Took down my Gainmaster 1/2 Wave. Worked great but stuck out like a sore thumb in a neighborhood of no antennas. Nope, no HOA here, was done by choice. Anyway, am back to an old favorite. Using a 4’ Firestik this time rather than 102” whip. Single wire radial is the same as before—104”. With the Firestik’s tunable tip was able to get SWR on channel 20 down to 1.03. On 1 and 40 it’s 1.2.
Despite having just a single radial, this thing is pretty much omni-directional. (Probably because of its close proximity to the ground.)
Not going to get into a discussion of whether this is a ground plane with a single radial or a bent dipole. It doesn’t matter. It works great.
Can’t have or don’t want a tall antenna?
Don’t have the money for large one?
Just like fooling around with homemade antennas?
Whatever the reason, this (or something similar) might be the answer.
I know all of this is a boring, old hat for most. But for newbies, might prove helpful.
In the second pic, coax shield goes to wire radial. Center conductor goes to the Firestik which is isolated from mounting bracket using nylon/plastic washers. (Can’t see them for the coax seal.)
Despite having just a single radial, this thing is pretty much omni-directional. (Probably because of its close proximity to the ground.)
Not going to get into a discussion of whether this is a ground plane with a single radial or a bent dipole. It doesn’t matter. It works great.
Can’t have or don’t want a tall antenna?
Don’t have the money for large one?
Just like fooling around with homemade antennas?
Whatever the reason, this (or something similar) might be the answer.
I know all of this is a boring, old hat for most. But for newbies, might prove helpful.
In the second pic, coax shield goes to wire radial. Center conductor goes to the Firestik which is isolated from mounting bracket using nylon/plastic washers. (Can’t see them for the coax seal.)
