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Need some advice

K

KC9NTO

Member
Jun 10, 2008
14
0
11
Chicagoland
I will be getting a Yaesu FT 2800M in the next few days, and am really looking forward to using it instead of my little HT. I do have one problem however...

I live in an apartment building and I spoke with my landlord about putting up some kind of antenna on the building and he flat out told me "no way." I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like the building is a work of art (it's more like a piece of crap, but anyway) so an antenna would only improve the appearance of it LOL.

So, I guess my question is...what would be a good antenna to use indoors? Should I just get a mag mount antenna and slap it on a cookie sheet or find a more suitable j-pole or discone antenna to use indoors?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
 

KC9NTO said:
I will be getting a Yaesu FT 2800M in the next few days, and am really looking forward to using it instead of my little HT. I do have one problem however...

I live in an apartment building and I spoke with my landlord about putting up some kind of antenna on the building and he flat out told me "no way." I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like the building is a work of art (it's more like a piece of crap, but anyway) so an antenna would only improve the appearance of it LOL.

So, I guess my question is...what would be a good antenna to use indoors? Should I just get a mag mount antenna and slap it on a cookie sheet or find a more suitable j-pole or discone antenna to use indoors?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Click to expand...
wire and a tuner
 
Don't need the tuner for 2m. Just make a vertical dipole out of a coat hanger or something. Even beer cans soldered together will work fine :) Seriously, you can make this antenna out of spare parts or stuff you can get from home depot. Here's an easy way: Get some real small PVC, some wire of some kind (or a coat hanger). Cut two lengths of the wire and PVC to 17.5 " each. Make a small hole in the bottom of each piece of PVC Stick the wire inside the PVC with 1/2" of bare wire sticking out each hole. Fill the PVC with spray foam like is used for construction. This will keep the wire from falling back down into the PVC. Now you can glue the PVC together using a coupling. Attach the wire to the the coax and you're done. Mount it vertical somewhere in your house. I'm sure you can work out the details. If you don't want to go through that, you can just use a J pole or any type of 1/2 antenna, but it would be fun to make something instead. There are a lot of ways to make a dipole, but I just gave you one example. I made one for 2m/murs out of coffee cans that I soldered together and attached to a dowel rod.
 
Adam,
Probably the simplest antenna for two meters for indoors stuff would probably be a 'J'-pole, or dipole cut for the most used frequency. Neither are hard to make your self. Best place to put it would be nearest a non-metalic outer wall or window (window screens can work too, maybe).
Whats the absolute most bestest thing you can use? Whatever happens to fit your situation the best (as in size/shape/cost/etc.), or whatever you just -have- to try, you know?
Out of sight, out of mind, kind'a thingy...
- 'Doc
 
Simple 2M antenna

Adam: I have another suggestion that I used when apartment living and Ham Radio came together.

Get an SO-239 connector from RS...that's the radio mounted female coax fitting like on the radio.

You then have a coax fitting for the jumper from the radio to the antenna...

Then with connector mounted on the end of the jumper you have 4 holes(mounting holes) on the shield side of the coax to solder 4 solid copper radials (#16 to #12awg will work fine)which will bend easily down to 30 to 45 degrees from horizontal...

Then on the center you solder the driven element with the same size solid wire.

The driven element should be cut slightly longer than 1/4 wave for your most used freq

The radials slightly longer than .26 wave for same freq...

Now you are ready to tune the antenna for your best use...The trick I used was I bent a small eye in the end of the driven element and hung the antenna in the middle of the room away from any fixtures or ceiling plants etc...with a thumb tack and short piece of string...

Check the SWR in the case of 2M's at 144.5/145.5/146.5 etc and see what you have...if you need to trim for the upper end...trim small amounts like a 1/8 inch to start from each radial and the driven element...check SWR again over the entire range until your reach the desired range you wish to operate...(make sure your auto repeater offset is turned off)

I had one that would tune from 1.7/1 or less the entire 2m FM range using #12awg solid copper I salvaged from about 5 ft of ROMEX from a construction site.

I had a small hook mounted about a foot from each window in the ceiling where I could hang the antenna for operating each direction from my living room to optimize that direction for simplex...for most repeaters though you may not need that in the Windy City knowing you have so many to choose from at your location (looked you up)...
Have Fun/Enjoy the new rig
All the Best
BJ

Well I see Beetle beat me to this in another thread...OH well my special secret antenna has been published...bummer...LOL!!!
 
Last edited:
I've been using that antenna for close to half a century!

If you start with all five wires about 19.5" long you should be well inside the ballpark. I've never had to trim the radials, just the vertical radiator.

Bend the four radials downward as they pass the edge of the SO-239. An angle of about 45 degrees is a good place to start. This will raise the feedpoint impedance from about 35 ohms (which is about what it will be if the radials extend straight out from the connector) to something more like 50 ohms. Use some good quality coax, and keep it as short as you reasonably can. 8X will work, but stay clear of RG58/59 if the run is over 10-15 feet. You're already running low power; the idea is to get as much of it to the antenna as you can.

One last point: if you get a Radio Shack SO-239, it'll probably have a nice, bright, shiny finish that won't take solder worth beans. It's nickel plated brass. What you'll need to do is file or wire brush the areas you're going to solder down to bare brass, which will solder just fine. You could use screws and nuts on the radials, and that would likely work just as well as soldering for an indoor antenna, but you'll still need to solder the vertical wire.

http://www.w7tck.org/_misc/so-239_ant.html -- here's a link with a little more detail. Note that the dimensions will be different for all installations, and that the one in this link is shown mounted on a mast rather than hanging from the vertical wire. Shouldn't make a difference.
 
More great advice. This looks like an antenna I could actually make. Just may have to give it a try.

Thanks!!

BJ radionut said:
Adam: I have another suggestion that I used when apartment living and Ham Radio came together.

Get an SO-239 connector from RS...that's the radio mounted female coax fitting like on the radio.

You then have a coax fitting for the jumper from the radio to the antenna...

Then with connector mounted on the end of the jumper you have 4 holes(mounting holes) on the shield side of the coax to solder 4 solid copper radials (#16 to #12awg will work fine)which will bend easily down to 30 to 45 degrees from horizontal...

Then on the center you solder the driven element with the same size solid wire.

The driven element should be cut slightly longer than 1/4 wave for your most used freq

The radials slightly longer than .26 wave for same freq...

Now you are ready to tune the antenna for your best use...The trick I used was I bent a small eye in the end of the driven element and hung the antenna in the middle of the room away from any fixtures or ceiling plants etc...with a thumb tack and short piece of string...

Check the SWR in the case of 2M's at 144.5/145.5/146.5 etc and see what you have...if you need to trim for the upper end...trim small amounts like a 1/8 inch to start from each radial and the driven element...check SWR again over the entire range until your reach the desired range you wish to operate...(make sure your auto repeater offset is turned off)

I had one that would tune from 1.7/1 or less the entire 2m FM range using #12awg solid copper I salvaged from about 5 ft of ROMEX from a construction site.

I had a small hook mounted about a foot from each window in the ceiling where I could hang the antenna for operating each direction from my living room to optimize that direction for simplex...for most repeaters though you may not need that in the Windy City knowing you have so many to choose from at your location (looked you up)...
Have Fun/Enjoy the new rig
All the Best
BJ

Well I see Beetle beat me to this in another thread...OH well my special secret antenna has been published...bummer...LOL!!!
Click to expand...

Beetle said:
I've been using that antenna for close to half a century!

If you start with all five wires about 19.5" long you should be well inside the ballpark. I've never had to trim the radials, just the vertical radiator.

Bend the four radials downward as they pass the edge of the SO-239. An angle of about 45 degrees is a good place to start. This will raise the feedpoint impedance from about 35 ohms (which is about what it will be if the radials extend straight out from the connector) to something more like 50 ohms. Use some good quality coax, and keep it as short as you reasonably can. 8X will work, but stay clear of RG58/59 if the run is over 10-15 feet. You're already running low power; the idea is to get as much of it to the antenna as you can.

One last point: if you get a Radio Shack SO-239, it'll probably have a nice, bright, shiny finish that won't take solder worth beans. It's nickel plated brass. What you'll need to do is file or wire brush the areas you're going to solder down to bare brass, which will solder just fine. You could use screws and nuts on the radials, and that would likely work just as well as soldering for an indoor antenna, but you'll still need to solder the vertical wire.

CCARC-SO-239 Antenna -- here's a link with a little more detail. Note that the dimensions will be different for all installations, and that the one in this link is shown mounted on a mast rather than hanging from the vertical wire. Shouldn't make a difference.
Click to expand...
 
Well, I decided to go with a J-Pole antenna. The gentleman I've ordered it from says it should work well in my apartment. I've already got the coax cable and a stand to put it in when it arrives, so hopefully I'll have better luck than I do now using a (borrowed) rather cheap 2mtr mag mount as a temporary solution.

Adam
 
Just keep the J-pole in as much of an open area as you can. Let us know how it turns out.

Where did you buy the J-pole? Online?
 
Happy_Hamer said:
Just keep the J-pole in as much of an open area as you can. Let us know how it turns out.

Where did you buy the J-pole? Online?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I ordered it thru e-bay. Sounds like the guy has a lot of experience building them, and his feedback is 100%, and the comments rave about the antenna. I did think about trying to make one on my own but my soldering skills suck.

I'm curious as to why you say I should keep it in as much of an open area as I can? My plan was to set in a corner of the room I'm using. (hope i'm not showing too much ignorance by asking this LOL)
 
What a difference!!!!!

I cannot believe the difference with this antenna. I'm hitting repeaters with 5 watts I couldn't hit with 10 watts on the mag mount. With this little gem sitting in the corner, I can only imagine what it could do if I was able to mount it outside.

It even makes one heck of a scanner antenna, at least in the 144-172MHz range. I'm hearing things with this antenna that I can't with any other antenna I have.

Definitely two thumbs up (y) (y)
 
KC9NTO said:
What a difference!!!!!

I cannot believe the difference with this antenna. I'm hitting repeaters with 5 watts I couldn't hit with 10 watts on the mag mount. With this little gem sitting in the corner, I can only imagine what it could do if I was able to mount it outside.

It even makes one heck of a scanner antenna, at least in the 144-172MHz range. I'm hearing things with this antenna that I can't with any other antenna I have.

Definitely two thumbs up (y) (y)
Click to expand...

The J POLE has been around a long time
Another time proven but horizontal antenna is a squailo I have worked new york from tampabay with a stacked pair of KU4AB squailos on 144.200 mhz .
 

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