
Me inspecting 6m filters from GB3EF ! ( Big Hammer & Stilsons ) picture only a Joke.
As some of you have gathered i love building antenna's.
The antenna's shown below have been built be me at some time or other.
Like all antenna's they work better if they are mounted high up and in the clear.
They will work in confined spaces or twisted and bent to fit. Sometimes antenna's have to be adjusted to work in
different locations.
What antenna works in one place does not mean it will work well in another.
So don't moan at me because the antenna you have just built does not perform as it should.
VK2ZOI gave a talk I gave at a Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club (HADARC) meeting in early 1993, He (lightheartedly) showed that by placing plastic flowers over this antenna, you can effectively disguise it. This could be particularly helpful if you lived in a mobile home and did not want your neighbours to realise you had a transmitting antenna. Other suggestions were made at the time included making a fake patio umbrella but the name ?Flower Pot? has stuck for the last 14 or so years.
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I have made quite a few of these antennas and they work very well.
The flowerpot works well as a scanner antenna for VHF and UHF listening.
Like most antennas mount the flowerpot high and clear they work well.
My father Les G6SXB uses one when he goes caravaning so here it is the :
2m and 70cm FlowerPot Antenna
Note size of tube and turns on choke altered to uk tube size
Someone asked me how much power the Flowerpot will take.
My father has run one using 100w on 2m with no problems.
My version of the flowerpot sorry for the bad picture the antenna looks bent !
Me doing a talk about the flowerpot antennas and halfwave endfeds at Huntingdon Radio Club.
My Flowerpot antenna in action in North Wales. I use a 10m telescopic fishing pole to support the antenna.
Here's an idea if you cannot get any antennas outside or live in sheltered accommodation.
On the VK2ZOI site ( link below) there is more information on a high gain version of the flowerpot antenna.
The Choke Balun needs to be wound on a former of 6inches or 150mm aprox
Alternatively you can wind the coax onto itself 6inches diameter.
Breaking News
I have just made a coax endfed for 10m band. I made the antenna resonant at 29mhz and it works upto 29.600 mhz for the 10fm repeaters and also works ok at 28.500mhz SSB end.
I have never been a big HF operator but i do enjoy the odd QSO on 160m,80m,40m,10m.
My first antenna for HF was a nest of dipoles for 40,20,15,10m.
My garden is not very big so a 160m,80m dipole was out.
I came across a design in PW written by GM0ONX.
I talked to my dad Les about the design. ( By the way dads callsign is G6SXB )
Out came the tape measure and we worked out i could shoehorn in a 160m-10m inverted L antenna.
Here at G6OHM the vertical section is 16ft high and the vertical leg runs 45 deg sideways to get the antenna into the garden.The rest of the length is horizontal.
My Inverted L also goes over the roof as in the picture .
Ensure when the trap is completed it is watertight. Do not use silicone mastic that has a vinegar smell to it as it will corrode brade and solder joints.
The one of the simplest antennas to make for HF is the dipole antenna.
Take a look at the first drawing.
To work out the length of a dipole use the calculation 468 divided by the frequency.
This will give you the total length of your dipole.
It is best to cut the antenna for the center of the band in question.
Before i put up the Inverted L antenna i used a nest of dipoles .
You can add different lengths of wire to make a nest of dipoles to be able to transmit on different bands.
The A element is for 40 meters (and 15 as the third harmonic), while the B element is cut for and works fine on 20 meters. The overall height is about 24 feet. The spacing between elements is 4 inches. Element lengths were calculated using the formula 468/F(Mhz) and cut several inches long for any needed adjustment after the antenna was erected.
Further dipoles can be added underneath B to work on 10m and 6m.Just add extra insulated spacers.
For insulators go to your local pound shop and buy nylon chopping board.
Or nick one out of the kitchen !
The insulators can be around 4" x 1 " wide or if you are metric 100mm x 25mm.
Drill a hole each end , one end to tie rope through, the other end your antenna.
Next it is a good idea to use a 1:1 balun at the feed point.
The reason for the balun is to stop feeder radiation running down the outside of the coax causing interference to TV or radio.
A simple balun can be made.( See the next section )
With adjustment the Double Quad will work well at 446mhz.
If anyone has built a Double Quad antenna send me a picture !
I have been sent a picture by my friend Roy M6CKI who has built one of my double Quads and uses it in his upstairs flat.
Roy informs me using a Baofeng UV-5R and 5w he can open repeaters 40 plus miles away.
I have been sent a picture of a Double Quad made by Fred M6FCC . Nice one Fred
I have been sent a picture of a double quad design made for FRS-GMRS-MURS in Costa Rica.
Thank you Eduardo Hernandez in Puriscal Costa Rica. Nice one.
Making Antenna Traps
Coax Traps
Traps are wound on 40mm white waste pipe
Consider these figures above as approximate only. Some playing with the turns of the coax may be needed.
TO check the trap for resonance either use a GDO ( Grid Dip Oscillator ) ) or an MFJ Analyzer.
If you are unsure how to do this take a look at the link below.
How to Check Traps with an MFJ
While surfing the net for info on Satellite antenna's came across these design.
The antenna's were designed by EA4CYQ and all the credit goes to him for the designs.
So i made a CJU to see how well it worked. I have to say i was impressed.
I found the 70cm CJU or IO works well on 446mhz as well.
So would be useful for hilltop working or even a simple beam for a roof space.
If you only want a 2m IO antenna just use the dimensions for VHF .
NOTE: ON DIPOLE CONNECTIONS CLEAN PAINT OFF WHERE BOLTS GO THROUGH TAPE.
This is not another antenna project.
For the last few years i have been using a Antron A99.
I have been very surprised how good the antenna works between 14mhz to 29.7 mhz.
The Antron is mounted 8 ft off the ground which is about a quarter wave length at 28.500mhz.
I set the ringlets to about three quarters of the way up the threaded section.
The next section is important if you want to cover various bands.
You need to make a choke balun out of your coax that's connected to your Antron A99.
The balun needs to be 8 inches diameter and 12 turns. Cable tie or tape the balun into a tidy loop.
Keep the length from the wound choke balun to the PL259 as short as possible.
With 12 turns i have found the Antron to be a good match between 29.7mhz to 18.150mhz.
On 14mhz i have to use my Kenwood AT-230 ATU to match. With out the ATU i have found VSWR to be 2.0
So before you new licensee's go taking down your Antron A99 CB antenna. Try out winding a balun and give it a
try on the higher amateur bands . You may be surprised at the results.
I have played around with Magnetic Loop Antenna's on and off for a few years.
The design came from G3YCC so credit goes to him.
The loop is useable between 7mhz to 21mhz.
The diameter of the loop is 1m.
I made mine from some old LDF-250 Heliax, but can be made from RG-213 Coax or 10mm Microbore tube.
The inner of the SO239 forms a gamma match to the tube, about 9 inches from the earthy connection.I used a crocodile clip on the end This is adjusted for minimum SWR. As show, the loop can be mounted on a wooden support and is fed with 50 ohm coax.
You will need a capacitor of around 200 pf. One of the old type used in wartime radio's.
Please do not think to use one of the plastic type polycon types.
The spacing of the vanes is important. The wider the spacing the more power you can run through the magnetic
Loop Antenna.
DANGER ! It should be noted that there are high voltages present across the gap of the loop and Capacitor. Even at QRP levels can be dangerous. Certainly with higher powers, this situation can be LETHAL. I would not recommend the use of the loop near where you operate. QRP levels can produce dangerous amounts of RF . Suffice it to say that I know of one local who did use a mag loop indoors and wondered why the paint next to the loop was bubbling (!) Also if sitting close can make your skin tingle like sun burn.
Please make sure no-one can touch the magnetic loop while you are transmitting. RF burns take a long time to heal. I know from experience ! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Having said all that if used correctly magnetic loops are a useful antenna if you live in a flat and can't get an HF antenna outside. My mate Roy M6CKI uses one in his flat and it works great for him.
Please note magnetic loops have to be returned every time you move frequency as the loop has what is called a High Q
.
I have been busy building a magnetic loop for portable work. Covers 7mhz,10mhz,14mhz
See pictures.
Made one of these many years ago when i lived in an upstairs flat.
Use the large terminal strips .
2m antenna dimensions:
Rectangle 360 mm wide x 690 mm high.
The ratios are approximately 1/6th and 1/3rd of the full wave loop length.
My finished antenna wire length is 2.130 metres, which includes an extra 15 mm on each side for feed point strain relief. The finished length will depend on the wire diameter used. Start with a longer length and trim for a low VSWR.
Full wave loop formula: 306.3/frequency (metres) or 1005/frequency (feet)
Materials