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What do you think of my homebrew 11m vertical dipole?

highspeed556

New Member
Jun 1, 2015
19
4
3
40
Kentucky
So I've still got to take it all back down, glue it all together, paint it, and then bracket it to the roof as well. However, it's up, and it works. SWR is about 1.1 on ch1 and 1.25 on ch40.

There's a 5' steel fence post drove into the ground about 1-1/2' that's the anchor point, where the first 10' section of 2" schedule 80 rests on top of. In hindsight I should have used schedule 80 all the way, but I initially bought schedule 40. After I realized just how "whippy" that was I went back and purchased a 10' section of schedule 80 for the bottom. The bottom is sitting 2-1/2' down on top of the pipe (bolted to it), and the middle 10' section is sitting 2-1/2' down inside the bottom section (again bolted together, no couplings). The top of the second section is a tee, where the actual antenna is fed (approximately 21' to the feedline from the ground). Coming out of the side of the tee is a so239 connector where the feedline attaches. There is 102" of wire hanging down from the tee, and 102" going up from the tee through another 8' section of 3/4" schedule 40.

Again, it's quite wippy, and I should have just used schedule 80 from the get go. If I decide to redo it, I'll probably just go back and get another 10' section of schedule 80 in 1-1/2" and 3/4" to replace the other two sections. But then again, this thing may come crashing down. Time will tell. While it's up, however, it talks and receives quite nice! At least for a few pieces of PVC and some wire.

However, in a couple minutes I can quickly lift the whole thing off the bottom fence post and lay it down by myself.

I spent a little extra on this project before I realized what worked. In hindsight, I could do this again for about $40.

I don't think the wife is too thrilled with it, but for the most part...she just sighs and lets me do my thing (within reason).

QvXwiHh.jpg
 

Looking good. You may want to figure out a way to get that feed line perpendicular (horizontal plane) running out about 9 feet (1/4 wave) if you have issues.


Yes, that is one thing I still need to figure out. Eventually I plan on running a conduit through the garage wall about 6-8' to the right of that door on the right. That will eventually be where the feed lines come into the garage. But right now, I'm not sure how to keep the feedline up and running 90 degree from the dipole. Still pondering on that.
 
They do work. The last one I built for 10 meters I used some sections of old telescoping aluminum (yard sale) tent poles with a pvc insulating the 1" gap between the elements and the base from the tv mast. More rigid and won't whip around. You can also wind an ugly balun and let it hang. there seemed to be no interaction from the coax being close to the lower section.
 

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