My first attempt to build a 5/8 wave homemade

[HomerBB]

In the Air

Got it up today with a little more adjustment to the tap location.
It is as high as I can put it until I purchase a better mast system.

Final SWR:

28.305 2.0:1
27.855 1.2:1
27.405 1.0:1
27.185 1.0:1
26.965 1.0:1
26:515 1.2:1
26.065 1.5:1

 

[Beetle]

Got it up today with a little more adjustment to the tap location.
It is as high as I can put it until I purchase a better mast system.

Final SWR:

28.305 2:0
27.855 1:2
27.405 1:0
27.185 1:0
26.965 1:0
26:515 1:2
26.065 1:5

I don't quite understand your SWR readings. SWR is a ratio, expressed in terms of some value TO 1, written :1.

You can't possibly have an SWR of 1:0. Or 2:0. The number after the colon is always "1".

 

[HomerBB]

I don't quite understand your SWR readings. SWR is a ratio, expressed in terms of some value TO 1, written :1.

You can't possibly have an SWR of 1:0. Or 2:0. The number after the colon is always "1".

Ok. My goof.

The needle did not move at all.

1.0:1and 2.0:1 it is, respectively.

I didn't mean to be confusing by taking shortcuts in terminology.

Thanks.

 

[HomerBB]

Wind last night

T-storms through the night last night. Winds 12 mph, gusts to 20 mph with potential winds to 50 mph.
Don't know what the wind got to, but it was a humdinger for a while. Antenna is standing straight up this AM and SWR still sitting like it's supposed to: unmoved. So good so far.

The previous physical design would have failed. It did twice under these same conditions.

A little time, and a little testing for reports. Hopeful for DX soon.

 

[RickC.]

Excellent, Homer!

It's interesting to see how you tackled the matching issue as well as beefing up the construction. As my Irish friends would say, "Good man, yerself!".

Your observations of your 5/8 vs. the A-99 are exactly what I saw with my homebrew 5/8 vs. a vertical dipole that had beeb put in exactly the same place.

Rick

 

[HomerBB]

Excellent, Homer!

It's interesting to see how you tackled the matching issue as well as beefing up the construction. As my Irish friends would say, "Good man, yerself!".

Your observations of your 5/8 vs. the A-99 are exactly what I saw with my homebrew 5/8 vs. a vertical dipole that had beeb put in exactly the same place.

Rick

No doubt. Once the 5/8 had gone up there was no turning back, especially after the need to put the A99 in temporarily.
What a difference!

One of my concerns was to keep it moisture proofed. After the outpour and wind last night I'm feeling real good. Think I got it sealed.

 

[HomerBB]

It seems when there's a little skip I am away from the shack. Worked all day until the limited DX was slipping away.

Managed to make a contact with 101 Al in Southwest Florida, a brief acknowledgment from a Jamaican station, and a failed effort to communicate with a Mexican amigo. No comprende'. Ya know the drill.

A little local AM and SSB out to about forty miles north over the Ozarks into Southwestern Missouri, and a little conversation to the south and southwest of me. Both gave clear audio, and signal reports.

I was mostly ineffective trying to rope in a little intermittent skip all over the frequencies.( Reminded me of a time as a youth when I chased a muddy hog headed for slaughter. It was great fun, but there was no hanging on to it.) Just poor conditions by the time I got home.

 

[CDX-007]

Sweet Aerial!!

Homer, I posted here way back when I first signed up but it was deleted because I didn't realize I had to introduce myself and had a bad mood day, so all my early posts were deleted, but again, that is a thing of beauty!

It does my aging heart good to see someone take on a challenging and fun project like this and not give up when initial failure harasses.

Impressive SWR, you've got the entire band under 2:1, and if you shorten it about 8"-10" you'd have all of CB & 10M, too! WOW! Very, very impressive!

And as far as the difference between the 5/8 and an a99... well I've been telling people that for years but they just seem content to run a dummy load.
Yep, a Hyundai goes just fine,

...until you drive a 'Vette!

Well I'm glad you got this work of RFart going, sorry, R F Art, and wait 'til you get it up on the roof on a 3-4 section mast - WHOLLY SH!T it's gonna come alive!!

You think it hears good now...

How many turns over what diameter is the coil, and about how many turns up from the base of the coil does it tune?

How long was the final radiator?

73

 

[CDX-007]

As far as the match goes, yeah, I don't think you'll improve on that!

I built one a while back with a loop about 2 feet in diameter- which worked fine but couldn't take any abuse.

Looks like you've got a handle on it, congrats!


Rick

Hey Rick, were you able to get your homebrew 5/8 (.64?) to tune well and have a decent bandwidth at the full 23' radiator length with the 24" ring match?

73

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

looks nice . i really like the way you did the ground radials . looks MUCH MUCH NICER than my wire and pvc X contraption . .

now , how in the hell did my dumb azz manage to miss/ignore the homebrew section ? theres some really neat ideas in the threads here !!

 

[HomerBB]

Thanks for the positive feedback.

When the weather got good I went out-of-doors for all the outdoor yard projects, but the time is coming when I'll have to entertain myself with more radio again.
No telling what I'll get into.

 

[HomerBB]

Homer, I posted here way back when I first signed up but it was deleted because I didn't realize I had to introduce myself and had a bad mood day, so all my early posts were deleted, but again, that is a thing of beauty! . . .

How many turns over what diameter is the coil, and about how many turns up from the base of the coil does it tune?

How long was the final radiator?

73

I apologize for not seeing this earlier. been busy.

It's been a few days since I built it, but if memory serves me properly it ended up 23 -24 feet long overall. The coil was wound around 1 1/2" PVC tube, and was about 10 wraps each separated by the rubber material you build screens with. I think my tap was in the fourth turn from the bottom.
Hopefully that answers your questions.

 

[Lost Ram]

Thats a real nice build. I am working on an open air coil type. Very similar to yours. Does anyone have any open air coil experiences? I am going the copper material way once I get all the little bugs worked out. This way I can sweat every joint and solder every connection. The price on this copper tubing is pretty cheap at the home improvement stores.

 

[HomerBB]

maybe this will help:
MY 5/8 WAVE GROUND PLANE Photo Gallery by Sean 12Footer at pbase.com