Vertical antenna step by step - You'll be surprised how easy it is

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We go 'Back to Basics' with the vertical antenna. I take you through the parts and setup of the Wolf River Coil Vertical Antenna System and show it in use at Cross Plains State Park, WI (POTA K-1448).
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited video of my Parks on the Air activations. Visit my page on Patreon for details: / pota-unedited-k-82810415
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is 'good in the book.'
** Learn More About **
Loading Coil Bypass for the Wolf River Coil: • This little wire super...
Better Ground Radials for Vertical Antennas: • Better Ground Radials ...
Window Screen Antenna Ground Plane: Video: • Window screen antenna ...
36x84 inch Bright Aluminum Window Screen: amzn.to/3L8UhWl
Feather Flag Base: amzn.to/3MdepHE
Wolf River Coils: www.wolfrivercoils.com/
MFJ-1979 whip: amzn.to/3B9cehF
Chameleon SS-17 Whip: chameleonantenna.com/shop-her...
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SO-239 stud mount for jaw clamp: amzn.to/3VT1KwG
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Timestamp
00:00 Introduction
00:21 Vertical Antennas
00:49 Wolf River Coils
01:54 Whips
03:52 Jaw Clamp Mount
04:35 Feather Flag Base and stake mount
05:30 Coil Bypass
06:53 Coax and Ground Radial network
08:39 Setting up the vertical antenna at Cross Plains State Park
09:15 15 Meter contacts
11:00 20 Meter contacts
14:28 Conclusion
My Parks on the Air setup:
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Battery: amzn.to/3xBGgbv
Tuner: amzn.to/2ZCNM9l
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Contact Information:
Questions, comments, or business inquiries may be directed to kb9vbr@jpole-antenna.com. If you wish for your product to be featured on my channel, please contact me.
#Hamradio #AmateurRadio #POTA #ParksOnTheAir #PortableHamRadio #wolfrivercoil #verticalantenna #sportyforty #silverbullet1000 #hamharder

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Опубликовано:

7 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 82

@denf0j881 Год назад

Thanks for all the great tips, Michael!

@k4adz 10 месяцев назад

The jumper is an awesome idea! Thank you. I'm doing this for sure.

@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE Год назад

Nicely done Michael and I'm glad you had a good day. 😃

@larryjohnson1966 Год назад

I love the screen idea. I am going to have to get me some. Thanks for staying with it in the wind Michael. Good video.

@wayneskiba1237 Год назад

Hi Mike, thanks for your review of all your vertical antennas for field work , I enjoyed quite alot, and very informative and for me very educational, thank you for sharing!

@jolebole-yt 11 месяцев назад

I just got my General Class and after making a simple dipole and a EFHW antenna, the vertical whips look like a great option for quick deployment SOTA and POTAs without looking for trees and deploying heavy masts. Thanks for all the tips and knowledge you share.

@billhewitt8965 Год назад

Michael, I just activated K-1351 (Evansburg SP) yesterday using the wrc and the screen. It was incredible on the swr. Thanks so much

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

That's awesome, thanks for the update. I'm hearing excellent reports from others, too. So the screen does work great in the field.

@K4dsx Год назад

Bill, I didn’t use the cable and the SWR was great!

@aaronhaselton2491 Год назад

Hello Michael. Thank you for all your great content. I'm just getting started with HF and I am learning so much from your channel. I hope to work your station one day!

@hamradiobasics Год назад

Well done Michael. That screen is amazing. !

@yungsmile7546 Год назад

Thanks for this. I was moved to buy an aluminum screen to use as the ground plane with my 5.6 meter telescopic antenna. It gives excellent results across the bands as you deonstrated.👍👍

@K4dsx Год назад

Great video Michael! I'm using the window screen without the cable and the SWR is great! Thanks!

@DARTHDANSAN Год назад

Thanks for all great info

@AlejandroGonzalez-AGS Год назад

Another great video Michael…continue learning from you! Those Wolfriver coils are great. Also using the CHA Hybrid Mini on a more permanent setup on the back deck (HOA)…. Be safe and thanks again. 73, K9YTT

@axandio Год назад

I never owned an analyzer and have never had problems adjusting the whip. I realize fully extended is 20 meters, half extended is 10 meters, 15 is half way between them, 12 halfway between 15 and 10, 17 halfway between 15 and 20... my guesses at these usually put me very close and only one or two adjustments and walks to the swr meter and I'm up and running on a band. The VNA's do seem nice and a fun toy and I can certainly see it coming in handy if I start building antennas again.

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Some people count sections and others will make marks with indelible pen. I've done this enough that I can usually 'eyeball' the length of the whip and get it to about 1.7:1. I'll then fine tune with the meter.

@Mandarin110631 5 дней назад

thank you!

@KC1PSK Год назад

Thank you for the Park to Park today! Great to work you, KC1PSK K-1729. 73!

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Thanks for the park. You helped me get my kilo at K-1473

@skepticalmechanic Год назад

I did the screen thing… works great!

@K4dsx Год назад

Did you use a cable? I tested mine and the SWR was fine without it.

@skepticalmechanic Год назад

@Rodney Trent Briles no… I did not… I figured 4 legs sitting on the screen is enough when your only running 50 watts… I had no problem.. SWR was great and it was on less thing to hookup!

@MrStanwyck Год назад

Great video Michael. I just built my own version of the sporty 40 that works with the Chameleon 17 foot whip antenna am I’m going to try your screen door ground plane. I’ll also try your 8x 16 foot radials too. 73, KC2KNA.

@RannyCullom 4 месяца назад

Thanks!

@KB9VBRAntennas 4 месяца назад

Thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated.

@n4leqonthego852 Год назад

I purchased the feather flag base from Amazon upon you recommendation and added the bypass to my Sporty Forty, additionally, I add a piece of 2" heat shrink about 3" long to the mounting shaft to stop it from rotating. Thanks for the info.

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Great tip!

@billssimplepinedesign8878 Год назад

Just throwing this out there. I bought the feather flag base and have been using for a little while. Worked great at field day. Today while setting it up I stared at the rubber tips I was trying to keep on the legs and decided they could be interrupting my ground. Off they came. You never know!

@RicSpivey Год назад

I'm looking really hard at picking up the longer whip and their sporty 40!

@1crazynordlander Год назад

Can you use a short nine inch 3/8"-24TPI extension at the bottom of the Chameleon whip instead of one at the top to get to 213 inches? I have the MFJ 1979 antenna but find it to be low quality.

@KE8MWQ 3 месяца назад

What method did you use to stop the stand from rotating? If you have a video on that I missed it. I simply replaced the bearing washers with one's that covered the bearings completely and tightened it down worked great. Thanks for all the great videos KE8MWQ 73

@KU9L 10 месяцев назад

I previously got about 150 KHz 2:1 VSWR BW on 20m with 1-2 16' radials in my POTA activations from my MFJ-1979. Today, I laid down two 46"x84" aluminum screens and clipped them together with alligator clamps to my 12" ground spite with an integrated BNC connector (eBay source). That gave me >350 KHz BW on 20m and the lowest VSWR went from 1.5:1 to 1.3:1. My Rig Expert read ~38 ohms impedance. It felt like my 5 watts CW QRP had a 10dB amplifier. This setup took 2 minutes to deploy or pack up. I have another 24" x 84" aluminum screen I haven't used or unwrapped yet. I will add it next time to the whole thing to see if I have reached diminishing returns. The screen simply lays on the ground, flattened by a couple of small rocks or sticks or whatever I have, including several fiberglass electric fence stakes that I use to elevate counterpoises on my other antennas, from time to time. I want to find some small cardboard rolls to wind up the screens a little more compact. Cheers, Davey - KU9L

@KB9VBRAntennas 10 месяцев назад

Those are amazing results. It's great to hear the screen is working well for you.

@user-qb3pg5ph4c 4 месяца назад

Hi Mike I really enjoy your You Tube channel, especially with the Wolf River coil setup with the window screen for a ground plane. I’m looking into buying a wolf river coil antenna setup with the screen door setup to save on setting up ground radials. 73s Rob, wa2fmh.

@KB9VBRAntennas 4 месяца назад

That's great. I hope to hear you on the air soon

@user-qb3pg5ph4c 4 месяца назад

@@KB9VBRAntennas Hi Mike, can I tune the Wolf River coil antenna with an antenna tuner? As I’m using an MFJ 949 antenna tuner at the present. 73s Rob,wa2fmh.

@KN4VA Год назад

Thanks Michael. Love your J-Poles, and you always make Amateur Radio look way to easy. Need to go buy my window screen. BTW, have you checked what adding a few radials to the screen setup does? Does it make a little difference or no difference? Just curious. 73 KN4VA

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

You can use a both radials and a screen and there is some evidence that it may be super effective. I haven't had a chance to do that test yet, though.

@walteredwards544 Год назад

I like your set-up. My question is if your screen radial system would work just as well if you cut the screen down so that's is a square instead of a rectangular shape? It would also roll up a bit smaller too

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

I don't know what the minimum size of the screen needs to be. I'm using a 36x86 inch piece which is 21 square feet. Dave's screen he used in testing was 24x80 which is 13 square feet. So you could certainly square it off without too much change in performance.

@joe-kb9rcr 8 месяцев назад

Michael, I really enjoy your videos. They are very informative, especially with us older hams who already know everything (hi hi). I purchased the stand through your Amazon link. It was just delivered today by UPS. I hadn't had it for 10 minutes and already pinched my hand with one of the legs. (Yes, it hurt like $%^#@.) First, I'll remove the rubber feet on the tips of the legs. But did you do anything to make the legs less floppy? Also, I see the post is on bearings, which turns easy. Should that be a concern with the jaw clamp and vertical when it's mounted to the stand? I'll be stopping at Menard's later this week, to pick up a roll of aluminum screen. I also saw your video using the Faraday cloth. Great idea! I used to use Faraday cloth doing RF testing about 25 years ago. I would have thought of this, except the clothes were much smaller, around 12" x 24". It's good to know the cloth comes in larger sizes. I live near K-1001 and plan on making my first POTA activation there. Last week, I ordered the WRC Sporty Forty with the 213" whip and I'm waiting for that to arrive. 73, Joe KB9RCR

@KB9VBRAntennas 8 месяцев назад

I didn't do any modifications to my base, as I also still use it for its original purpose as a flag stand. The legs are floppy, but if you grab two of them by their ends, it is easy to lay down. I then pick it up by the top so I don't pinch my fingers. The center post does spin. If you want it to stop, another user recommended putting a bit of heat shrink tubing down the center post to stop that. Mine sort of moves in the wind, which won't cause any issues, but does make it look like a wind vane on a breezy day. I hope to get you in the log soon.

@hawkeyeCH53E 22 дня назад

Sir which alligator clip did you use for the antenna extension? I need to order one on Amazon. Thanks 😊

@travisdrake2940 Год назад

KB9VBR, I really want a semi permanent vertical for my house I was wondering if you could make video on making a diy crappie pole vertical with this screen radial. I think if anyone could show the steps it's you. I saw another video of someone designing one with speaker wire and normal radials but he never did a step by step.

@stuartnaulty6821 Год назад

A quarter wave vertical is actually a half wave dipole. The radials you lay out complete the half wave. We know the tips of a dipole can be dangerous if touched when one is transmitting. The tips can have thousands of volts, but the current is near zero. My question: Is the exposed window screen on the ground a safety issue? Do the edges of the screen have the same voltage as the tips of a dipole? Or is there some electrical property that distributes the voltage across the entire screen, lessening the voltage at any one point on the screen. I don't know.

@ronrico2620 9 месяцев назад

If a mag mount will ground to a vehicle could I just take a radial to my chassis?

@sar11809redwork 9 месяцев назад

Thanks Mike, next time i'm in Slinger WI, I will give you a shout, I am going to try the window screen instead of the wire radials.

@juanfgonzalez2039 Год назад

You make it look so easy i have Wolf river antenna i have my Technicians license i can get it to work swr is really high i don't if its the coaxial cable to long or Is counterpoise or both with a icom 705 and the 817

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

I've had lots of practice setting up and tearing down, so I'm very efficient in my movements. What is the SWR you receive? If it is in the neighborhood of 2:1 to 3:1 it is most likely your counterpoise. If it is 5:1 or higher, you may have an issue with your coax.

@juanfgonzalez2039 Год назад

@KB9VBR Antennas how do I know the right size of counterpoise Kk6ikw thanks

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

If a counterpoise is elevated, or above ground, it will need to be 1/4 wave of your operating frequency in order for it to work. Counterpoise or radials laid on the ground become non-resonant and can be any length. But I've found that tinkering with the length of the radials can affect the SWR. For the 10 meter band, i'd stick with several 8 or 16 foot radials. The more surface area you can cover, the easier it will be to get a good match. That's why the window screen works so well, it creates a large surface area of contact. But if you are using wire radials, I'd try at least four, and maybe 8 or 12. Any point after that you receive a diminishing return for the amount of effort it takes to place all the radials. This article has an excellent explanation of the effects of radials on a vertical antenna system: rudys.typepad.com/files/qst-march-2010-ground-systems.pdf

@KC1PSK Год назад

Hello, When I deploy the WRC does it matter if the radials are on dirt or payvment? What is better?

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Ground conductivity can affect how well a ground network works. Here in the upper Midwest, we have relatively poor conductivity due to the amount of bedrock. With that said, I haven't noticed a difference in placing the radials on soil or pavement. Both seem to work the same. Maybe in areas with better ground you may notice a difference.

@axandio Год назад

What is that tripod? Is that the "small" WRC tripod? I have the bigger one and it doesn't quite straddle the standard window screen... one leg reaches out too far to sit on my screen. It hasn't been a problem. I don't "link" it to the ground except for the aluminum legs sitting on top but I also use radials, why not. 73 de KX5JT

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

I discuss the base at 4:38 and there is a link to it in the video description. It's a base from an advertising feather flag.

@solarnewbee7868 Год назад

can u use 2 sporty forty coils to engage 80 meters by flipping 1 off

@davewhite7679 Год назад

In theory, yes. But there are a couple of potential problems. #1. The combined coils will cause the antenna bandwidth on 80 meters to be razor thin. Probably less than 50 khz. #2. There is no tap adjustment on the Sporty 40 coils,so if the resonant point of the antenna doesn't magically fall on just the right spot (hopefully within the 80-meter band), your only tuning option is adjusting the telescopic antenna height. Give it a try, and let us know what you find out. KZ9V

@TheOpticalFreak 7 месяцев назад

Question, does it matter if it's a rectangular square or even a round aluminum screen ground plain!? Would you see a difference!?

@KB9VBRAntennas 7 месяцев назад

I don't believe the shape makes as much of a difference than the surface area covered. From what I've seen you need some pieces of screen almost a 1/4 wave in length to influence directivity.

@TheOpticalFreak 7 месяцев назад

@@KB9VBRAntennas ah ok thank you! 👍😉

@PatAutrey Год назад

Do you have a link or a recommendation where you can get one of those jaw clamps

@HabemusQuattro Год назад

Search QRCS3

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

I have links for the clamp in the video description.

@wolfwizard406 Год назад

I have never seen ou use any of the Alha Antenna products,.. Can you tell us why..?

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Great question. Many of the antennas I build, some antennas I purchase, some are provided by the manufacturer as a review sample. I do not solicit products for review. If a manufacturer wants to sent me something to look at, and it meets my standards for quality and acceptability for the channel, then I will review it. Alpha Antenna products haven't shown up on the channel because I haven't purchased any of their stuff and they haven't offered to send me anything. That doesn't mean that their products are bad; I just don't have the budget to buy everything. Unlike other channels, I'm not a 'gear hound' and I'm not going to chase after every little thing I can. Here's a video I did a couple years ago that explains my review policy: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-z-OfcUi5n6I.html

@wildbill1 Год назад

What kind of SWR are you getting on 40m with the aluminum screen?

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

I looked back at some of the video I recorded and my log (I keep notes on my field activations) and found, depending on the location, that 40 meter SWR can be a bit variable. Sometimes it will be as low at 1.0:1 and other times it may be higher, like up to 1.7:1. I'm comfortable with not having a perfect match as I've found that even though SWR may be higher, resonant impedance (X) is usually very low. I think it may have something to do with soil conditions and makeup of the ground. With the lower bands, adding more screen tends to help, and I think adding a 2nd screen for 40 meters may make a difference. But that would require me to carry more screen with me, so I'm happy to deal with the SWR I get for the sake of convenience.

@wildbill1 Год назад

@@KB9VBRAntennas after watching your videos i went and purchased a "48x25ft roll of aluminum screen for field day for my WRC. My SWR was flat across the band on 20m. 40m took a bit of adjusting but i managed to get about 1.5 across the band. i might purchase another length or cut this one in half and lay it out in a x pattern with the vertical in the center. Anyways thanks for the inspiration! 73 De K8ob

@chrisazure1624 Год назад

Could you allow chicken wire to bury in the grass for a ground plane?

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Chicken wire, hardware cloth, other types of screen material all will work. The downside of burying chicken wire is that it isn't corrosion protected and will rust and degrade underground.

@45auto Год назад

I hope you picked up an embarrassingly big supply of Babcock Hall ice cream while you were in Madison. U-rah-rah

@KB9VBRAntennas Год назад

Fun fact: Since when they built the new Babcock Hall, they increased the amount of ice cream production. More and more specialty shops are carrying Babcock Hall ice cream so you don't have to travel to campus any longer to get it.

@chrisazure1624 Год назад

That's a mueller clip, not an alligator clip. Muellers are better for most applications.

@joe-kb9rcr Год назад

Mueller is a brand name. That size clip is also referred to as a crocodile clip.

@chrisazure1624 Год назад

@Joe B It is more specific to call it a mueller clip like we use the word kleenex. If we say tissue, it depends on context - facial, toilet, flesh?

@joe-kb9rcr Год назад

@@chrisazure1624 Don't get your shorts on a knot over it. I'm just pointing out that it's called by more than one name. Call it by whatever floats your boat.

@brandonzawaski 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for inventing the magic carpet. I tried this for 80m and it works! Emailed you a picture. Very similar to yours... 73's Brandon KG7QID

@jayferguson7214 Год назад

I am going to try chicken wire because that's what we have on the farm. JAY KC9GSK

@lawrencethompson465 Год назад

I’d be curious how well it works, or does not. I have some hardware cloth I will try.

@davewhite7679 Год назад

Both chicken wire and hardware cloth fence material will work fine. They're just pretty difficult to manage in a portable installation. KZ9V

@lawrencethompson465 Год назад

@@davewhite7679 Yes, it would be a bit onerous to use either for portable ops. I will use the hardware cloth at home QTH just to see how well it works. Thanks for your reply.