L
Lawless
Guest
I did a little reading and decided to whip up a 2M dipole to mess around with on my HT. I used an old stainless antenna whip but stiff 10G copper wire would also work. I just bent a little "J" into one end so it fit around the bolts. I had this little plastic block in my junk drawer and used that for the base (wood could probably be used). I used two 6mm bolts to secure the stainless and the terminals to the plastic block after I soldered the terminals to an old piece of 18' coax that already had a PL259 on the other end.
I then notched a piece of 1" PVC to mount to the block using a zip tie and a couple of drilled holes. The coax needs to leave the antenna at a 90* angle for a couple of feet. I wound a choke out of the coax to keep RF off of the feedline, basically 6 turns wrapped tight and touching on the 1" PVC. I wrapped that well in electrical tape and finished with a few zip ties. The elements are 18.25" which is a little short but from what i read the first little bit of coax will also radiate until the choke so it should be pretty close.
I need a PL259 to SMA female adapter before i can try it out. I ordered it.
Anyway, when I was done putting it together, I coated everything around the terminals with clear silicone sealer and hung it up on the shack. I routed the coax into the radio bench and it is sitting there waiting for me to try it out.
I then notched a piece of 1" PVC to mount to the block using a zip tie and a couple of drilled holes. The coax needs to leave the antenna at a 90* angle for a couple of feet. I wound a choke out of the coax to keep RF off of the feedline, basically 6 turns wrapped tight and touching on the 1" PVC. I wrapped that well in electrical tape and finished with a few zip ties. The elements are 18.25" which is a little short but from what i read the first little bit of coax will also radiate until the choke so it should be pretty close.
I need a PL259 to SMA female adapter before i can try it out. I ordered it.
Anyway, when I was done putting it together, I coated everything around the terminals with clear silicone sealer and hung it up on the shack. I routed the coax into the radio bench and it is sitting there waiting for me to try it out.