Home Brew PMR446 Antenna

Hi all

Here are photographs of two antenna I have made for use on PMR446 frequency.


1/4 Wave Antenna (Above)

Vertical Dipole(Below)

Here are the calculators I used to determine the lengths of the radials.



Taken from Omnicalculator.com website

All radials are made using 3mm Stainless Steel rod.

Great stuff there Derek and thanks for posting.

Always brilliant to see others enjoying the fun and rewards of building your own antennas no matter what they may be. I hope they serve you well and look forward to you progressing and posting maybe your first Yagi-Uda beam antenna!


All the best,
Victor




Beams can be simpler than imagined and a quick look here shows what you can do :-

http://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf

It wouldn't take much to make a reflector for your dipole and turn it into a high gain corner reflector either :-

http://www.antentop.org/w4rnl.001/corn1.html

Both types don't require millimetre precision so much more easily constructed and quite wideband as well. Fun to bolt onto a handy for 70cm work or the larger antenna for 2m operations. (A 2m corner reflector might be a tad big though!)

Hi Victor

Many thanks for your words of encouragement, they are much appreciated. It's my first attempt and making antennas and I've enjoyed the process. I'd never connected a PL259 to coax before so that's at least one new skill I've learnt. My next venture is to try and make a 2m/70cm antenna again using 3mm stainless still rod.

I should also mention that I've now also learnt how to add a photo to one of my posts - my first attempt was a failure but I then looked at the forum's FAQ page and found the answer there.

I'll be sure to take a look at the links you have kindly provided me with and who knows that may be another antenna I can try and construct.

Best wishes
Derek

No worries there Derek and I'm thoroughly impressed that these are your first ever antennas so a very well done to you.  

The best aspect to it all is how you've obviously enjoyed making and learning more about antennas and so willing to share your triumphs. (All goes to encourage others to try the same and any additional info given is always a great help.)

Posting pictures to the forum took me quite a few attempts as well to start with!


I did find another bit of info with the beam antennas that may be of help to you (or others reading) and shows what can be done with a few gathered simple materials :-

http://www.wa5vjb.com/references/ClubYagiProject.pdf

Not as hard as it all seems to be and only a short step up from a dipole.


Keep having fun with it all Derek, thanks again for posting and I look forward to more from you.


All the very best,
Victor

I'm pleased to hear that it wasn't only me who needed more than one attempt to post pictures on the forum. 

With respect to the antennas I watched quite a few Youtube videos before I began. I really enjoyed the making of them and look forward learning more about the hobby.

Thanks again for the additional information.

Best wishes
Derek

A further update on my PMR446 antennas.
I checked the SWR on them both today and was quite pleased with the results.

Dipole Antenna - SWR


1/4 Wave Ground plane Antenna - SWR