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Dipole for CB

KW4HKY

Active Member
Feb 16, 2010
188
9
28
The Harley Cobra is going in my bike garage.
How does a dipole perform? I have a 2 story barn, and it would hang in the rafters nicely.

If i figured correctly, 8.8" per leg.

Good plan or better one out there? I hate spending a ton of money on a base for limited usuage.
 

I have built a few dipoles for nearly nothing in $ amount. If you have a Y chromosome you probably already have everything you need to make it. For limited use they're alright, but since you have a barn I would definitely consider the A99 or Imax, best cost to performance ratio, and it will be well worth it.

I don't have that luxury of space or opportunity for my set up, so you'd be best to take it when you can get it.(y)
 
Give it a try, it can't hurt. I think your figuring a bit long, but that's good. Just gives you some adjustment room, and it's certainly better than being too short and having to add wire.
- 'Doc
 
Can I have that nice HD Edition Box???????

As for the length, I used a dipole calculator for 27.5 Freg.

Came out just under 8.7' well as I remember, assuming I programmed it right.
 
A diploe on 11m is an excellent idea. It will be basically a 1/2 vertical on it's side, horizontally polarized, and should put out a signal roughly like an A99 or similar 1/2 wave vertical. That said, because it's on it's side, it will radiate a lot of its signal up and down rather than all around like a true vertical. So you lose some signal strength in the real world compared to a vertical. It should however be better than the vertical to talk to locals who are using horizontal antennas such as yagis. The real beauty in your proposed setup is that it would be very easy and cheap to set up *and* would be the ultimate in stealth if it was mounted in the peak of the roof of the barn. The roof will attenuate some of the signal, but shouldn't be too bad if the roof is wood. Hams use inside-the-roof wires with great success as long as you accept the limitations of a slightly reduced signal and horizontal radiation pattern. My advice is just do it. Sounds like it would be a fun and interesting project.

My next antenna is a vertical dipole to hang down out of a tree. That gives a nice omni signal pattern and the advantages of vertical polarization all for about $25 in parts, and should be just as good as an A99 or similar.
 
the horizontal dipole antenna will be great for you if you're looking to talk directionally. They are directional when mounted horizontally, but if mounted vertically, they're omnidirectional. You could always make a stealthy antenna on the cheap that would perform well for what it is. for the cheap antenna, get yourself a t bracket and fold the ends up, drill out the mounting holes for a pair of antenna studs, make sure one has the insulator and the other is grounded. One antenna will serve as your "hot" side, the other being grounded. You can mount this setup either horizontally or for best all around signal, mount it vertically. This opens you up to a wide array of mobile antennas that can be used as a base antenna, but make sure when you tune them, you trim them evenly and keep metal objects as far away as possible. Also make sure your coax comes in at a 90 degree angle to your whips. I recommend 4' or longer Francis antennas for such a project, they work very well for this rig. You can also use a pair of truckstop mirror mounts, just toss away the backing plate and do the same thing after bolting them together. I'll try to draw up a diagram later on. This works great in apartment complexes that don't like antennas at all outside, and also for HOAs that never look in your attic
 

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