Procomm PAT12 base antenna

[chad68]

Hi guys.

I have a Cobra 148F-gtl DX+ that I am going to use as a base. It's in my truck now but I'm going to replace that mobile with a galaxy 979 in the spring, for something a little smaller but more importantly with more features that I want in a mobile.

I live in a ground floor apartment.

The top of the roof gutter is about 8 feet from the ground. I was thinking of getting a PAT12 since it's only 12 feet tall. Antron 99 or whatever they're calling them nowadays and especially the IMAX are way too tall, as this is going to be something I throw up at night, talk on for a while and take it down quick like when I'm done for the night, as I doubt the landloard or Manager would like seeing it up in the air. Only way I could use an Antron is if the base of the antenna and coax was just above the ground but the 5 foot tall fence would most likely hurt the signal.

With the PAT12 I want to make a mast that is about 9 feet long, so I would have about 12" of antenna/mast overlap to bolt the antenna to the mast and still have the base of the antenna clear the gutter height wise.

That would put the tip of the antenna about 6 feet or so above the highest part of the roof.

The idea is to have the antenna attached to the mast so I can take it apart, uncrew the coax in a minute or so and lay the mast and antenna in two seperate pieces in the backyard. The backyard is only 18 feet long, so it needs to come apart. I plan on just leaning the mast against the corner of the gutter as long as it's not windy.

I don't know a lot about base antennas, just mobiles but does the PAT 12 require a ground plane? I'm guessing it's like an Antron and does not need one? Is the only reason for grounding the antenna (not a groundplane but to the actual ground) is in case of lightning only? I won't use it in rain, so don't think I should have to worry about that?

If anybody has any other antenna options I would like to hear them. Just keep in mind I can not go any higher than what I mentioned and really I shouldn't even be going that high (20 feet total).

Read someplace where somebody said using things like a frying pan, cookie sheets etc and running a magmount. I hooked up a walkie talkie to my Wilson mag mount and and a cookie sheet LOL and it actually works, at least recieve was ok. Definatly not something I would want to hook my Cobra up to though, unless the SWR's were fair but I'd rather have something that gets out as well as just recieve.

Thanks...

 

[hotrod]

well i never used that antenna. but judging from the mounting height
and lenth of antenna. id say mount a 102 inch whip on roof.
it will probly do about just as good.with antenna mounted low
like that you.ll most likely have alot of tv interference. i know i did
when i tried that with an a99.

 

[chad68]

Another thing I was thinking of would be a Workman B100 (aka Saturn) base antnenna. It's kind of like a large diameter Firestik (about 36" long), that supposidly doesn't require a ground. Was thinking of putting that on about a 12 foot pole but hear they don't work to well.

I will just mess around with stuff I have laying around and just try a few different things and see what happens.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

you could make a dipole using cheap electrical conduit . use a piece of pressure treated lumber or a thick old kitchen cutting board for mounting . start with about 9 foot on each end and tune/cut as needed . stand it up when you wanna talk and lay it down when you're done .

 

[W5LZ]

Your idea ought to work. It may not be the 'best' way, but it should certainly be possible. You're right about that 'grounding', it's mostly for safety, lightning and so on. Another thought is how close to a window/door can you park your truck? Using your antenna on the truck is a possibility?
- 'Doc

 

[chad68]

Your idea ought to work. It may not be the 'best' way, but it should certainly be possible. You're right about that 'grounding', it's mostly for safety, lightning and so on. Another thought is how close to a window/door can you park your truck? Using your antenna on the truck is a possibility?
- 'Doc

Naw my truck is parked in the garage. I could throw the Wilson mag mount on somebody elses car though.. kidding.

Think this is what I'm going to try as a setup. IMO I think it's a pretty good idea for my situation. At least should work lots better than a dipole or mag mount on a cookie sheet. Believe me if I had the option I would put something up 50 feet.

I need a patio table and a couple chairs for the back yard anyway. I'm going to buy one of those umbrella tables, you know the ones with the hole in the center for a shade umbrella. I'm going to use (guessing) 2-3" outside diameter PVC pipe about 8 feet long as the mast, since it's fairly light and I can throw it around without making a lot of noise. Could use metal pole just the same.

An 8 foot mast would be about perfect height, since the base of the antenna would be at gutter height. But with the table I could move it to the middle of the tiny yard, so not so much signal bounces back, like I was thinking of before.

Thinking of replacing the mast/antenna bracket clamp nuts with wing nuts, so I can take it apart at the mast without fumbling around with wrenches at 2 AM LOL. Since it's not going to be up for more than a few hours a week, it doesn't need to be real sturdy, just needs to stay in place a couple hours here an there.

Now I just need to find out if those PAT 12 antennas suck and if so how bad.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

when i was initially working on my 5/8 home-brew i dug a hole about 22 inches deep and put a 2 ft piece of 1 3/4 or 2 inch (i forget which) pvc pipe in it and stuck my 10 ft 1 1/2 inch piece in it and used the level to pack the dirt around the 2 ft piece and keep it vertical . concrete and metal conduit would be much more sturdy and durable though , i just needed something temporary .

anyhow , thought id mention it as another option .

 

[hotrod]

Another thing I was thinking of would be a Workman B100 (aka Saturn) base antnenna. It's kind of like a large diameter Firestik (about 36" long), that supposidly doesn't require a ground. Was thinking of putting that on about a 12 foot pole but hear they don't work to well.

I will just mess around with stuff I have laying around and just try a few different things and see what happens.

i tried that anenna dont waste your money. i tried one i did better with a
wilson 1000 mounted on the roof of house....lol

 

[AudioShockwav]

Another thing I was thinking of would be a Workman B100 (aka Saturn) base antnenna.

I agree with Hot Rod, run away very fast if someone tries to tell you these antennas work better than a good dummy load.
I had one given to me........anything you home brew will work better.

73
Jeff

 

[project]

Why dont you just use the gutter as an antenna. Lots of ppl have done it and it works decent for low power local talking and none of your neighbors will be the wiser.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[chad68]

Use the gutter as the antenna or do you mean as the ground plane for the mag mount? A friend of mine 20 years ago had a 102" sticking out his apt. window and it was only grounded by the right angle bracket resting on the window edging. It was surprising how well it got out, especially since it was leaning pointed across a driveway to another building wall.

I'm just looking for something that can do about 7-9S units about 2-3 miles, in at least a couple directions lol.

The other day I threw the mag mount up on the gutter but a cookie sheet worked better on the roof. I'm gonna pick up an swr meter today and fart around with what i got laying around and check a couple things on my mobile too. Crap need a power supply too.

 

[project]

No you can actually use the gutter itself as the antenna.. i will try to find a post on a other forum for you.. ppl have been doing it for years with decent success.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[project]

For the Antenna Impaired: The Gutter!
For those of us who live with deed restrictions preventing having a base antenna I have something to try. I've tried everything including a dipole which didn't work out, you may want to consider using the gutter.

To be clear, I did not invent this, hams have been loading gutters for years with good success.

I decided to try it and it works well for me. It's very simple actually. You run your coax outside to your gutter. At this point you strip the jacketing exposing the center conduction and the shield. Take the center conductor and solder an eyelet on it. Then take a self tapping (grabber) screw and screw it into the downspout. Glob silicone over this connection. The shield also gets an eyelet.

Now take four 9' pieces of wire and solder an eyelet to each. Take all these four eyelets plus the shield (with an eyelet) and fasten them together with a bolt & nut. Spread the radials out in different directions and bury them, keeping them stretched out.

Viola! you're done. You will need a small matcher to get the swr down. My swr UNmatched was 2.5. Matched it is dead flat. Use a small 1 or 2 pill box and you should get out just fine. Tonight I did a 10 mile trip no problem.

I am running a BotsBuilt 76 & a 2 pill Dave and all is well. I do come across my surround system (and probably everyone elses') but I'm sure ferrites will fix that

Below you will find a block diagram of how to do this. It's very simple and works surprisingly well. Just another alternative to a dipole AND it's 100% stealth. Even if you rip across someone's TV, they will never find you. And if any neighbor should challenge you over it...DENY it! Tell them you hear the same interference on your TV and that it must be a ham in the area! haha

Nice part is that when the ground gets covered with snow you really get out!

Diagram: https://docs.google.com/viewer?pid=...5d3f&authkey=CO_GtOAE&a=bi&pagenumber=1&w=788


this is a copy and paste from another forum .. good luck.

 

[chad68]

Wow thanks for all the info project.

I just picked up an SWR meter. I put the mag mount on the cookie sheet and put it on the roof. Swr's were way too high (over 3). Bigger metal might work better. They were lower sitting on my front room floor, which seemed weird. Then I just slapped the mag mount on the gutter with whip pointed at about a 90 degree angle LOL. The SWR's that way were very liveable, really good 'for what is' on channel 1 (about 1.4) a hair higher on 40. The SWR's on channel 1 are a hair lower than my mobile on channel 1, which doesn't say much for my mobile setup ha.

My mobile I have a MM9 (med shaft) mounted on the drivers side bed rail and the coil is about 7" behind the cab. The SWR's are pretty crappy, like 1.7 to 2.2 but I think I'm going to switch to a Wilson 1000 or maybe a 5000 on the roof of the truck since I may add a box later and I have had really good luck with Wilson mag mounts getting out and need excellent SWR's with a box. The MM9 is just too freakin' heavy to mount on my roof, without using a monster magnet, which i would never use on my truck. The shaft isn't that heavy, it's just the non tappered really thick (.200"), heavy whip that adds so much stress to the shaft and more so mount.

My MM9 has really good recieve considering it's mounted in a bad spot but I know it's not getting out as good as a Wilson would on the roof. I wouldn't mind drilling a hole in the roof for a Wilson but my 4x4 is too high to be able to take the thing on and off everytime I pull in my garage. I would have to get in the back of the truck or fumble around by trying to screw/unscrew the base through the slider window. Having my mobile antenna mounted on the bed rail is really really easy on and off. I guess if I want to use that spot on the bed rail a 5 foot Firestick would be the way to go since it's top loaded and the majority of the firestick would be above the roof line or think about moving it further away from the cab.

Throwing a mag mount up on the roof through the slider is really easy. In the past I've done it while driving.

Wow too much rambling on LOL.

 

[project]

you could mount the antenna at the rear corner of the bed and it should help with the swr. A 102" whip would be a good choice but if the height is an issue you might consider a P 10k or coily.. both are built like a tank and perform well. The corner of the bed will make you a little directional but its not that bad.