home made hf antenna help needed please

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WARLOCK
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home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by WARLOCK »

Hi all, need a antenna ,i have very limited space and surouned by very tall buildings, little money so would like to build a antenna my self to use with my icom 706 mk2g radio any thoughts please,
from warlock--mr george--26TM134
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andymuza
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by andymuza »

What space do you have available?
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n+1 the formula for working out how many radios you need with n being the current amount.
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WARLOCK
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by WARLOCK »

hardly any at all 20 ft + 5 ft and 20 ft + 5 ft in a L shape any thoughts please ???
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by Tigersaw »

you say HF antenna, what bands?
Do you have height restriction preventing a vertical or V arrangement?
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WARLOCK
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by WARLOCK »

the skys the limit up wards
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by Tigersaw »

well, a delta loop for 20m will just squeeze in a 20ft base footprint for starters
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andymuza
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by andymuza »

I would 2nd Tigershaw on the 20m Delta Loop. Peanuts to make, hardly visible and if you make them with a 75ohm matching stub they will operate on various bands.

I used one, got me loads of DX on 20 and 40 and worked ok on all other bands.

I'm sure I suggested a Sandpiper MV10 to you some time ago as a vertical to use but go with the Delta loop, can't recommend one enough.
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andymuza
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by andymuza »

Also consider a Cobwebb, 8 foot x 8 foot square, get it up to 33 foot for it's optimal working height.

They look tiny once up.
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by Adriano9966 »

:) I would say cobweb as suggested on a gable wall or chimney , An attic loop (if you have an attic) depending on how big your attic is you might even be able to get a full wave loop on 20 metres

An inverted L could be supported by a ten metre fishing pole and tied off to the mounting pole on your cobweb that should give you roughly 17 metres of wire.
You could feed this with a 9:1 unun in order to get a match on the lower bands such as 80 metres and lay down as many counterpoise wires that you can physically fit into your back yard .if your back yard is 'slabbed' lay the wires underneath the slabs or even in between if necessary

You should then be able to use several bands. This is a compromise solution so it won't be brilliant but 'functional'

I hope that helps in some way
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by WARLOCK »

What do you all think of this E/BAY no 262000907584 a g5rv half size ( 51 feet ) superior polyweave antenna any good for what i need useing a 10mt fishing pole .??? from warlock mr george
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by Adriano9966 »

No George save your money .By all means though get yourself a telescopic fishing pole because they are mega useful for building all sorts of aerials . You can use any type of wire as a radiator provided it has good conductivity . If you can get hold of some 300 ohm feeder you can even use that by joining the ends together to make one radiator or the centre core of some old satellite coax minus its jacket and outer braid . I generally use earth cable because I came by a load of it .

here is some more information regarding and I sincerely hope it does help in some way dude viewtopic.php?t=28414
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by ClubbaUK »

I use a Sirio 827 down to 40m using the radio's built in ATU but not all built in ATUs will tune it down to 40m some can only tune it to 20m, however under certain atmospheric conditions a horizontal performs better (there are times when the 827 is better than a horzontal)
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by theEarwigger »

End-connected Windom:
http://www.m0rzf.co.uk/ants1/index.html

Been using it for 2 years now. Covers down to 40m for Tx.
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by Martinedwards »

WARLOCK wrote:What do you all think of this E/BAY no 262000907584 a g5rv half size ( 51 feet ) superior polyweave antenna any good for what i need useing a 10mt fishing pole .??? from warlock mr george
I have a 1/2 g5rv mounted in an L with the centre connected to a screw eye on our bathroom window frame.

I've worked new Zealand with it.
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Re: home made hf antenna help needed please

Post by lincbob »

inverted L or any sort if vertical if you have space for radials (minimum of 2 x 1 quarter wavelength if not ground mounting)

failing that loop cut for your chosen band (40m will be 10m per side minus 10% if using insulated wire so 36m = 9m per side in a square) if using insulated wire such as D10, or likewise 20m will be 5m per side minus 10% = 4.5m per side) roughly, if configuring for a delta loop then 6.66m per side in a triangle for 20m or 13.3m per side for 40m, these work well at 15ft + but dont expect too much local, perfectly adequate for inter G many times I have been reported to be strongest signal on band into Devon / cornwall on 40m from Lincolnshire on 50w.

if going down the g5rv route look up the zs6bkw antenna and modify the G5RV accordingly, by adding to the vertical element and shortening the horizontal.

HF propogation is pants at the minute though so dont be disheartened by a lack of performance.
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