It's good to see folks experimenting with CB radio antennas. I hope that the FCC will legalize 50 Watts and PL codes someday. I would also love to be able to legally do Morse Code on CB. I don't know which of the two methods would be better, but i think MCW (modulated carrier wave) would be the cheaper/easier method without making CBs more expensive. A mic with a built-in key or a separate key that can plug into the mic connector. Or even a splitter so that someone can switch easily between the two. I'd like to see SSB become standard, too. These four features could revive CB radio: 50 Watts of transmit power, privacy codes (CTCSS or DCS), Morse Code through MCW, and SSB on all CBs. Plain, old-fashioned CBs can stay around for kids, beginners, or anybody who doesn't want to experiment or be a hobbyist.
From the FCC Part 95 Subpart D, 95.412, Paragraph 4, Subparagraph (b): You may use your CB station to transmit a tone signal only when the signal is used to make contact or to continue communications. (Examples of these circuits using these signals are tone operated squelch or selective calling circuits.) If the signal is an audible tone, it must last no longer than 15 seconds at one time. If the signal is a subaudible tone, it may be transmitted continuously only as long as you are talking. Basically it is saying that CTCSS circuits are allowed in the CB service. John, N1WOM
Some of my best memories were experimenting with mobile CB, .. we actually filed our base loaded whips mounting them in a vise and removed shavings to try and get perfect 1.01 to 1 meter readings .. it was crazy fun here and it really seemed to perform well. We also clipped on "capacitance hats" to our mobile whips to get the signal to radiate off higher on the whip. Good memories. Cheers.
A Parts list with measurements of everything would be nice in the description. These would make nice "kits" to sell on eBay with instructions, would require shorter telescoping sections to keep the shipping box from being oversized.👍 NICE WORK❗
i use to make those with those big tv antennas back in the day. take the aluminum elements off and piece together, the entire antenna was about 22 foot long
Nice job! Next step add a Turner +3 for a strong modulation, these things kick ass in AM (I have one on my President Grant Export), it blows all the others out of the water that's for sure. KP733 Chris / France
@@MowerJunkie That will sound great ! I also have a Turner without preamp, a 50s model, I am currently gathering the parts to make a preamp which will at the same time match high Z to low Z input with the ability to fine tune lows and highs.
@@MudDuckGames Check out how to build a *T2LT* antenna right out of the end of the coax itself, and they work almost as well as an Imax2000 and better than an Antron A99!
@@MowerJunkie thanks for the help. I trimmed the dipole antenna on both ends down to 102. I had metal poles supporting the wire that was ran in PVC pipe. I changed them out to Wood. The dipole is running horizontal 5 and a half feet off the ground. SWR on Channel 1 is a 2. And a 3 on channel 40. How do I get channel 40 down lower?
@@MowerJunkie i am getting back into the cb game and was wondering if there a vertical antenna i can build and build plans using pvc and some coax and some copper antenna wire
@@AndrewMurphy8383 I made another antenna that may be what Your looking for. Check it out here, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6DNIpUZvI2k.html
Wrap a 5T x 4.25'' diameter choke in the coax - right next to the feed point - and you'll have less RF in the shack and improve the uniformity of the pattern.
I have a couple questions: which is better for a CB base station antenna- 1/2 wave or. 7/8? Do you have a list of parts that you used to build that antenna? On a dipole antenna which end goes up in the air? The ground plane part points downward? What do you think the maximum amount of watts that can be used with that antenna? How long is the coax cable? What type of coax cable is it? 73!!!
I've never used a 7/8 wave, but I have used many other configurations, and I like a 1/2 wave antenna best. I make these antennas out of pvc pipe with some end caps, and a tee to attach the SO239 onto. I use RG8X coax. the ground plane is on the bottom, and I'm not sure on the power handling......but it does fine with My 225. Thanks for watching, 73's from 151 SC.
I presume you do not need a balum if the radial and ground leads are the same length. Thanks ... good video. I wondered how to hold the copper wire steady in the PVC but the foam trick looks great. I will hoist mine into a tree. The neighbours get 'squirrelly' if the ant is left up!
@@MowerJunkie ... Thanks for getting back. I built the 1/2 wave dipole according to your model. New Cobra 18 WX ST ll (4 watt)(smaller model. Not fancy), RG213U to a Astatic dual SWR/Power meter, RG213U to the antenna. Bare 14 gauge for the + element and coated 14 gauge for the - element. I am building a 'choke' balun (if that's the correct term) to eliminate any potential stray emf on the RG213. Am attaching the balun to the center with a short lead of 213 onto the SO239 at the antenna, etc., so I can remove it if unnecessary. I used 3/4" grey PVC for the wire support/protection, but as you know it needs lots of support. Great SWR but I originally used a short piece of RG8x for the short strap between the radio and the meter and got '2' SWR at 2+ watts. I figured it out and bought more RG213U, replaced the strap and now get 1.4 SWR and 4 watts. Whow!! I'm getting out to 3 miles before terrain gets in the way. (town with lots of power lines for solar panels ... no less! Behind houses, and over some hills. 360 degrees) Haven't completed the tree mounting (the antenna stands on the ground against tree branches for these tests) nor installed the choke, yet. I figure I need an impedance meter to prove the antenna is really balanced but it measures at exactly 102 inches each element from the center of the middle junction. No foam in the tube ends yet but don't see a problem there. Hey, I hope this is a positive feedback for the novices, like myself. Far easier to tune than the Wilson Little Wil, I picked up for mobile, and far greater reach. Thanks for the great video from John in Ontario, Canada. (no handle. no HAM license ... yet). ps ... I figure I will try a 5/8 dipole next,, but space is an issue with the neighbours. Cheers
@@JDS11ify The difference between bare copper and coated copper will give you a slight imbalance I'm the antenna. Insulated wire has a different velocity factor than uninsulated wire. In practice, insulated wire will need to be shorter than uninsulated wire for the same frequency at resonance. (About 5% or slightly less) But for less common mode noise (a quieter antenna), and a balanced dipole (for TX), both halves need to be the same gauge wire and have equal velocity factors. Will it still work? Yes, but it's not a good idea to use different wires for a dipole. Also the "negative" and "positive" parts of a dipole are completely the same. It doesn't matter which half of a balanced antenna is up or down, it's completely irrelevant.
@@MowerJunkie alot cheaper than a antron 99!! I have friends that wanna play base station but they think antennas cost alot! Good work doing wat u can with wat u got!
Great video, looking to copy your plans myself. As far as tuning the antenna, did you only trim the "top" element wire, or did you trim both the "top" and the "ground" element wires? Thanks.
Yes, You need to keep both wires the same length. That's awesome that You're going to build 1 too. In the next few days I'm going to be building another one. I'll be posting a video of that build, and the reason for the new antenna. 73's 151 SC
Ok thanks, going to use this for a school project, we'll see how it goes. Also looking forward to the new antenna build. Hope to hear you on the air. 73 from 221 NC
@@gman1285 I use high quality rg6 75 ohm coax measured in half wave sections and fine tune the distance between the feed points for a perfect match every time no baluns or tuners needed.
MJ - (Two quick questions) 1. Can the ground plane wire also be installed "inside" the pvc (like the active element is) instead of being tie wrapped to the "outside" of the lower piece of pvc without hurting performance? 2. If I have antenna in a 'horizontal' position while tuning, trimming, tuning, trimming and get a good SWR will the SWR reading still be good when I mount the antenna 'vertically? I'm climbing up a 60-70' pine tree to mount this thing sticking out of the top of the tree and don't want to have to have to take it down again to retune. Thanks for your response!
Yes, the second time I made one of these vertical dipoles, I had the ground plane inside the lower pipe. I would tune it vertically, and near the tree that You plan on mounting it to. This way if the tree has any disagreements with the antenna, it will already be tuned to compensate for it. Good luck with Your antenna, and thanks for watching.
FYI - I finished the dipole antenna today. An Unbelievable match of less than 1.1 on channel #1 and virtually the the same (1.1) on channel 40. I wasn't able to get it up the tree today. Too windy and needed time for silicone to dry anyhow. Plan on climbing tree and mounting tomorrow. Thanks again for your help.
@@MowerJunkie Well, I got the antenna mounted up the tree about 55'. The top of the dipole is sticking about 2' above the tree. SWR is 1.6:1 on #1 and #40. I'm not too impressed unfortunately. I've only been able to make contact around 2 miles away (as the crow flies). I actually kept the mic keyed on channel 1(at my house) with you tube playing into the mic and went for a ride in my truck to see how far I could hear my base. Only heard it for about 2 miles. Not sure why it is so bad, especially with a decent SWR reading.
So.....how do I keep it from setting off my smoke detectors in the house? Lol. What a silly problem to have but at least I know they work I guess. Any help? I bought a Workman B100 also hoping that would keep that from happening but nope! Lol.
How about a telescoping Tv antenna-type roof mast and a short piece of 1" or so fiberglass rod, Delrin, gray PVC or equivalent with a 102" whip & mount on top, then 3-4 106" diagonal downward guy wire radials to insulators or parachute cord for a home-brewed version of a StarDuster? I bet you'd get several S-Units improvement to your local stations, especially if you went up 3-5 sections of mast on the roof, or even alongside the house, 30-50' up to the 102" whip.
last month I replaced this antenna with a homemade ground plane antenna. it's only about 5' higher than this 1 was, but it does a great job.I can now talk to local stations up to 60 miles away, with about 180 watts. and skip is unbelievable. Thanks for watching, 73's from 151 SC.
I just made one like this except I used 1 1/2 pvc lower for the mast and 3/4 for the top now my question is does the lower GP have to be above roof line mine stinger will be at around 30 on top of roof but the lower GP side will be below roof line.... Thanks
@@MowerJunkie I have mine temp mount of the deck and way below roof line with avg 1:2 match and I'm hearing skip from Michigan to Florida, Cape Cod Road Island But not TX to them so IM raising id to the peak of house like I said stinger is above 30 feet so we will see Im soldering up Rg213 as we speak....
Hello there mower junkie I love what you do man hey I'm kind of curious how far away from a metal object on the Lord dipole what I have to be away from such like an oil tank?
nice.. could you please tellme the lenght of each leg? cause i dont have an swr.. also is it ok to use plain wire??? i want to make that to use it as an external antenna for realistic trc 207 portable radio..thx in advance, take care.
I have Mine set up with the active element inside the top pipe, and the ground plane half is on the outside of the bottom pipe. Yes both wires should be trimmed equally, to get the best SWR reading.
I really don't know how many watts it can handle, But I ran 200 into mine for over a year without any problems. If You leave that 980 stock, It should sound good with any amp You choose. Thanks for watching.
@@MowerJunkie Some have said that 4 watts is to much to drive an amp and say the dead key wattage should be turned down before hooking up an amp. Would you suggest I turn my dead key down to 1-2 watts before hooking up an amp so as to not overdrive the amp or can I just hook an amp to it without messing with the dead key wattage. What would you do? Thanks for your videos!
@@jamesj4111 it all depends on the amp, most will allow up to 4 watts on AM, and 12 watts on SSB. I have Palomar 2 pill amps on both of My stations, I put 5 watts AM and about 18 watts on SSB without any problems, and they sound great. follow what the amp manufacturer states, and You will be good to go. The main thing You need to be aware of is high SWR. I will not run an amp on an antenna that has a higher than 1.4 reading.
@@MowerJunkie I really appreciate this info. I was curious about using an amp on SSB because of the higher wattage than the AM side going into an amp. You answered that question too, thank you. By the way, my 1/2 wave dipole up the pine tree has a 1.1 across the board (1-40). Was talking about 10.5 miles (as crow flies) on 38 LSB a few days ago. My whole goal is to simply be able to contact my daughter 21 miles away in case of emergency if cell phones and the internet go down. I think if I put an amp on her end and my end we should be able to make the trip, especially on SSB. Thanks again for your Guidance.
i built one just like this and while ive got it horizontal ive got an even 1 on channel 1 and 1 to 3 on 40 but once i mount it vertical my swr goes up to 1to 6 on channel one and an even 2 on channel 40 so any suggestions ?
@@bobbyt3451 it's also important to have the coax perpendicular to the antenna for at least 3 feet. these are some of the reasons it's easier to mount them horizontal.
Cross your fingers, and hope that Mother nature likes you. the counterpoise can be grounded, but the upper part will not have any protection. Thanks for watching, Take care.
Interesting - if you’re going dipole on 10/11 meters vertical polarization is the BEST way to go. You sound like my Southie submarine shipmates - where ya’ from mower junkie? Bahstin?
Ok mower junkie on your recommendation I ordered the Uniden 980 AM/SSB Amazon - $120 + 7 tax free ship. I’m also monitoring ch 38 LSB on occasion when in the shack. WHATS YOUR TEAM FOR THE SUPER BOWL??? Take care tu es gud DX.
@@submarineradioman5535 That's Awesome! And at a good price, Enjoy the new Radio. Sorry, I thought the Super Bowl already happened, I don't follow any Sports. 73's, 151 SC
After watching several times. It looks to me like the active element still has white wire insulation on it. In the comments you said it was bare wire. Could you please clarify for me if the active is insulated or stripped. Im making one as i comment
@@MowerJunkie im just getting into cb you have been great help. P.s love the orange and black sears. Im a big garden tractor fan as well. Thanks for ur chanel and ur help
@@MowerJunkie cool,for some reason I thought at least a choke is needed to feed a dipole. I'm in need for a cb antenna,I think I'll go with a vertical dipole as well after seeing your video. Thanks for sharing,73! 😁
@@joczo97 from what I've read, You only need chokes if You are causing a lot of electronic interference or bothering your neighbors. let me know how you make out with your build. 73's
@@MowerJunkie hi im from out of U.S I have a GALAXY DX95T converted to CB installed in my 18 wheel truck. I have mounted the antenna in a grab handle at the back of the truck and it works very good and looks just like your dipole but in my truck In from Costa Rica,I had contacted people from U.S,Puerto Rico,Mexico,Barbados,Cuba and more... My 95 T is at 60 watt We don't have regulations here so is not illegal Just wanted to share it with u
@@jcjc2593 Nice radio, I'd like to see Your antenna setup, it sounds interesting. Maybe 1 day the conditions will be right, and I'll get to hear You on the air. 73's 151 SC.
Ive read all the comments.. Im loosing faith in people again... Morons be among us. I was 13 years old. My silver rod snapped at the coil. I made my own 36ft wire dipole antenna, without help and strung it down the garden at around washing line height It was supposed to be a temporary antenna, but it worked well and it lasted 15+ years until I quit CB. There was no internet or youtube in 1982... We did things by trial and error. We experimented. We learnt.
sorry about that, I'm still getting used to sharing My projects. for this antenna I used 2 9' pieces of 1/2" pvc pipe joined in the middle with a Tee. an so239 is connected to the tee. the active element is soldered to the conector and slid up into the pipe. the ground plane wire is attached to the connector on the outside and zip tied to the lower pipe. If You get a chance, check out My newer video, "homemade ground plane antenna" Thanks for watching, 73's from 151 SC.
@@Journeyman1642 I was 13 years old. My silver rod snapped at the coil. I made my own 36ft wire dipole antenna, without help and strung it down the garden at around washing line height It was supposed to be a temporary antenna, but it worked well and it lasted 15+ years until I quit CB. There was no internet or youtube in 1982... We did things by trial and error. We experimented. We learnt.
About 102" each side. Start with 110 each side and trim. I would very strongly recommend adding a choke coil to this antenna. 10 wraps or so of the coax at the feed point would work. Just wind it around a 1" piece of PVC.
Do you know any one, that knows bout, 1978 eight track am FM , cb 40 channel and Japan enhancing to 1978 cell phone bands to answer and call land lines ?
