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Old 20-08-2019, 05:35   #76
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Re: DIY HF whip

I think I may have lost track of what you're trying to accomplish.


If you're trying to get your HF to work without an antenna tuner in a non-emergency, then choose a frequency at or above 40 meters, cut a piece of wire to a quarter wave, hoist one end aloft and use the lifelines for a counterpoise. You can prepare a common mode choke (aka current balun) in advance which will help keep the RF from leaking all over the place.


There are inexpensive manual antenna tuners that incorporate an SWR meter, e.g. MFJ Enterprises Inc. - use one of those, then you can just clip onto the rigging somewhere if the mast is up.
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Old 20-08-2019, 05:49   #77
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Re: DIY HF whip

I had a tarheel on my car for a while. I ended up selling it and taking the radio out of the car as I found it too distracting from my driving.

It worked fine though. The problem with the tarheel is tuning. It has a very narrow bandwidth. So even small movements on a band need a retune. Not fun in an emergency.

I like to do SOTA (summits on the air) and USIOTA/IOTA (islands on the air) activations. For these antenna size is a big deal. Antennas need to be small and robust.

For those reasons I have settled on Endfed antennas. Like all antennas, they are a compromise, but I have found them to be effective even in non-ideal sloper or L configurations. If you take the time to tune them for your band ahead of time, they prevent you even needing a tuner. I plan to take several on my boat adventure for using on various islands and as backup for the boat antenna(s). By then we should have sunspots again!

Here's a link to where I got mine. A few dollars more than some vendors but build quality is great:
https://www.lnrprecision.com/store/E...nnas-c10468543

For a boat I think 10m/20m/40m would be all I would take. When the bands come back the 10m should be rocking over salt water. For now the 20m during daytime and the 40m is about as big as you are likely to be able to deploy on a boat (without a kite!).

Emergency-wise, the 10m is easy to deploy using one of the crappy poles linked here in the thread. I used one for my BVI activations in 2015. If you were totally de-rigged you could use the crappy pole on one end and then set the 20m as a sloper to the other end of the boat. I'd set the pole at the stern, slope to the bow, and then run coax back to the cockpit to get my counterpoise. You'd get a long way afternoon to dusk.

tl/dr
Endfed pros - small, cheap, no tuner needed, easy to deploy
Endfed cons - Less efficient radiator than full-size antennas

Re: hamsticks. I tested these on several island activations and the endfeds were far better. They suffer the same narrow bandwidth as the tarheels (they are more or less the same thing).
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Old 20-08-2019, 05:55   #78
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Re: DIY HF whip

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Originally Posted by Jammer View Post


There are inexpensive manual antenna tuners that incorporate an SWR meter, e.g. MFJ Enterprises Inc. - use one of those, then you can just clip onto the rigging somewhere if the mast is up.
Couldn't agree more. You CAN tune a radio without a decent 'goalpost' SWR meter on the radio, but it is SO much easier with the twin needles!

A few months ago I used a 904 to tune my 40m endfed on 80m to get a contact I had been chasing from a remote location. I was losing hope and alll of a sudden the forward neeedle peaked. A few calls later he was in my log!

I'll probably throw a 904 into a vaccu-sealed bag when I cast off.
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Old 20-08-2019, 09:37   #79
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Re: DIY HF whip

Back to the issue, emergency antenna for SSB/HF. Squidpole or composite fishing pole 6m in height. Tape 14awg (16bwg) to the pole, collapse then store. When it is time to use lash with tie wraps to pushpit, connect GTO-15 from tuner, throw additional bare wire overboard and connect to ground lug of tuner. Turn on radio and SCREAM for help. LOL

Keep it simple, sailor! JMHO
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Old 21-08-2019, 20:54   #80
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Re: DIY HF whip

A very simple emergency aerial can be suitable length of wire fed inside a de-cored rope. Easy to store. Just roll it up. And hang it as high as you like.
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Old 26-08-2019, 04:51   #81
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Re: DIY HF whip

if you have a good antenna tuner, i buy a copy of antenna Icom AH-2B. you can found the antenna in ebay with the name: 1/4 Wave 9FT Stainless Steel 2 Part CB Radio Tank Whip Antenna Aerial.
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Old 26-08-2019, 05:33   #82
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Re: DIY HF whip

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Originally Posted by isladelobos View Post
if you have a good antenna tuner, i buy a copy of antenna Icom AH-2B. you can found the antenna in ebay with the name: 1/4 Wave 9FT Stainless Steel 2 Part CB Radio Tank Whip Antenna Aerial.

A 9ft whip is going to limit freq you can use depending on the tuner. Most of the Icom tuners want 23ft or more. The 4,6,and 8mhz freq are going to be hard to make with that short an antenna.
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Old 26-08-2019, 09:19   #83
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Re: DIY HF whip

When used with the AH-3 or AH-2a HF AUTOMATIC ANTENNA TUNERS the AH-2b allows mobile operations on all frequencies from 3.5MHz through 30MHz with the convenience of rapid, automatic tuning.

The AH-2b works best when used with the Icom AH-3 or AH-2a antenna tuner.
But you can use a better antenna tuner instead of Icom ones.

The Manual

Sure, the manual explains how to attach a long wire to the antenna if necessary.
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