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11 meter dipole vs A99 for base

ETXcummins

Member
Mar 10, 2018
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Hello guys. I have a slight dilemma. I work away from home and live in my travel trailer in an rv park. I would like to set up my equipment in the trailer and have a small base station to tinker with in the evenings. I have already received approval from the park owner to install my antron 99 on a 10' pole behind my camper. However, I really hate to do this because I really don't think he understands it is 18' tall and will be more noticeable than he realizes.

So, I was thinking of putting an 11 meter dipole alongside the trailer as an alternative. It would run the length of the trailer on the backside and would be less invasive to those around me. Here's the issue. If I hung the dipole in an inverted V on the side of my camper, will it perform? Or will the trailer interfere too much with tx/rx?

Also, how should I expect it to perform versus the A99? In a perfect world, I'd like to be able to talk 15-20 miles local and also shoot some skip when conditions are favorable. I used to have the A99 up at home on a 20' pole and I talked skip all over the lower 48 on a barefoot Ranger 2950.

Let me know which option you guys think would be best. I was going to pull the trigger on a Saturn B100, but had to be honest with myself that it is highly unlikely that it would even talk across town.

73's,
Brandon
 
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The dipole won't work that close to a metal object - like you camper/truck; it needs to be a greater distance away. I'd take the deal to put up the vertical - no question there. Hope you don't interfere with your neighbors, because that will be the real problem. Hope they all have/use cable/hope you aren't considering using an amp too . . .
 
The dipole won't work that close to a metal object - like you camper/truck; it needs to be a greater distance away. I'd take the deal to put up the vertical - no question there. Hope you don't interfere with your neighbors, because that will be the real problem. Hope they all have/use cable/hope you aren't considering using an amp too . . .

Got ya. ok, that is what i was worried about...that the trailer would be an issue. And yes, I am afraid the neighbors will be an issue as well. They almost all just watch tv on their antennas over the air and there are 10-12 trailers within 200 feet of me.

Ugh....this could be hopeless....but thanks for the response.

Brandon
 
The Antron suffers from Common Mode Current and would not be more efficient than a 1/4 wave whip mounted over a large reflective ground plane. Since he may already have a large flat metal surface on the roof, he might as well use it to his advantage. Placing a 1/4 wave whip over it, will make the antenna perform more like a center fed 1/2 wave. This ground plane will also reduce RFI problems by decoupling the coax.
 
I do have a 102" whip I thought about mounting at the top of the ladder on back of the trailer and seeing how that performed. However, the roof of the trailer nor the sides are metal.
 
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In this case you can still mount the 1/4 wave antenna in the center of the roof and add 4 radial wires about 9 feet long to the grounded base mount. Spread the wires out flat at 90 degree angles to form an X shape on the roof.
 
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In this case you can still mount the 1/4 wave antenna in the center of the roof and add 4 radial wires about 9 feet long to the grounded base mount. Spread the wires out flat at 90 degree angles to form an X shape on the roof.

got it. I'm just a little limited on how to mount a whip in the center of the camper. I'll do some brainstorming when I get home tonight.
 
You could take a 3/8'' stud mount and place it in the middle of a small metal plate with your 4 ground wires coming off the corners. This plate can be a few inches above the roof since it's not a metal roof. You may need a right angle coax fitting on the bottom of the mount to keep it closer to the roof. If you don't want to drill holes, stand the plate on top of something to give the coax clearance underneath and weight the plate down with some bricks.

Since the four 9 foot radial wires in an X pattern will likely be too long to extend over the roof, just bend the ends straight down the side of the tailor when you run out of roof. This may actually help with the impedance matching. Note the 102 inch whip is too short without a spring or quick disconnect. If you don't have one of these you can add about 6 inches of wire to the top of the whip. Wrap the wire around the tip and tape it in place. Adjust the wire length for best VSWR. If you're not moving while the antenna is up, this will be fine.
 
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The REAL problem you might be concerned about is if your radios have been modded.
e.g. AM limiter removed. R-264/diode mod (IIRC),, or other modulation mods?
That will only serve to really kick up the splatter coming out of the radio - and then really putting your neighbors at odds with you. Made worse by the 99 - too. Never a good situation - IMO . . .
 
The REAL problem I am wondering about is if your radios have been modded.
e.g. AM limiter removed. R 264 (IIRC),, or other modulation mods?
That will only serve to really kick up the splatter coming out of the radio - and then really putting your neighbors at odds with you. Made worse by the 99 - too. Never a good situation - IMO . . .

no doubt! yeah, the connex was "tuned" by an old shop from back in the day and I while I get tons of compliments, I have no doubt its dirty and splatters all over. The Stryker is new and just had a simple alignment from a tech....no limiter removed or other shenanigans. maybe it would be okay.

The reality is, I am looking to listen more than talk. Most of my time would just be monitoring receive with very rarely ever keying up.

BG
 
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