Copper Pipe 1/4 Wave 11m CB Radio Antenna Giant Sequoia Nation  

The length difference is due to the diameter of the copper pipe verses the diameter of the SS whip. I would have soldered all the joints.

Glad your building! We made 11 meter antennas in the 70s but 1/2 inch schedule 40. Then used a reducer on one end inserted 3/8 24 nut used on trucker antenna mounts soldering it in reducer. 3/8 24 stud made it work with 3/8 24 antenna mounts. Same reducer on opposite end and used appropriate copper tubing to adjust for SWR. Boy did those things talk!!

Fantastic job

I’ll finish arching throughout the day as time allows. Love it man ! I’ve always thought about this too ! You beat me to it

Great build! Love your rig mate👍👍

NanoVNA, you can turn the scale on, it's in the menu, and shows a grid which means you don't need to scroll through to see all positions.

I love the technique. It can be easily used to build a portable yagi antenna too. Thanks for sharing!

Great editing ❤

Nice job on the antenna! One suggestion i would say, is for the center coupling, change to a threaded couplers male and female, and solder each on to each section of pipe. This way you can thread/unthread them and solder each for a better electrical connection. Good luck, and again, nice work! 0576, Dustmaker, Southern Michigan.

This reminds me of the 10 meter band dipole that I made out of 1/2" copper pipe when I first got my ham license. I couldn't get the SWR below 3:1 and I had 16 feet of copper u-bolted to a piece of 1'x4' plywood up in the air over my garage. My wife made me take it down before I could tune it because she thought it was ugly. Nice work making something of your own design and succeeding where I failed!

Nice build, congrats, it works great. But to judge from the readings of the Nano VNA, your antenna is actually a little bit too short, because the best resonant points are in the 10m Ham- band.

Nice job

Nice project, pedantically the SWR dip is not the resonant point, if you look at the reactance plot with the VNA you will see it. A vertical fed against a groundplane should have an impedance of about 35 ohms at resonance (an SWR of about 1.5). In your case with the feedpoint being on one of the roof bars the reactance there will usually require a shorter whip. If you were to make the same whip but put it on a hole mount directly through the vehicle roof the whip would likely be a bit longer for minimum SWR. The fatter conductor should give you slightly better bandwidth than a typical stainless steel whip. Looks like the input circuitry of the amp needs attention, should be a better match than that. Enjoy your hobby.

That is a great idea 💡, thanks for that,I wonder what 15mm copper pipe would be better for receiving, anyway it works and I would loved to see you on top of a hill to really see how far you get out, thanks again Alan from ENGLAND. CT 48/70. 73S AND TAKE CARE 💯😱💡👍👍

Sweeeet !

Explained well

Interesting I got a long piece of copper pipe in the garage. I have actually wondered if I could make a antenna out of it. Now I know. 73's from the Guitarman Northeast Georgia!

The 1.8 swr is between the radio and amp. I would recommend a half wave jumper for the velocity of the coax.

nice job

such a smart dude.

Like it already

Great job, that is some interesting stuff. Do you think you could get better results if you solder or silver solder all the connecting joints?

Good video. Antenna looks and works great. If you couldn't or did not want to solder the connections some good conductive anti seize would help the joints over time resist corrosion and get long lasting conductivity. Just another idea I just watched a HAM add a small telescopic antenna to the top of a HAM stick to make it easier to tune this might be a good idea for this one in stead of the bolt on top. I need a CB antenna for home I think I will make one like this. Thanks Jim KI7SSO

The Macgyver antenna well done do the ferrite beads make a difference positioned at the base of the antenna ?

Leave that antenna outside in an easily accessible area and you will have copper scrappers stealing it. Paint it with epoxy paint black or a sky blue grey to make it less of a target for thieves.

Hay whats up . I used to live up there in dallas. Any way since you are already half way why not make that a half wave or even really trick it out go for the 5/8 wave . Since it has to be for parked only situations. Copper bottom and the 102 top . You already have what you need. Heck . I have the stuff too i may try it myself. My 955 into my 2x8 at the park 1/2 wave would be a blast.

199 florida georgia line.

Actual 1/4 wave length in feet is 8.6 feet.

Nice set up but you should never use the built in swr for testing

go and chase those lightning bolts😂 after that he will have a bumper car

U could have upgraded your whip for far less than using pipe.. stainless steel locator wire that goes on top of cable wire. 103.5 inches ..strip ends and wrap 102 inch whip at base with a right hand twist.

Might wasnt to solder on the bottom cap and a set of male and female threaded fittings in place of the coupling because copper will corrode and cause poor connections

So why is your antenna light blinking?

Make it cheaper. Use schedule 40 PVC a little longer than needed the use speaker wire for your radiating element and ground plane..

The antenna will become more efficient if you add a cross at the tip of the antenna, with each arm having a width of about 12 inches. This modification will also increase the bandwidth. The reason is that the current max of the antenna is drawn higher, and the higher the current max, the more energy is radiated due to ground losses. These losses are particularly high when an antenna is set up at a height less than half a wavelength. Naturally, the length of the radiator must be shortened.

now build a copper 5/8 wave ground plaine base antenna lol

I would have used conduit instead of copper. There will be no noticeable difference in signal strength, but a big difference in your wallet.

Because Nano VNA you can throw away, I threw mine against the wall, just measured rubbish, got a Rig Expert from a colleague, built the same thing again and lo and behold, I had to shorten it by 2cm and that was it and yes, not everything from China is good even if it looks good!