"Make a dipole easy"?? You mean easier? That's impossible; the dipole is the most basic, easiest-to-understand-and-build antenna there is. It's humans who worry it to death -- THAT'S what seems to make it hard.
One word: experiment.
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A Dipole for your CB Base Station?
- Thread starter Robb
- Start date
"Make a dipole easy"?? You mean easier? That's impossible; the dipole is the most basic, easiest-to-understand-and-build antenna there is. It's humans who worry it to death -- THAT'S what seems to make it hard.
One word: experiment.
I'd like to know the answer to his question about the coax an pl-259's dipole also..
Ron
I dont think it would work cause you would have the pos. (center) ground (shield) If you could disconect one on the right side the the other on the left side it might work but then you have the shield which would do what it is supposed to do block the signal what I did was take was take some pvc pipe with a tee strip some of the cover like 6 inches then take the center out of the sheild carefully then run your wires thru and solder regular 14 gage or 12 gage wire then fill with silicon to seal out the weather. Any questions just ask
In theory, could I trim the 15M leg of a Alpha-Delta DX-EE dipole antenna for 11M? The 15M leg is approx 22+/- feet, and if my calculations are correct, I would need to trim that leg down to 17+/- feet.
Thank you!
Thank you!
I don't think I'd cut anything off of that dipole. I'd run a tuner on it for 11 meters and see if it would take.In theory, could I trim the 15M leg of a Alpha-Delta DX-EE dipole antenna for 11M? The 15M leg is approx 22+/- feet, and if my calculations are correct, I would need to trim that leg down to 17+/- feet.
Thank you!
I tried that, but tuners (I believe) don't work for RX. I could be very wrong though. Another suggestion was just to fold the ends back instead of cutting.
Antennas will 'reciprocate'. That is, they will RX as well as they TX. Tune it up on 11 meters and TX - should be fine...
I wouldn't cut a thing; it is mfg'd the way it will be most resonant. Cutting it up will just ruin it. Just use your tuner and let it work - as is.
Just two cents...
Making a dipole with a 'T'.
Not without a lot of trouble. It'd be easier just to put an SO-239 on a piece of thick plastic as the center insulator than to do the required cutting with that 'T'. Like was already said, cut the center conductor on one side of that 'T', and the braid on the other. Cutting the braid wouldn't be that big'a deal, but cutting that center conductor on the other side sounds like it ought'a really be 'fun' (without messing up the braid on that side, and then getting rid of that center conductor for an inch or two where you cut it). Is it possible? Sure. Lot's of work though.
- 'Doc
Not without a lot of trouble. It'd be easier just to put an SO-239 on a piece of thick plastic as the center insulator than to do the required cutting with that 'T'. Like was already said, cut the center conductor on one side of that 'T', and the braid on the other. Cutting the braid wouldn't be that big'a deal, but cutting that center conductor on the other side sounds like it ought'a really be 'fun' (without messing up the braid on that side, and then getting rid of that center conductor for an inch or two where you cut it). Is it possible? Sure. Lot's of work though.
- 'Doc
quiksilver,
Tuners DO work on receive as well as transmitting. That's not why you may not hear very well though. That deals with the antenna not being resonant, or all that resonant, where it's being used. On the same band there really shouldn't be any huge difference in what you'd hear. Using that antenna on another band is a different story.
Instead of cutting the end of an antenna off to 'tune' it, folding the end of that antenna back onto it's self is certainly one less destructive way of doing it. It does work with wire, tubing is a different story (still works, but it is destructive to the tubing). Wanna go back later and make it 'look' pretty? No problem. Or, just leave the thing alone, no body's gonna look at it that closely. It's a 'quick-n-dirty' way of tuning antennas.
- 'Doc
(Paint the silly thing pink! Nobody'll ever notice the @#$ bent wire.)
Tuners DO work on receive as well as transmitting. That's not why you may not hear very well though. That deals with the antenna not being resonant, or all that resonant, where it's being used. On the same band there really shouldn't be any huge difference in what you'd hear. Using that antenna on another band is a different story.
Instead of cutting the end of an antenna off to 'tune' it, folding the end of that antenna back onto it's self is certainly one less destructive way of doing it. It does work with wire, tubing is a different story (still works, but it is destructive to the tubing). Wanna go back later and make it 'look' pretty? No problem. Or, just leave the thing alone, no body's gonna look at it that closely. It's a 'quick-n-dirty' way of tuning antennas.
- 'Doc
(Paint the silly thing pink! Nobody'll ever notice the @#$ bent wire.)
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Leave the Alpha-Delta as it is. Build yourself a dedicated dipole for 11 meters.In theory, could I trim the 15M leg of a Alpha-Delta DX-EE dipole antenna for 11M? The 15M leg is approx 22+/- feet, and if my calculations are correct, I would need to trim that leg down to 17+/- feet.
Thank you!
Yup. That is why I started this thread - build your own dipole.
Sure, one can go out and just buy an Antron A99 or a IMAX vertical dipole. But making a horizontal or vertical dipole from scrap wire and parts is all about the leaning, discovering, and DIY.
It CAN be done!
DO it!
DO it !
DO IT NOW!!!
Copy that Beetle. I got a free dipole kit when I purchased my LDG AT-200pro, so I'll make a dedicated 11M dipole.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Dipole tuning question
I've searched, but have not found a definite answer.
Does the wrapped/twisted portion of the wire count as the length? Meaning, when you tune, do you trim, or simply pull more wire through the insulator, and then wrap/twist the extra remaining wire to shorten the footprint of the antenna. Also, I'll probably only be working between channel 11 and 38lsb. Do I want to compromise and tune for somewhere in the middle, like channel 17 to be able to cover 11 thru 38?
Thanks!
Dipole newb
I've searched, but have not found a definite answer.
Does the wrapped/twisted portion of the wire count as the length? Meaning, when you tune, do you trim, or simply pull more wire through the insulator, and then wrap/twist the extra remaining wire to shorten the footprint of the antenna. Also, I'll probably only be working between channel 11 and 38lsb. Do I want to compromise and tune for somewhere in the middle, like channel 17 to be able to cover 11 thru 38?
Thanks!
Dipole newb
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You just pull more wire through that insulator and wrap more around the rest that you don't pull through. The part that gets wrapped around the 'antenna' part doesn't count. The length that counts is the part that comes from the center to where it makes that turn-around. That's the length of that 'leg' of the antenna.
And since you're only making this thing for one band, I wouldn't worry a huge amount about fractions of an inch for length. If you tune for the middle of the band it ought to cover the whole band pretty well. Anything less than about 1.5:1 is fine.
- 'Doc
And since you're only making this thing for one band, I wouldn't worry a huge amount about fractions of an inch for length. If you tune for the middle of the band it ought to cover the whole band pretty well. Anything less than about 1.5:1 is fine.
- 'Doc
One question, for an inverted-V dipole, is a balun required? If I was worried about any possibility of TVI, would I install a balun?
Would the legs need to be 1/2 wave, or would a 1/4 wave be acceptable??? The formula used by a previously posted webpage indicated they used 1/4 wave (factor of 234, not 468).
For 11 meters, which balun would I want? A 1:1 like the B11VA or the B11I?? BALUN UNUN This is assuming an inverted-V...
After reading this thread, I may just go with a dipole, versus a commercially produced antenna.
Would the legs need to be 1/2 wave, or would a 1/4 wave be acceptable??? The formula used by a previously posted webpage indicated they used 1/4 wave (factor of 234, not 468).
For 11 meters, which balun would I want? A 1:1 like the B11VA or the B11I?? BALUN UNUN This is assuming an inverted-V...
After reading this thread, I may just go with a dipole, versus a commercially produced antenna.