I appreciate all the great input with trying to help me solve my antenna issues. Since the management here seems to be part of the SS, I am going to try my last resort--bought a dipole yesterday, which I hope to have this weekend. I have a tree outside which I believe may accomodate. My question is this: I am interested in talking to the locals here. Maybe 8-10 miles out. I'm not a DX'er...just want to be able to talk to my friends locally. The tree will allow me a mounting location which is way out in the clear of the buildings and maybe 10' high. What would you recommend the mounting position be, horizontal, vertical, 'L' formation, inverted V, etc...to be able to communicate effectively with the locals. Also before I mount the antenna, can I tune the ends for optimum swr BEFORE i put it in the tree or do I need to mount it and then tune it, Obviously i'd rather tune it on the ground before mounting it so I dont have to do a marathon with the ladder. All help is appreciated. Thanks
-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Dipole for Base Antenna
- Thread starter iceman78
- Start date
What shape to string it up in? Well, use one that 'fits', sort of. A tree 10 feet tall isn't going to provide much in the way of usability, since that dipole is going to be something like 18 feet long. Hanging it vertically would probably be your best bet, but doesn't sound too practical. So, however it'll 'fit'.
Tuning. No, you can't really tune a dipole before you put it up. Any/every thing around that antenna is going to affect it's 'tune', so when you change it's location, things won't be the same. Put it up, check it, take it down, adjust it, put it back up, check it again. Continue till you don't have to any more, or you get sick and tire of the whole thing. That's the same for any antenna. You bring it to you, or you go to it for that adjusting. Unless you're unbelievably lucky! (In which case you need to buy me a lottery ticket.)
- 'Doc
Tuning. No, you can't really tune a dipole before you put it up. Any/every thing around that antenna is going to affect it's 'tune', so when you change it's location, things won't be the same. Put it up, check it, take it down, adjust it, put it back up, check it again. Continue till you don't have to any more, or you get sick and tire of the whole thing. That's the same for any antenna. You bring it to you, or you go to it for that adjusting. Unless you're unbelievably lucky! (In which case you need to buy me a lottery ticket.)
- 'Doc
do a search for NVIS antennas. they are great for local (out to abt 600 miles) and can be mounted really low
10 feet agl will work with a counterpoise below it (perhaps buried a few inches).
call 'em cloud warmers or worm heaters if ya want, but they do work well for local ops.
10 feet agl will work with a counterpoise below it (perhaps buried a few inches).call 'em cloud warmers or worm heaters if ya want, but they do work well for local ops.
I don't think I've ever seen any 'ham' antenna that couldn't be made to work on 'CB'. I also don't think I've ever seen a 'CB' antenna that couldn't be made to work on a 'ham' band.
Why don't you see a 'NVIS' antenna used on 'CB'? Primarily cuz CB'ers are not looking for so called short range antennas.
Why do you see them used on the ham bands? (And this is just my opinion.) Because some hams are justifying not having, or not being able to have, a long range, or optimized antenna.
That 'NVIS' antenna isn't always a short range antenna, it just -can- be. What's the difference? Height above ground mainly, and frequency of use. Odd, I used one'a them 'NVIS' antennas for lots of years and didn't have all that much trouble talking to people more than 500-600 miles away (and lots further). 'Course, that was before anyone ever heard of 'NVIS', so it wasn't impossible. Probably is impossible now, since 'NVIS' came about, you think?
Then again, by the military's definitions, you can't have a 'NVIS' antenna above 8 Mhz or so, so one for the 10 or 11 meter bands can't really be a 'NVIS' antenna? Guess that means you can't just talk locally on one? You gotta talk to them DX people too?
How about an Entirely No Low Angle radiator, would that make you happy? Lets see, that'd be an 'ENOLA' 'Gay' / "Inola Gay" antenna?
- 'Doc
ALL puns definitely intended!
Why don't you see a 'NVIS' antenna used on 'CB'? Primarily cuz CB'ers are not looking for so called short range antennas.
Why do you see them used on the ham bands? (And this is just my opinion.) Because some hams are justifying not having, or not being able to have, a long range, or optimized antenna.
That 'NVIS' antenna isn't always a short range antenna, it just -can- be. What's the difference? Height above ground mainly, and frequency of use. Odd, I used one'a them 'NVIS' antennas for lots of years and didn't have all that much trouble talking to people more than 500-600 miles away (and lots further). 'Course, that was before anyone ever heard of 'NVIS', so it wasn't impossible. Probably is impossible now, since 'NVIS' came about, you think
?Then again, by the military's definitions, you can't have a 'NVIS' antenna above 8 Mhz or so, so one for the 10 or 11 meter bands can't really be a 'NVIS' antenna? Guess that means you can't just talk locally on one? You gotta talk to them DX people too?
How about an Entirely No Low Angle radiator, would that make you happy? Lets see, that'd be an 'ENOLA' 'Gay' / "Inola Gay" antenna?
- 'Doc
ALL puns definitely intended!
Iceman,
If you can get the top of the dipole to stand straight up vertically by using wood, PVC, fiberglass, etc., then you'll get the best local coverage. Just let the ground side hang down with a small weight on it to keep it hanging straight down.
You could install it as an inverted V but you'll sacrifice some performance in the vertical polarity and gain some in the horizontal polarity.
If you choose the V, try to get it at a perfect 45* per side - 90* total. Your SWR might be a bit higher than if you use a 120* total angle but you'll have a better omni pattern.
Don't fail to wrap about 12' of the coax in a nice, neat 'tunnel' about 6-8 turns, 6"-8" in diameter and mount it just under, or next to, the feed point to choke the common mode current. Wrap the whole thing with black tape to keep it a neat tunnel, or wrap it around an empty plastic coffee can.
It works alright, a local Amateur built one for 10m, it almost keeps up with his old (20' high at the base) 1/2wave metal vertical, but it's about 40' at the apex.
73zzzzz
If you can get the top of the dipole to stand straight up vertically by using wood, PVC, fiberglass, etc., then you'll get the best local coverage. Just let the ground side hang down with a small weight on it to keep it hanging straight down.
You could install it as an inverted V but you'll sacrifice some performance in the vertical polarity and gain some in the horizontal polarity.
If you choose the V, try to get it at a perfect 45* per side - 90* total. Your SWR might be a bit higher than if you use a 120* total angle but you'll have a better omni pattern.
Don't fail to wrap about 12' of the coax in a nice, neat 'tunnel' about 6-8 turns, 6"-8" in diameter and mount it just under, or next to, the feed point to choke the common mode current. Wrap the whole thing with black tape to keep it a neat tunnel, or wrap it around an empty plastic coffee can.
It works alright, a local Amateur built one for 10m, it almost keeps up with his old (20' high at the base) 1/2wave metal vertical, but it's about 40' at the apex.
73zzzzz