2 Meter VHF Quarter Wave Ground Plane Antenna - Ham Radio Q&A 

Hi Michael. The first 2 meter base station antenna was that antenna, up in a pine tree. I followed the ARRL pamphlet I got as a new ham. I only had 2 ground radials and the instructions called for a loop in the wire ends, formed by wrapping the end around a broomstick. I still use that antenna.

So easy an effective Michael, definitely going to build this! Thanks for sharing in such easy steps. 73

This was exactly what I was looking for to do my first antenna project for being a new ham. Thank you.

2 meters is 200 centimeters - therefore a 1/4 is 200/4 = 50 centimeters much easier to measure than 19 inches and some odd fraction..

Awesome, as a new ham I will definitely be making this. I wish some store locally had SO-239 connectors. Wish Radio Shacks were still around. 73 - KM6VFM

I would like to put a small circle in the ends of the radiator and ground planes, to reduce the likelihood of poking my eye out. How would that that affect to performance and how would I measure the length. I there something blunt that can be put on the wire ends, that would not affect the performance?

I love your mission Michael!

Thanks for sharing. This might be my first project. 73

First antenna I built after I got my technician. Got it out of the ARRL Handbook. Not do sure you can get the SO-239 and other parts from Radio Shack.

Dumb question - Does a coaxial version of this chassis mount exist? I googled search but could not find anything. I aleady have all the connectors and tools to crimp coaxial - not so-239.

This is incredible! Any reason it wouldn't be water proof for a more permanent outdoor install?

I’ve watched this video a couple times now and finally got around to making the antenna this weekend. Wow! Super easy and quick to build. I wanted to get it built for the 2M Simplex Light up the night event on August 30, 2020. Can’t wait to use it.

It looks like an umbrella, I wonder if I could make it with one? 🤔

You can put one end of the wire in a drill chuck and the other in a vise. Straightens it out and makes it less prone to bending

I built one of these a couple years ago, slightly different than your video only in that we had extra PVC parts so we could take the thing apart and store it in the PVC to transport. Otherwise, it looked the same and is a great antenna.

You can also get SO-239s at Radio Shack. I just passed the test for Technician license and while I wait on my license I am making one of those 1/4 wave ground plane for the 2 meter HT (Yaesu FT-4VR) mono band radio I got from the local Ham club for passing the test. I can hit the local 2 meter repeater but that's about it and I have to be outside on the deck to do that. I think once I get my 2 meter ground plane built and get my SMA female adapter to UHF SO-239 so I can hook up a piece of coax I'll be good to go. Since my wire is so thin, I doubled it up and stuck it into my drill and twisted it all together for the radiator. That worked out well and now it sticks straight up without drooping.

So I made one and it keeps blowing the circuit breaker as it's transmitting. Should I run a wire from the SO239 to the wood base for a ground?

The SO-239 that I got from HRO didn't have a good mechanical connector for the center solder point. I was more like a dimple with half a side. What I did to strengthen the connection was wrap some 14 gauge wire around a #6 screw, to get a coil about 3/8" long, nice and tight. I placed that over the center connector and filled it with molten solder and heated it enough to know the solder point was well connected, then embedded my 12 gauge center wire in that and heated it again to get a good solder connection. That joint is not going to fail.

Hi Michael, thank you for sharing what can only be described one of the easiest but useful little antennas inexperienced amateurs like myself can build. I have built a similar type of antenna for portable days out but I used a slightly different calculation which offered me a slightly longer radial (2948/Freq = length). I note that my swr is slightly higher than yours so maybe I stick with 234/Freq. Thank you for sharing. M6KVK

I needed a 2 meter ground plane quickly and didn't have time to muck about trying to optimize a fancy design. I just copied yours and it works as well as anything I could have made if I had taken much more time to make it pretty. I just cut and bent and soldered per your design and presto, it works great. SWR about 1.2 across the band and I'm easily heard where i need to be heard. Thank you!!!! 73

Wow. Awesome SWR. No tuning either. Personally, I would like to see more videos like this. My favorite was the Leixen 10w Radio in a Ammo Can. Built one myself.

Im inspired to build. Was able to pickup most of the parts at my local hardware store. cable and SO 239 connector I had to get online. the cable coax was my biggest expense RG8U. Also find the right connector for the connection from the feed to the Radios antenna connection found a SMA female to the pl 259 female(so239) ...As of now I have no Antenna Analyzer... anyday now i hope to see my call sign on the FCC post. was able to program my first repeater here in Santa Rosa CA ..listening only ..Thanks

Thank you. I'm trying to make one for my marine radio. I'm assuming I just need to make sure the length of the wire is right. I also live in the Milwaukee are and I plan on getting a ham license.

I have made the 2m 70cm, my problem is I can’t get the solder to adhere to the copper wire and the so239 connector. So the main beam is the 2m, and then I attach the 70cm beam next to that. Can I move the 70 up a little bit to have its own connection to the 2m beam instead of having a big blob of solder at the 239. Like I said above need some direction to get the wire and solder to adhere to the 239 and be secure. Thanks Michael

I did this quarter wave ground plane antenna here in Philppines connected to SO 239 connector Radiator lenght 19.2 inch with 3 ground plane. I used RG58 coax 50 ohms. Oh yeah IT WORKS WELL with VHF Freq. Design for 2M. - DW3ZXC Philippines.

Hi, with my intentions to only receive aircraft & tower communications within the air band frequencies 118.000 MHz to 136.975 MHz, I need to make an external antenna for my scanner. In determining the length of the vertical rod and redials, will I still use the given 234 numbers? If so, what MHz frequency will I divide the 234 with?

Awesome kool project

Hi KB9VBR, in the most simple way, how do I make a quarter wave ground plane (receiver only) antenna for aviation frequencies 108-137 MHz ? Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

Hey thank you for this. I built something very similar after watching your video but much less "professional" so to speak, by sticking a 12 gauge copper wire into a female pl-259 connector and wrapping the radial wires around the outer part.

how about improving an HT antenna by having a base loading coil, cant find any good info on that process. 5/8th wave loaded

Thank You. This is exactly what I need. I'll be sourcing the parts soon and put this baby together. Thanks again.

how come you not add the short to ground i seen them the antenna wire solder to it and that wire solder to the ground plane kit you have do one this way see if you like it even better the short kill static DC building up in your area

Just built one. Works slick! Also I built another 2m antenna using just the 19 in vertical radiator soldered to an SO 239 connector. That one also worked well. It stuck it in the attic

I want to build an antenna like this for my SDR tuned for the airband. I have a question: Can I replace the SO-239 chassis connector for a BNC connector?

Hi Michael!! I just subscribed and I'm proud to say I'm subscriber number 8454!! I look forward to watching your videos and learning ALOT from you!! Thanks for posting and giving us all a chance to learn and do it right. Norman.

You didn't show connecting the coax cable. how did you do that?

This video is a must see for new hams great simple explanation. 73. David Byrd KN4BHS

Looking to build my first antenna - just got licensed last week. What kind of coax cable and pvc pipe would I need? Looking to order everything I would need off amazon.

Thank you! I'll be trying this build with students at our school! KC1LUX

This was the first antenna I made.I was able to hit a repeater over 40 miles away with 5 watts !

Great video !!!!! thank you, but what would be your take on the voltage output, in other words would it handle 200 watt PEP ? thanks for reply in advance, Please keep the videos coming!!!

What connector is needed to attach cable to radio

We don't know how EFFECTIVE this antenna is if you don't COMPARE it to just using the rubber ducky. Science class 101...

New ham here. Would this work to lengthen all wires to 3/4 wave on 2m (around 1500mm) so I could use it as a 1/4 wave antenna for 6m (also around 1500mm)? 73, KK4FVZ

Могли бы сказать размеры в сантиметрах?

Thanks for this video. Does it matter when the elements are not totally straight? :)

Can you do another talking about the cable you used? You kinda skipped over that completely. I know I will need a female SMA on my radio end and a male PL239 on the antenna end, but what type of cable do you need? How much loss do you get going from 12 feet to 50 feet for example?

How much Watts can transmit through this antenna

Great Video... New to amateur radio VA3MFP Just got my license 5 days ago . Looking for a basic antenna until my Diamond Antenna X30A Dual-Band comes in.

For us unlicensed radio hobbyists, cut approximately one inch form the vertical antenna to be able to use the ground plane antenna on unlicenced MURS VHS frequencies. MURS is on the 1.9 meter radio band. It is very close to 2 meter amateur radio band. Many amateur radio frequencies have unlicenced equivalent bands for unlicenced radio hobbyists and operators. 12 meter and 10 meter amateur radio bands are very close to the unlicensed 11 meter Citizen's Band. 6 meter amateur band is very close to the unlicenced low power 49 megacycle band. The 49 megacycle band is actually in 6 meters whereas the amateur radio 50 to 54 megacycle band is actually 5.8 meters. 2 meter amateur band is very close to the unlicensed MURS band that y is in 1.9 meters. 70 centimeter amateur radio band is very close to unlicenced FRS 64 centimeter band. 33 centimeter amateur radio band is shared with unlicensed radio operators also that use equipment that is low power and requires no license. I believe all these frequencies for unlicenced use are around amateur radio bands to stimulate interest for us unlicenced operators to perhaps get an amateur radio license.

Noob questions! What is better, ¼ wave or ½ wave? Can you turn a ½ wave into a ¼ wave?

When we moved to our location in 1989 behind little parks I was concerned about all the metal 20 feet from my backyard for my ham antennas. I use a ButterNut vertical for HF and I placed it 75 ft from the back fence and, of course during stormy weather it is disconnected. For two-meter / 440 antennas I have two dual-band antennas mounted above my home, one vertical and one horizontal, and of course, it gets disconnected when storms come my way. To solve the storm problems associated with 2/m and 440m I built two 'coat hanger' ground wave antennas and placed them in my attic. They have been up there since 1989 and have had no problems. Love to make antennas for my hobby and for my friends. My next project is using 'rotor cable' cut to the ham bands and string it above my home. Right now I have a homemade dipole but I think the rotor cable will work better for my location, at the bottom of a valley. DE W9FPJ

I made one of these, works great 💪

I made this antenna 3 years ago after watching this video. It was easy and super easy!!! If you are thinking about building this project, just do it. It is easy and works great!!

What about an antenna for gmrs, frequency 462.5500?

Excellent video - thanks. It's stuff like this that makes me love HAM radio.

Question, I have a limited space, let's say I wanted to use to meet her and 10 m can The middle let's say for 2 m and then the radio coming out 10 m? Will that mess up the SWR?

You can build all of it with crimp connectors and a coat hanger or two if you want, use quick disconnects for the antenna and ground plane and you've got yourself a modular antenna

Seasoned Ham... good at xmas - sorry for the joke

Would be fun to test this antenna vs your jpole.

Good video, congratulations from UR1CDG

Went down a major rabbit hole trying to figure out why it was 234 and not 246. Great video. I'm making this tomorrow thx! If I tune it for GMRS I get 6 inches. May try for both (I have both licenses.) Thanks!

Newbie here, just curious why not a half wave instead of quarter, is quarterwave better for vhf ?

is it better then regular dipole ?

I don't have my license yet (local governing body suspended examinations due to Covid19) but I built this for listening and it worked like a charm.

Now this is an antenna ! i still have my radio shack 20-176 aka Sputnik in the attic

My coat hangers keep falling out of the crimped connectors. Anyone know of a set type screw connector or anything that will hold?

You get any contacts in east central Wisconsin?

Why 234 and not 300 for the math? I was taught 300 Where does the 234 come from Thx

How many watts can it handle?

I enjoyed this video - i only operate in 80, 40, 20 m but I want to get a 2m radio and have been looking for ideas on homebuilt 2m antennas

Please show how you hooked it up to the coax and couldn't you simply silicon the adapter to the top of the PVC pipe?

Was wanting to do a half wave wire dipole for 2 meters is this ok or should I do quarterwave

Thank you Sir. If you don't mind what type of solder do you Reccomend. Thank you...

Should connections at the bottom of antenna be water sealed? Mine got rained on n seems to be acting odd..

I just made one having followed your video. I’ve just got to come up with a mounting solution. Thanks.

Would like to get a copy of your plans in order to present it during an ARES class for new HAMS. It that possible?

Soon to be new ham operator, saw this antenna, took down lots of notes. Video was VERY informative especially the formula aspect. Thank you for the video. Gonna give build a try, should be fun.

Might hobble one together for Field day! may need to use 1/4 or 1/2" copper piping on the main element as I am trying to feed it to an IC746

What gauge copper wire did you use for the antenna?

Hi, any coax cable un particular that You used? Thanks

Hi Michael!! I've got a topic for you: different materials for antenna building, ie: copper vs stainless steel vs aluminum; wood vs plastic vs pvc. Different conductive properties of each, strengths & weaknesses of each, etc. What do you think? Are radials, radiators & ground plane wires better in copper, stainless-steel or aluminum, and why. Also: can we mix them? I would love to see THAT video!! I'm sure you could produce a great video on all that!! At the beginning of the video don't forget to mention who the inspiration is behind that video!!😉. It might just inspire others to come up with other good ideas!! I can't wait to see it!! Keep on keeping on, brother!! 73, Norman in Montreal.

Great little project for new and us old hams. Made one for 70cm and works great.

Hello MIchael. Will be getting my General in a few days and antennas are my weak spot, so appreciate your info! Keep it up! I will check out your blog.

Thanks for the video! I built one but the radial ring terminals seem a little weak, they don't seem to hold the weight of the radials properly. I've seen some people go out about an inch before starting the 45 degree bend; if I were to do this, does the measurement of the radial begin at the point of the bend?

Just made one of these antennas a little tip i got from a elder is to put one end of the wire in a drill then hold the other with pliers. Give it about 10 seconds. It straightens and strengthens

Hey Michael, I'm about to put this antenna together as you instructed. What would be the connectors needed for the RG8x coax. I'm hooking this up to my Baofeng BF-F8. Thank's for your help.

Could you use sections of roll up metal tape measure for the radials and radiating element?

What r the lenghts of the four elements & the main element?

Can they all not be soldered on like the vertical one?

Hello, thanks for the video. I just bought my first mobile ill be using for a base station. (FTM-400XDR) i had it for a couple days and haven't even powered it up yet. Im still trying to get a power supply and some coax. so instead of dropping a couple 100 on an antenna this would be nice to get it up and running for the time being. what do you think? I am new. I passed my Tech exam and been still waiting for my call. its been 2 weeks and a day. still no call

Thank you. That was quick and well done. That was my first home brew antenna. N0QFT

Outstanding video tutorial. Thanks for posting. Much appreciated.

Hi Michael I built the two meter quarter wave ground plane antenna ,I am measuring 2.7 SWR at 146 MHz . What would be a good SWR for this antenna ?any suggestions to make my SWR better ,my copper wire is cut at 19.2 inches .thanks in advance .

can this be made for a CB 11meter radio

Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪 Great channel! You just got yourself a new subscriber 🤖 Thank you!

Hello sir.. is copper wire coated mildsteel inside will work as well for the radiator??? Ty sir

Nice easy build, how was the Db gain ?

Hi Michael great video, can I ask a silly question please? What diameter are the blue Crimp Connectors please?

Just built this antenna and it works well! It also picks up 70cm too. Thanks!