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Call Sign : 163-CT-278 Posts : 11 Times Thanked : 0 Join date : 2021-03-08 QTH or Location : Wrexham North Wales Equipment Used : Yaesu FT101d, 991A, 891A, Crt9900
Subject: Homebase Antenna approx 3 metres long? Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:44 pm
Following an earlier post about using my mobile antenna for homebase use, Does anyone know of a reasonably decent homebase antenna that is about 3 metres ish long, I can get away with that height but will struggle with anything above 4 metres Any help is most welcome TIA
Seasick Contributor
Posts : 79 Times Thanked : 1 Join date : 2021-02-19 QTH or Location : Norfolk Equipment Used : Uniden BCT 15X
Subject: Re: Homebase Antenna approx 3 metres long? Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:20 pm
A tank whip, is around that length. It is 1/4 wave. Or around 9 feet. There is also a 7 foot firestick, I was looking at them on Knights Elctrocom site.
https://www.kcb.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d32.html
Northern Crusader Major contributor
Call Sign : M0GVZ / 26CT1760 Posts : 536 Times Thanked : 35 Join date : 2019-11-13 QTH or Location : IO94SA Equipment Used : Icom 7300, TS480, President McKinley, Albrecht AE6110, CRT Mike Age : 54
Second the above, 1/4 wave ground plane antenna is the way to go and there won't be much difference between that and a 1/2 or 5/8 wave in real world performance.
kelsm New Member
Call Sign : 163-CT-278 Posts : 11 Times Thanked : 0 Join date : 2021-03-08 QTH or Location : Wrexham North Wales Equipment Used : Yaesu FT101d, 991A, 891A, Crt9900
Second the above, 1/4 wave ground plane antenna is the way to go and there won't be much difference between that and a 1/2 or 5/8 wave in real world performance.
I can go with the 1/4 wave whip but how would I mount it ?
SangueG Major contributor
Call Sign : 26-CT-3971 / 2E0LMI Posts : 1318 Times Thanked : 85 Join date : 2021-01-30 QTH or Location : Cirencester, Gloucestershire Equipment Used : Little radios, home-made antennas
If you take a look around the site that Seasick posted a link to, Knights have a 'build your own' section under the Base Antennas (HAM) tab that has some useful parts to mount whips and wires. You might find something that wold suit you on there, or at least maybe give you ideas how you could make a mount yourself.
kelsm likes this post
morris Senior contributor
Call Sign : 26-CT-11111 Posts : 140 Times Thanked : 5 Join date : 2019-07-26 QTH or Location : Kent
Subject: Re: Homebase Antenna approx 3 metres long? Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:21 am
That must be a quarter wave centre fed, as it is 6 feet tall. And Kelsom can only get away with a quarter wave, so why reduce that radiating element to a quarter wave to a eighth of a wave? Electrically small antenna, are much less efficient than larger antenna, although that stops being such an issue at quarter wave. Where radiation angles start to equal things out. Also a single quarter wave radiator on a roof, is much less visually intrusive than that tripod.
Kelsom. Use the full height that you can get away with & use a base fed vertical, a mobile whip. Mount it on a decent mag mount, as a 8 to 9 foot whip will take a battering from the wind. And what I would do is get a pack of decent sized ring crimps & some bell or speaker wire. Strip the wire to single core connect the crimps around the edge of the magnet, & then lay at least 4 radials out from the magmount on the roof. Looking online, a quarter wave at 27.5 mhz should be 8 feet 6 inches long.
If the roof is metal it will give a good earth, but the fact you are using a magmount will make the connection less than perfect. So the cut radials will hopefully help reduce the radiation angle, back to the low angle that a ground plane quarter wave should have. And it is the radiation angle of a quarter wave, that will give you an antenna, that performs almost on a par with a half or 5/8th wave.
Just to add. For the cost of some cheap bell or speaker wire & some cheap crimps. It is certainly worth trying to optimise your antenna. The radials may achieve nothing. But the fact they can be cut to 27.5 mhz, means they could give you an optimised antenna on 27.555 & near by. So for pennies is worth the cost & effort.
The DB 10 + Year member
Posts : 38 Times Thanked : 5 Join date : 2019-06-29
That must be a quarter wave centre fed, as it is 6 feet tall.
According to the documentation, the elements on this antenna can be adjusted from a little over 5 feet to between 8 and 9 feet long. This puts its maximum length at or near 1/4 wavelength on the CB band.
The DB
Seasick Contributor
Posts : 79 Times Thanked : 1 Join date : 2021-02-19 QTH or Location : Norfolk Equipment Used : Uniden BCT 15X
That must be a quarter wave centre fed, as it is 6 feet tall.
According to the documentation, the elements on this antenna can be adjusted from a little over 5 feet to between 8 and 9 feet long. This puts its maximum length at or near 1/4 wavelength on the CB band.
The DB
Yes, sorry, I have just had a another look and it's 15 feet tall. I must have looked at one of the other pages, as several different variations of this antennas are covered. And at 15 feet tall, it is way above what kelsm can get away with.
Today at 10:01 am by teapot
Subject: Homebase Antenna approx 3 metres long? 
