11m 3/4 wave ground mounted antenna

1 8m flag mast
2 8.08m of copper wire
3 a 1-1 balun
4 8 1m lengths of copper wire
5 1m wooden post

place post in 500mm-700mmdeep hole
fasten pole 100mm from ground to post
run 8.08m of copper wire to top of pole
8m up pole and 8cm down wooden post leaving 2cm from ground
at ground level connect 8 1m lengths of copper wire linked together
connect a 1-1 balun to your wires
center pin for vertical and earth for radials

swr at 27.5= 1.08
swr at27.3= 1.4
swr at27.7= 1.3


dbgain at 12 degrees= 2db
db gain at 20 degrees=5db
db gain at 40 degrees=7db

all checked and modeled on mmana

Most of the energy going skywards then? It's one of the reasons I stay away from those.

Referring back to this graph from the Cobwebb height thread that shows the statistics for the angle of arrival of signals from a certain area of the world to the UK, you can see that even on the closest DX, Europe, on 10m and therefore 11m that basically any signal radiating out above 18 degrees is simply wasted. The further the distance you want to work the more gain you need at lower angles. At least its easy enough to turn it into a 1/4 wave if you're not happy but if you're wondering why you can't hear much, the fact the gain is mostly at take off angles that are unusable is the issue.

oh how negative can you get
a piece of wire that can be run up a drain pipe or up a tree and costs pennies
a cobweb that costs hundreds of pounds if you buy it or very difficult to build on the cheap
what kind of space do you have what kind of neighbours do you have
when i started out on cb i had a dv27 on a biscuit tin
you dont even need the 1-1 balun, an electrical terminal block will work just as well
the 3/4 wave ground mounted antenna lowers yours noise floor and will work better than a 1/2 silver rod at a height of around 20 foot, gutter height
why not show the graph for the anton 99 and tell them they cant dx
i will say two words propagation and nvis
a piece of wire is easy to hide and very portable
so northern crusader why so negative, cobweb hexbeam why bother with these small antennas when you could get a quad or stacked array

NVIS? At CB frequencies? Best of luck with that one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywave


It's not all about apparent 'negativity', it's often just radio folk trying to help each other where they can.

There is always one Victor.

ok lets not do that
buy a nice rig 
buy a good antenna buy yourself a nice mic
oh sorry live in a flat no or little garden, money is tight, then cb is not for you
welcome to the world of elitism
ok someone take on this challenge
1 budget £200
2 price up equipment
3 small garden
4 wants to get on cb
5 expectations
6 your advice
7 put in the cost of your set up if you had to buy today tell them the size of your garden
8 tell them why if they are on a budget and a small garden how can they get good dx

The only limits we face are the one's we place upon ourselves....


For less than £30 you could get a Foundation licence and open a world of radio opportunities, awesome people such as those at Essex Ham will even train you for free. You don't even need a radio to begin your Ham adventure due to the likes of 'Echolink' deciding for yourself if it's real radio or not...but it can help communicate with other radio enthusiasts.

£20 or so would bag a Baofeng handheld and suddenly you have access to 2m & 70cm, (as well as PMR), the Amateurs that frequent those frequencies as well as all of the Repeaters. Is that "DX"? Well with a Baofeng, a modified old TV antenna and a Repeater I was able to fire a signal across three counties to my old friend that so far has been impossible on any other frequency or mode. Counts as "DX" to me.

So far we're only up to a quarter of the budget you set, plenty of money left for even QRP SDR transceivers with multi mode capability currently flooding the market.


Maybe that's not "CB" but back in the day a quarter wave antenna bolted to a biscuit tin during good propagation could bag you a Continental DX contact or two. I repeated the exercise over 30 years later with 10 watts FM mid-block using nothing more than bits of wire in my loft space purporting to being an 'Inverted V Dipole', that and summer skip bagged me Continental contact again. That antenna could just have easily been hung in the house and would prove its effectiveness as we climb up the next solar cycle.


The biggest expenditure that actually costs nothing money wise is to never unwittingly alienate yourself. It's surprising how much people are willing to give their very best to help each other especially with a common interest such as radio.


I'm on my seventh year of being housebound due to disability and despite common myths I've never received a penny in benefits for it let alone the alleged 'free' cars or other such nonsense. Luckily my wife has kept me sheltered, fed and clothed in our family home...

Thanks to people such as those here at Charlie Tango I have surpassed my wildest expectations with my adventures in radio, firstly with a reintroduction to CB radio then encouragement to go for my Ham ticket. I've had constant fun and enjoyment over the last couple of years with CT and incredible fun with my Amateur Radio exploits....all whilst still never leaving the house.

"Elitism" is a conceptual thought, I could easily bemoan those around me that can simply walk.


I echo my opening line and pass on my very best wishes to those that can open their eyes to it.



However, I do believe that the limits you set may not be your own but a visualised concept for maybe a burgeoning business idea? Providing affordable antennas to the so called masses? If that is the case then you have far more to learn beyond antenna modelling software.....if not, my previous words may be of benefit and I wish you the very best.



With much regard to my fellow human beings and especially those afflicted with the radio interest,
Victor

is there any point in posting anything

not worth posting on here 
the 2m disc cone slot antenna based on the Fibonacci code or the 8sided pyramid build and yes the great pyramid at giza is eight sided for anyone who wants to google it. just are,nt going to waste my time.

Victor your a wealth of information and always more then willing to help others with any radio queries or problems.Be it Ham,Cb or anything radio related.I Would like to Thank you again for the sound advice you gave us all on the Charlie Tango Forum and you always point us In the right direction.People need the take a long hard look at themselves before they start pointing their grubby little fingers,If you don’t like what you hear then don’t ask it’s a simple as that.It’s all a personal opinion but some options carry a life worth of experience.
Cheers Tom.
26 CT 4029

well thank you tom have you never heard of never judge a book by its cover

glenn north lincs,I have and I’m not judging anyone,after all what gives us the right to judge anyone on here.It’s a hobby..
Cheers Tom.
26 CT 4029

who said i was judging all i did was post a simple antenna to help people out. read the feed back. iam not and will not be a business

Glenn,

You can of course post whatever you like so long as it follows not only the Charlie Tango rules but also if it is in the spirit of radio enthusiasts coming together informing, educating, entertaining or even helping each other. It does not bode well to immediately attack someone else if their opinion 'differs' even if they have offered input which may ultimately help you or others reading the posting. Debating is one thing, just don't let it get personal.

You made a similar posting of an antenna suggestion before and I did my very best to point you in the direction of an educational resource concerning multi-node issues regarding non-resonant antennas and you immediately retorted with a personal attack. I took the decision to ignore further comments or any involvement in such a futile discussion.

However on this instance you have also performed a similar stand towards a very helpful and knowledgable Charlie Tango member, namely Conor, (Northern Crusader).

I will echo my words again in that it really isn't in your best interest to knowingly or even unwittingly alienate yourself from others by taking such stances for what should otherwise be an intelligent discussion.


I'm all for radio experimentation, questioning conventional wisdom and seeing others bring ideas to fruition, in fact I applaud it. However I do draw the line when what should be debate to enhance such ventures gets dragged down to such nonsense.

It's entirely up to you how you progress from now on.


All the best,
Victor

C.T. Admin.

Tom, Chickenfoot@1987,

Thank you for the kinds words mate, really appreciated.

All I do know is that Charlie Tango only exists due to the coming together of people or its members for the greater good of radio enjoyment. I hope that it's always that way.  


All the best to you and have a great weekend,
Victor


I wish the very same sentiments to all Charlie Tango members. Have a great weekend one and all.

Any pictures or a diagram at all I would be interested to see this and hear what your experience of using it is like if you have one up and running, compromise antennas are all the rage with limited space and restrictive regulations these days.  
I have been making some great contacts with a wire doublet in my loft so I am always interested to hear the experiences of others...

Victor wrote:

For less than £30 you could get a Foundation licence and open a world of radio opportunities, awesome people such as those at Essex Ham will even train you for free. You don't even need a radio to begin your Ham adventure due to the likes of 'Echolink' deciding for yourself if it's real radio or not...but it can help communicate with other radio enthusiasts.

£20 or so would bag a Baofeng handheld and suddenly you have access to 2m & 70cm, (as well as PMR), the Amateurs that frequent those frequencies as well as all of the Repeaters. Is that "DX"? Well with a Baofeng, a modified old TV antenna and a Repeater I was able to fire a signal across three counties to my old friend that so far has been impossible on any other frequency or mode. Counts as "DX" to me.

So far we're only up to a quarter of the budget you set, plenty of money left for even QRP SDR transceivers with multi mode capability currently flooding the market.

I can can only agree with this being newly licenced . I came on here after purchasing some CB  gear radio and 1/2 wave venom antenna  after not having one since the early 80s. I thought as the ssb and cept channels were now open I'd be able to find enough contacts to keep me happy , but was warned on here that things may be a bit "quiet" and that it was actually cheaper to set up with HAM gear in some cases .
After a month or two with a couple of local contacts and one or two brief continental ones I found it was hard to get contacts either because the band was closed or you couldn't get a word in through the cacophony when they were open.
I decided to get my foundation licence and bought a VHF /UHF hand held a week or so ago to use when out and about walking . I pushed the boat out and got a Yaesu one for under £80  but as mentioned the perfectly adequate Baofeng is about £30. I'm still using the supplied token gesture rubber duck and I can pretty much get at least one  contact every time I'm out and can get into repeaters with it I can open a repeater on the Isle of Man from here and speak to stations in Ireland for example ,