True. I had the AR-6 vertical, which was a Ringo, not a Ringo Ranger. In any case, the AR-6 appears to have been discontinued.
What frequency did you use to calculate the length? A 1/4 wave for the middle of the 6 meter band (52 MHz) is approximately 54 inches.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Are we taking about the quarter wave or the dipole?
A quarter wave ground plane antenna is going to be a bit under 6 feet at 40MHz. A dipole will be around the 11.7 feet total length for 40MHz.
The dipole can be run as a V, but it's going to work better as a vertical as most of what you probably want to listen to will be vertically polarized.
jjhendo
Member
Thought we're talking about 8 meters though?
I used it as an example, since you had mentioned wanting to operate on 6 meters after getting your license. You can use that calculator for any frequency - try plugging in 40 MHz, which would put you in the middle of the 30 - 50 MHz range.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
That's exactly what he did, and how he came up with those measurements.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Outside of the ham bands, and may some shortwave listeners, and CB'ers trying to sound fancy, it's rare to find LMR radio referred to by the "meter band" designation. Easier for us LMR guys to help you if you stick to the frequency you are talking about.
Got it. My mistake.
jjhendo
Member
Ohhh, sorry. Got it.
jjhendo
Member
Sorry, I haven't been at it too long.. Although I did say low band VHF.🤷😅
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Not a problem. We understand what you are saying. Just takes my brain a few seconds to convert meters to frequency.
Tuning the antenna for around 40MHz would put you in the middle of most of the good stuff. Ideally you do want the antenna tuned for the frequency you are specifically interested in, but with scanners, you have to compromise. Other then the wide band military type antennas that prcguy was mentioning, the quarter wave is probably your best option. Easy to build, reasonable performance, and some amount of bandwidth.
Once you build a basic 1/4 wave antenna like that, you can easily build them for other frequencies. If you do go on to get your ham ticket, you can easily make one for the 2 meter or 70 centimeter band and get on the air easily.
Point taken. Would a 10 meter Ringo work better for general 30-50 MHz receive purposes. I was trying to keep the radiator as short as possible for the OP's apartment balcony -- and no need for a ground plane. Being inconspicuous is probably a big part of his antenna system compromise. That Ringo I saw looked like a great big silver tomato stake from a distance.
prcguy
Member
A Ringo tuned for 40Mhz would work ok +/- a few MHz then it will start to drop off rapidly. Last VHF lo commercial Ringo I had I cut down for 6m and it would barely make +/- 1 MHz with a decent match.
My original thought was a CB radio quarter wave cut down and centered around 39 MHz. That antenna gives you a fairly flat wide band frequency response, especially if you just want to receive. Transmit is a different story. I just don't know how you hide those 7 foot radials on a second story balcony with HOA covenants in place.
prcguy
Member
For an HOA you should be allowed a TV antenna. You could use a small TV antenna (VHF hi/UHF only) with all elements shorted out and use it as a capacity hat on a short mast to resonate around 40MHz. I suspect the mast would only need to be 3 or 4ft long. Then add some ground radials made of 30ga wire and nobody would ever know. Plus the fat mast and capacity hat would be fairly broad band.
At one location I only needed to receive CHP so I mounted an actual wide band CHP mobile antenna on a roof with several thin wire ground radials and painted it cammo to blend in. This covers around 39-46Mhz with a great match and receives well. This supplements the Discone to the left and both feed a diplexer.
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Exactly, it's going to be a compromise, unless the OP wants to search out and purchase one of the wideband military antennas @prcguy mentioned.
Myself and others have had good results on VHF low using CB verticals, 6 meter and 10 meter antennas, etc. Are we hearing everything possible? Probably not, but it worked well enough for my purposes.
For an HOA you should be allowed a TV antenna. You could use a small TV antenna (VHF hi/UHF only) with all elements shorted out and use it as a capacity hat on a short mast to resonate around 40MHz. I suspect the mast would only need to be 3 or 4ft long. Then add some ground radials made of 30ga wire and nobody would ever know. Plus the fat mast and capacity hat would be fairly broad band.
At one location I only needed to receive CHP so I mounted an actual wide band CHP mobile antenna on a roof with several thin wire ground radials and painted it cammo to blend in. This covers at least 39-45Mhz with a great match and receives well. This supplements the Discone to the left and both feed a diplexer.
That's a sweet install -- especially with the gray camouflage paint job. Very effective!
prcguy
Member
Thanks, Its painted with a very dark flat brown with streaks of a subdued flat green to match the roof shingles. Same flat brown that's on the Discone and it blends in well with tree bark.
I have an SE-HF X80, good for 80 to 6 meters. I tuned it up for 5/8 wave, 52 MHz, tuned up nicely Intended to mount on a vent pipe, but changed my mind. I am going with a 6 meter inverted V, that will give me a shorter coax run and easier install.
Maybe if you can find an old 'Droopy drawers' CB antenna, you can cut that going up in frequency from 27.185 MHZ, all the way to high UHF band.
WB6GUV used one cut for 10 meters and had great results.
For VHF low, you really need a broad band sort of antenna. Most antennas I have seen cover about a quarter of the band.
Somthing like an inverted V with 4 elements, put the feed at the apex of the roof and elements sloping down the roof, Stuck down with FlexSeal and camo paint, it would be near invisible.
Maybe if you can find an old 'Droopy drawers' CB antenna, you can cut that going up in frequency from 27.185 MHZ, all the way to high UHF band.
WB6GUV used one cut for 10 meters and had great results.
For VHF low, you really need a broad band sort of antenna. Most antennas I have seen cover about a quarter of the band.
Somthing like an inverted V with 4 elements, put the feed at the apex of the roof and elements sloping down the roof, Stuck down with FlexSeal and camo paint, it would be near invisible.
