectors for instance).

- designs can be as simple as a 1/4 wave vertical element with ground plane radials and can get into other varieties like dipoles, yagis, colinears and so on.

You'll need to decide on what frequencies you want to monitor and what design will be best for that, then there's other considerations such as mounting location and cable routing to consider.

Antennas can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby, especially when you "roll your own". Have fun!
 

scannermaniac

Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2006
Messages
20
Location
Browns Mills N.J.
Thanks Specman and Kokomo, I'll probably build one like Kokomo Built, as I can pretty much tell Just about what I'll need to Build it with. I'll also access the Wiki for any other questions I may have- Thanks for your replies and your slide show Kokomo, Scannermaniac
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top