I live in the desert and was looking for a portable way to mount my antenna. There's not always trees around. I love the beach umbrella anchor idea. Thank you!
Thank you for demonstrating that antennas don’t have to be complex or expensive. When I was starting out fifty years ago, most of my initial antennas were built with Radio Shack speaker wire with direct coax connection. Some were even connected using alligator clips. They all worked to some extent and most worked pretty well.
I’ve been im a state of analysis paralysis trying to figure out the best antenna to put up at my house. But you’ve inspired me to just grab some wire and start experimenting. Thanks for the nudge to get up and start operating!
Thanks Walt. Another usful video and an antenna setup that I will try. I am already a 'speaker wire' convert and like you, I operate a G90. My antenna is just an EndFed random wire thrown into the trees at the back of the house feeding through a 49:1 balun. In the 2 months that I have been trialing it I have have made contacts into Australia, USA, Italy, Bulgeria and Austria. Not to bad from NZ on 20 watts, and in truth, I can see no reason for wanting or needing more watts. Keep your experiments, reviews and ideas coming Walt, you are inspiring a whole load of other hams out here and just showing us all what can be done.......damn the theory, just get out there and try it. Cheers Phil ZL2VTH
I really appreciate all your videos. I've been a ham since 1983 but pretty inactive for a long time. I've forgotten most everything I ever knew and your videos are really helping me get up to speed on everything again.
wow, those were the cleanest sounding CQ contest transmissions i’ve ever heard, usually on a contest all I hear is QRM bleeding over on everyone.. they must respect the 3k separation in France. Thx for the video and thanks for the antenna tool app tip.. that will come in handy (if I ever use a real antenna) LOL..
My very first antenna with my very first radio (the G90) was a 20m dipole into one of those binding posts. Worked a lot before I got given a G5RV JR. Now I use the 20m antenna for POTA
Walt, you're a really, really great Elmer! Just a word to the folks that building your own antennas -- starting with a dipole or vertical -- is a wonderful way to get into the technical part of ham radio. Components are cheap and learning the theory by making your own is really empowering! But, to simplify the calculations for the feet and inches folks versus the meters crowd.. A vertical is length = 234/freq in MHz and a dipole is "twice that" or 468/freq in MHz. Another way to understand this is that a 40m dipole is approximately 66 feet so each side would be 33 feet. If you want an 80m dipole just double those dimensions or about 66 feet on one side and a 20m would be half that or about 16.5 feet on each side. Just to be safe, cut the length an extra six inches to a foot depending on the band and trim, measure, and prune.
Hey Walt. I made a speaker wire dipole for 2m. 1/2 wave antenna at 15ft. Hook to a old Motorola radio. The only I built it is because I have had several local hams tell me if wouldn’t work. So I built it just to prove a point. So come to find out it works awesome. Talking simplex 20miles fairly easy. Almost as good as my jpole at 35ft. Take care Walt K4YAG 73
Per usual, your videos educate, excite, and please! Keep up the good work! F = 468/Fmhz for a half wave dipole total overall length. Verticals are, of course, 234/Fmhz. Also, if you use a fiberglass pole, _carefully_ bend the top over, stake the bottom to the ground out from the pole about six inches, you will have a bow effect that keeps the antenna taught without having to to tape it to the pole.
Walt this video is superb. I travel a lot for work, and traveled to Arizona about a week ago. I've operated radio here before, but at the time I relied exclusively on an EFHW wire with 9:1 UNUN that I ran into a tree. Arizona is famous for not having a whole lot of trees, so any radio I did was very planned and methodical. About two days before I flew out here I saw this video, and I quickly set about soldering up a 15 meter and 20 meter quarter wave with counterpoise, and threw them in my luggage. When I got to AZ this week I bought the biggest crappie pole I could find (13 feet). Today I drove out to a park, tuned up the pole, and activated a park local to me twice (UTC day shift) with both SSB and CW. The thing you don't mention is how incredibly wide banded this is! I spent a short time tuning, but ended up just being okay without having the dip in my band (the sun made the nano VNA hard to read, and I didn't have a measuring device with me), but even with the dip on my 15m antenna being slightly below the band edge, I still had 1.3:1 within the voice portion of 15 meters! I have 2-3 big weekends of park activations and general radio fun planned up thanks to this antenna set up. Thank you for all you do. KD5WCX
Great video Walt! Nice to see someone who has the same passion for building antennas that I also have. This video just shows that you don't need to spend hunders of bucks to have an effective antenna! Thanks for the video. KD9VAN
Thank you. You should do one using speaker wire as a doublet, feed line to a 4:1. Check out the NorCal Doublet. It was one of my favorites in the early 90's when I'd play portable.
Hey Walt. Good content as always. One of my first HF wire antennas was from speaker wire. I've since graduated to a Chameleon MPAS Lite, but my speaker wire antenna is always in my portable bag. Hope to put you in the log one day.
I have my General, but haven't got an HF rig yet, let alone an antenna. Now I have some ideas to try out for when I get one! Better yet, A great cheap portable option for camping, which is another goal. Thanks, and yes, I'm a subscriber.
France and Wales from Arizona today on 15m with 85w and a vertical. Fun! just discoverd your channel after hearing you on Callums live stream today. 73 de KI7MJU
Hey Walt! I had all the stuff laying around and I decided to build one of these. I got it tuned, and used it with an X6100 and a battery for the massive 10w. In 2 hours I got 6 pota activations, and a guy in Canada. Not too bad considering all the other folks trying for the pota people. Not much salt water to take advantage of here in WI, but I am happy with the results. You are the man, and I am just a moron with a ham ticket. 73, KD9OCL
Cheers Walt, great video we call those fishing poles Roach poles in the UK, using one at the moment sticking out of the balcony of my flat, cheap and cheerful dose the job for me.
Thank you for your videos. I resisted doing much HF (issues with Municipality initially, but then) I got lots of bad advice. The "Right / Only way" was often lousy on performance and I hate the idea of spending high-hundreds to a thousand + dollars on an antenna. You've inspired me to screw around and find out. Currently on a cheap end-fed loosely hung from my tree on 100w and doing more and going further than I ever have. Thanks for the renewed inspiration. 73
Hi Walt, They were some great contacts for such a simple antenna. That was a nice QSO you had with Callum this morning. There's proof the G90 can get out when paired with a decent antenna. Stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Great video, and definitely inspiring!! I'll be getting my 891 soon but have already ordered/received my Coffee and Ham Radio Apollo EFHW, which I'm looking forward to building. And now I have another few projects after that one. All of these are perfect for the field type stuff that interests me, and even save me a few bucks that I can spend on an antenna analyzer, tuner, and miscellaneous adapters to make it all work together. Thanks as always!!
👍All good advice, thanks. Have made a few antennas like this and they work. I found that I tended to have more repeatable results setting up pre-made 1/4 GP vertical antennas by raising the radials off the ground. I raised the bottom of the vertical element by 1 or 2 metres with the radial ends sloping down to insulated tent pegs.
I'm about to set up my HF ham station and this video will help me tremendously as I was really looking for something cheap and portable as an antenna. Many thanks.
What a kickass low Cost Antenna Setup. Good job on that, UW. The foxtrott Contest was the Reason for me not to go portable DX and instead taking Bumble Bee out for a Ride. Happy Sunday into Poland. 73 de YFUG 💯🙋♂
General class, grid EN72jj. Rig is Yaesu FT840 into long wire Windom at 30feet. Recent ice storm here took down my antennas, waiting for weather to warm up to put them back up. Nice video...simple, easy and to the point. I use an MFJ 948 antenna tuner for various bands...73 OM
I wish you had a more clear picture of exactly how you connect or wind all the wires (antenna, ground) to the bnc before covering it up with tape. And wish you could show how you attach the balun too for us newbies.
Hi, I've been asked this before so I did this video to show more detail. Hopefully this will help!: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xEYp9IHqdIM.htmlsi=J_nc2mUvYnLKOrEI
I built a dipole antenna for the 40m band a couple of months ago. I hung it about 9 meters high on an old telescope pole as an inverted "V." As luck would have it, I initially hit the correct lengths. Here in Europe the 40m band goes from 7.0 to 7.2MHz At dead center, 7.1MHz my SWR was 1.2:1. The bandwidth (SWR
Thanks for another helpful video, Walt. Very useful info and the two you did on the Rybakov were especially so. I’ve copied your antenna drawings but don’t do Facebook. Are you no longer going to include these drawings in your YT vids? Thanks and 73.
Hey thanks WALT you are a BIG guy. I mean that as a compliment! Not talking about your body, haha! I loved your Favorite Antennas video, it got me yearning, striving, and acting! I have only watched a third of this video but I wonder why you need three antennas with each covering two bands. A doublet fed with ladder line to balun and tuner gives many bands. Ok I will keep watching now, not meaning to criticize just wondering. Keep going and having fun and sharing! Thanks!
I found your channel and yes, you have inspired me to try making a vertical antenna. The Rybakof antenna is the one I have chosen to make. It's the end of November, and I hope to get it on the air December 2, and work 40, 20, 15, & 10 meters... Thanks for the tips, 73's de kd5smf
one can have a lot of fun and learn much with a spool of speaker wire. I had an end-fed ( with one of my homemade 9:1 UNUNs) up for almost a decade that was made with el-cheap-o stranded speaker wire - it was the really thin stuff ( prob. old Radio Shack stuff) too! it was around 60 feet on the element and the counterpoise was a ground stake and also my gutter and downspout . the thing worked better than I could believe ! , ( other one was a ladder line doublet) the end-fed was an inverted L config. so it had about 35' vertical and then flat across the top. it finally broke from an ice storm, so I simply built another ( better quality speaker wire this time) . stranded speaker wire works best , plus it's easy to hide in plain sight ( especially once it oxidizes a little bit. so I agree - if you are a new ham or a old goat like me, get out and experiment .
Excellent video Walt. Can i make one suggestion to simplify set up? You can secure top end of wire to pole with a simple hitch, and just wind twice or thrice around the length of the pole. No taping required. Makes set up and take down much quicker and easier. Keep up the great work! 73 M3KXZ
Built it testerday with a 1:1 balun from Ham Goodies and only 2 counterpoise wires, Tunes in with my Xeigu G90 on 80 -10 m bands easily with SWR at 1:1. Made a lot of QSO's accross the bands but sticking to mainly 40 and 20 as it works better than my juniot GR5V. Hoping to make more N America contacts with this low take-off job with 10w. Well pleased thanks. Doug MM7DSA
Thanks a lot. I never thought to do this with new spiderbeam, but I'm getting on this by my campout this weekend. I needed a proper side project like this to take my mind off of the collection of hamsticks I've been dealing with hihi. love and respect
...& u talking abt how easy it is to put up a vertical, makes me wanna go outside & make one, to make ANOTHER antenna (that I really don't need) but still wanna try, hi hi! 73 de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😃
Hi Walter! This video just popped up for me today and glad it did. Liked & subscribed. Great tips and fun video. Also went back and reviewed & liked a couple other videos - great content! 73, John - KK7JBZ
You make the most informative ham radio videos! Lots of poles and beach umbrella holders online. Which are the ones you ere using in the video? Thanks! Al
The red connector goes to the antenna wire, but what is the black one connected to? Is that just going to the ground jacketing of the coax cable going up to that connector, or is it even connected to anything? Maybe it's a silly question, but was a bit unclear here . . .
@@jimmieblue6262 no, you're confusing earth ground with RF ground. They are two different things. This antenna has no earth ground and doesn't require anything driven into the ground.
I got the Ballun 1:1 ready for 11 meter . Now I’m gonna use the same ballun with 40 meter 1/4 wave . For HOA hoping to figure a way to rap that exsesive wire and hoping to match the without anything going wrong will see I might need a match box .
G’day Walt. Have you thought about using your other pole to create a reflector and make your vertical directional with a bit of gain. Like the video. Cheers
@@LanceVK6LK_AussieHam will do, I’ve actually been researching this and keep getting information that says a director is more efficient than a reflector when using only 2 elements. I’m thinking about trying to measure that as well.
Thanks for this great idea and video. Just what I'm looking for when will be in Iceland end of June. Not many trees to put up a dipole or efhw. Does a carbon fiber pole effect the performance? 73 Hope to catch you on 10 m while you're over there.
Stupid question. When trimming a antenna, what part of the frequency allocation do you try to cut at? The center? Example: build 20m EFHW for extra phone portion, would you cut to length for 14.250? Does it really matter as long as you’re within the allocation? Thank you!
I’ve found that as long as you are somewhat near the center of the portion you want to use, you’re fine. I cut my 20m antennas for 14.240 and work the entire phone portion. 73, Walt
I cut my wire antennas for phone and add a small female connector to the end. I have a variety of different length duplicate tails that I can plug in to give me resonance on the digi or cw portion of the band.
Hi Walt, nice video as always. You did inspire me with the Rybakov antenna a few months ago. So, the past month, I started experimenting with all kinds of configurations after making the "original" design. Suddenly I discovered a nice, but logical, result after making some changes. Feel free to drop me an e-mail for more info. best 73
Yes I’ve worked the states from here on 20, 15 and 10 but I think my best contacts from here are my long path QSOs to Australia. I have 3 in the log from here to VK. I was pretty stoked when that happened.
I realized that my QTH is just 360km from Slupsk in SM1 land, but I run mostly FT8. However I have built some antennas myself, so experimenting is good. Electric fence alu wire is actually pretty nice from a weight perspective, but it's quite stiff. The transit to copper is also suspect to electrochemical issues.
I got a similar idea while calling CQ at a POTA this morning. Mine will involve soldering and 3D printed parts though. Why keep it simple when you can overengineer it?
Hello sir. Totally new Ham general here looking at the G90 for home and portable use. Want to build one of these at the house and a setup for portable. But being new I couldn’t tell. Is the speaker wire coming off the pole hooked to the red connector and the radials to the black? And then just a coax from the connector to the radio? What’s the part that you recommend but not required do? Thanks I’m advance. You saved my mind from going insane researching antennas!! 73 from Maryland. KC3VWP
Hi Wayne, yes the upper driven element to positive red and radials to black ground. Look for a 1:1 balun to use as a choke in the coax line, it keeps common mode energy from coming up the coax line and making the coax also act as part of the radiated antenna.
@@waynerichter3190 I actually use RG8X although RG58 will work as well. I usually by it premade with BNC ends. One thing I highly recommend is purchasing some BNC to SO-239 adapters if you are going to experiment and build different antennas and use different radios.
Haha, I quit listening to the experts a long time ago. That old black pole has been around the world with me. I’ve actually used it on the beach in Hawaii. 73 my friend!
The SOTAbeams guy tests that “carbon fiber pole” theory and debunks it on SB’s RU-vid channel years ago. Why people still think that it’s a problem I don’t know.
I think what happened is that, theoretically a carbon fiber pole “might” interact with the antenna because it is not a good dielectric like fiberglass. If you repeat that it “might” interact often enough people start to think you mean it “will” interact. The theory is not wrong, but in practice it typically doesn’t cause any issues
Hey Walt, this is very cool. Would this work if I hung the vertical element up in a tree and had it run down the trunk? Essentially using the main part of the tree as a "mast"? I've read that you can get RF issues if the wire is touching too much of the tree.
ur right, I wudn't want it too close to, or even near, a tree trunk; so since I really don't have the room for a ground-mounted vertical (as shown in the great video), I instead made a wire vertical & with a light rope, tossed it over a higher tree limb, with the lower, radiating end tied, or weighted down, near ground level at first (to be able to put it together!); then I attached what were to become elevated radials, making sure they'd be high enough off the ground to walk under; then I simply tied them off in different directions to various trees, using a bungee cord at the end of each radial AND over the high tree limb, so as to give the antenna & radials a bit of "wiggle room," to be better able to handle any storms &/or high winds that occasionally pass thru (& it works great)! GL de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😃
I think it would work but you might have some issues, it depends on the size of the tree. As I always say "there's only one way to find out" give it a try!
Here is a link to my poles from Amazon: Goture//Telescopic Tenkara Fishing Rod//Ultralight Travel Fishing Rod,Portable Collapsible Bass Crappie Rod,1 Piece Carbon Fiber Inshore Stream Trout Pole 10 12 15 18 21 24 Free Tip Set(Top 3 Segment) a.co/d/5mQAzKV
interesting. I’d expected you to say “Unun,” not “Balun” … 🤷♀️ I’m not sure it matters for a 1:1 😅 I’m curious how you check / or calculate that it’s 50 ohms … but sounds like it’s working!
It’s great fun, messing with wires.🤪 Trying a 5/8 for 15m, as im a Mountain HAM that low angle of radiation should make great DX. Thanks for your great work 73 de HB3XBL 👍🇨🇭
Hello! I just ordered the 21’ pole did you remove the 2 very thin telescopic pieces from the top? Or just leave them? I’m afraid that I’ll break it! But I saw someone say that it was possible to remove some of the telescopic pieces by opening the end cap up. And do I need an antenna tuner for a 20 meter wire? Thank you!
I actually left the thin pieces and have actually taped wire to them (my Rybakov video). Yes you can take them out though the bottom when the pole is not extended.
yes speaker wire fabulous however be wary the wire breaks quite easily as i have experienced 1st hand i no longer use but admit i was really excited with the cheap price of the wire just do not pull on it too much great video thanks Walt
Hi Walt thanks for the video! I also have a question, if you were to place one of these antennas on a flatish roof and tied to a cement chiminey do you think the SWR would be acceptable and would it extend the DX distance?
If that flattish roof is metal I’m absolutely positive it will work wonders. I have a No Radial Vertical at my home QTH over a flat metal roof and it does really well. As for the chimney to be honest I’m not really sure but it’s worth a try to find out. I would definitely try it.
Very good review, thank you. I am very new to radio and I have a couple questions. Can you use 3 or 4 different lengths of wire on a single pole and tie the ends together and make a single connection to the radio? Also, can you bury the ground plane wires a few inches under ground so the grass can be cut without removing them? Thank you in advance for any information you can pass along.
Hi Greg, yes you can use all three driven elements together but you will need some sort of spreader to space the wires apart. What you’re describing is done with a DX Commander antenna, take a look into that antenna. As for burying the counterpoise wires you really can’t let them go too deep. Some people use something similar to a staple to get the wires tight into the ground and the grass grows over them. The wires need to be just on the surface. Counterpoise wires are the RF ground to the antenna which is different than earth ground that’s driven into the ground. Think of a candle sitting on a mirror and the light reflecting, RF ground is similar, the wire on the ground is interacting with the vertical driven element wire. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thank you for the very quick reply and for the info. I will check out the recommendations you made. I am starting with just being a listener but eventually will seek my HAM license. Again, thanks for the help.
Walt, your explanation of a candle’s light reflecting off a mirror is so apt. Such a simple concept of RF but truly helpful for many I am sure. Still using the Rybakov. Gangbusters!
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Old welding rods that are no long good for use can be bent to make ground staples. I had a bad box of rods, 50 pounds should do it! Heavy wire cores should be long enough for two. Check with a welding shop.
I love your work Walt. You make this look easy. Time for some stupid questions: Are these radials being connected to the banana adaptor's negative (black) binding post? Do you just twist the radial ends together and insert, or are you using another adaptor to connect the multiple radials to the negative binding post?
Thanks Jason! Not a stupid question at all. Yes the radials are just connected to the negative (black) side of the clip. I just strip about an inch (75 mm) of the coating at the end of the wires, twist them together with another short piece of wire and then wrap that piece around the black post. If I was home with proper tools I’d probably do something cleaner and neater but traveling with minimal stuff I just do it that way, wrap it with electrical tape and off I go. Thank you for watching and commenting. 73, Walt K4OGO
If I wanted to, could I find a multiple holder so that I could have all three (or more) bands up and connected to the banana clip? I know that the RF would use the most resonate antenna, but would it have interfenence between the other masts?
