I will show you how to make some simple antennas that will get you on the air in a very short amount of time, and for a very small investment.
Generic 2 Meter J-Pole Antenna
Here's an antenna that you can take with you.
This is made from cheap flat 300 ohm TV antenna wire. Don’t use the foam
filled type,just the cheapest plastic kind. Solder the bottom two 300 ohm TV
wire conductors together as shown. Solder/connect a piece of RG-58 coax to the
bottom of the antenna as shown. You can get it at Radio Shack.
Solder a
PL-259 connector on the opposite end of the coax. You can get PL-259's and a BNC
F to PL-259 adapter for your Handie-Talkie at Radio Shack as well.
Optional:
Attach some string to the top. You can throw the string over a limb, pull up the
antenna and you're ready to talk.
This antenna can also be used at a base station.
You can put it inside of
a piece of standard 1 inch pvc pipe to keep it vertical.
Then mount it on a
mast or on top of a building.
Here's another simple to construct antenna.
Generic 2 Meter 1/4 Wave Ground Plane Antenna
This is a simple 1/4 wave ground plane antenna that works beter than a rubber
duck antenna as a base station antenna.
You can use any stiff wire.
I
suggest copper wire.
Use this STANDARD formula to get measurements for the frequency you want to use.
234/freq (Mhz) X 12 = length in inches
The ground radials should be about 5% longer. The SO-239 can be found at Radio Shack.
These are both omni-directional vertical antennas.
A properly tuned/matched antenna is more crucial to transmitter performance than any other factor. The VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) of the antenna is critical for power transfer when transmitting. Using a resonant antenna instead of a non-resonant antenna is the difference between the power being radiated by the antenna and the power being reflected back to the transmitter. The higher the SWR the less transmitter power that gets to the antenna. Besides not getting the signal radiated,reflected power might damage the transmitter.
On VHF or UHF bands the higher the antenna the better and the more unobstructed the better.
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HF "Long" Wire Antenna
An antenna for HF can be made by constructing a "longwire" antenna. Get a piece of small guage wire (the longer the better) and string it across your yard or city lot. You can use shellac insulated transformer wire from Radio Shack. This wire is hard for nosey neighbors to see because it is so thin. If you string it in an inverted L configuration it is capable of receiving signals from all directions. Run the wire from your HF radio out the window or thru a hole in the wall. Be sure the wire doesn't touch any metal such as an aluminum window frame or aluminum siding. This antenna will greatly improve the reception of your receiver over an indoor antenna. The antenna does not need to be tuned if you are only receiving not transmitting on it. If you want to transmit on this antenna make the overall wire about 123 feet long and with a good, properly grounded antenna tuner it will work from 6 thru 160 meter bands.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
End fed wire antennas can
develop very high static voltages on them.
This static voltage can easily be
high enough to knock the front end out of sensitive receivers.
To overcome
this problem, I suggest you connect a resistor from the antenna wire to ground
near the back of the receiver.
Only use a non-inductive resistor, carbon
resistors work fine.
Don't use wire wound or metal film resistors.
The
resistance value is not critical.
I suggest about a 56K ohm 1/2 watt resistor
for receive only or if transmitting with up to 100 watts.
If you will be
transmitting with high power "QRO", I suggest using about a 1 Meg ohm 1/2 watt
resistor.
Try these antennas and have fun with amateur "ham" radio.
Antenna safety can never be stressed enough.
STAY AWAY FROM POWER LINES !
POWER LINES KILL PEOPLE
Dr.Ace - WH2T - We're Hot 2 Trot
