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Which 11 meter dipole antenna???

Thinking about building one just to have on hand if ever needed for an emergency. I've got some so239's pvc fittings and 12 awg insulated cable to make it weatherproof. I've never built one but seems to be a simple build. Having the rigexpert analyzer will come in handy for the task.
 
Thinking about building one just to have on hand if ever needed for an emergency. I've got some so239's pvc fittings and 12 awg insulated cable to make it weatherproof. I've never built one but seems to be a simple build. Having the rigexpert analyzer will come in handy for the task.
Piece of cake to make and with your RE you can tune it to within a gnats ass........
 
In Rocky Mount don't make it out of copper. Or if you do, paint it green. Vertical dipoles kind of suck, only 2.15dB of gain of that theoretical antenna that radiates evenly in all directions, up down left right, etc. There is even a unit of measurement based on the gain of the dipole, dBd, decibel over dipole. The dipole = 0dBi . The advantage is they are stupid easy to make and are easy to get up in a tree. 2 9 foot lengths of something that conducts, such as wire, or even pipe, and a coax, some plastic or ceramic crap for insulators and some clothesline or paracord. I have even made them without solder just by twisting wires together to the braid and center conductor of the coax. Take a plastic coat hanger, the 2 wires and the coax, twist together, wrap it together. Tape some cordage to the ends of the wires, throw, cast or launch cord up in tree, and hoist dipole partially up tree where you can reach it, tune swr by cutting the ends and when happy, hoist the rest of the way up tree . And if you have enough coax to spare make a choke by wrapping it 5 or 6 wraps it can improve swr.
 
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Vertical dipoles kind of suck, only 2.15dB of gain of that theoretical antenna that radiates evenly in all directions, up down
Another CB world myth. The 2.15dB gain over an isotropic only applies in free space. As soon as a dipole is hung over real earth that number goes out the window and can increase to as high as 5 to 7 dB.
 
I've been using a EF sleeve dipole (T2LT) for a bit now. I had an inverted Vee antenna hanging up over my shed for a few months and made great DX contacts, but locals get cross-polarized since they are vertical usually.

I made my T2LT out RG58 coax. Gotta measure out for CB/11M (around 103.2" for top and bottom sections) but here is the video I followed. Also Callum at DX Commander has a paper on the subject too. So far so good! Portable if needed, and damn near free to make if you have some coax laying around.
 
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Another CB world myth. The 2.15dB gain over an isotropic only applies in free space. As soon as a dipole is hung over real earth that number goes out the window and can increase to as high as 5 to 7 dB.
Its my understanding the gain of a 1/2 dipole typically increases in a horizontal configuration, not vertical. Something to do with capacitance between antenna and the dirt and it acts as a reflector and I don't think it's even that much unless your talking about a 3/4 wave dipole.
 
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More like crackhead infested cesspool and copper they will steal. They steal aluminum too, happen to my old boss's rentals, took the damn siding off the house.
 
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I just take a 102" whip, a rail mount and a 102" segment of 1/4" aluminum stock. That dipole gives me an SWR of 1.55:1. It has talked from Puerto Rico to Hawaii with less than ten watts of output from my Cherokee AH 100 SSB walkie talkie.
Would you mind showing the beast you speak of? That sounds like an antenna project to tinker with.
 
I've had this antenna in the attic for about 10 years or so. Had it in the attic of our previous home and now in the attic of our current home feeding it from the garage station.

My primary antenna to the station in the house is down so I've used this dipole more in the last month than I ever have and it's performed really well. I may see about getting a second one to keep as a portable for a lake day or something.

I highly recommend it!

Screenshot_20250326_213334_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
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Running a Sirio Gainmaster .625 for the last 2 weeks and have been VERY impressed with it. I am not a fan of wire antennas (Dipoles, A99, Imax 2K, Tram, Proton, etc.) for 11 meters - I prefer metal - but this wire antenna has outperformed all of these other wire antennas that I have used over the years. Center-fed 5/8 wave vertical dipole with a matching stub and capacitor.

By far, the broadest banded antenna of them all - including metal antennas
. 4.5Mhz total with 26.05~29.30 (3MHz+) @ 1.2 or less. That's right; not 2:1 or 1.5:1, but 1.2:1.

No adjustment needed, just build it to specifications and put it up. Built in CMC choke in the base of the antenna; Power handling up to 1KW P.E.P and 500w continuous. Absolutely no RF on the feedline or back into the shack. There is a mod here on the forum to make the capacitor with RG-393 to get the power up to Legal limit.

Slight gain over a 1/2 wave dipole. RF pattern resembles a football on end with the greatest RF at the center feed point for a 0 degree TOA which makes it better than any typical .625, .64 or .75 wave vertical antenna for local talking if you have elevation.

Still talks great DX - almost, but not quite as good as other metal omni antennas like a .625 wave (Hygain Super Penetrator, Maco v-58, Maco v-5000, Workman W-58, Avanti Sigma 3, Jay in the Mohave I10K, Zero 5 Colossal 10K, Shockwaveantenna Shockwave 10KW, etc.) or a .64 wave (Wolf .64), or a .75 wave (Avanti Sigma 4, Sirio Vector 4000, Saliut LW-150, etc.) for DX. Their main RF lobe has a higher TOA.

If your power requirements fit with in the limitations of this antenna, I think you will be impressed with it.

This is just my first hand experience with all of these antennas, YMMV.
 
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