Introduction: J Pole Antenna for 2 Meters
This is a quick video of a simple J Pole antenna build for 2 meters. The plans are readily available online from a number of sources. The plans for this one came from: http://www.hamuniverse.com/jpole.html
Easy to build and pretty effective. Total cost was under $20. (It has been a long time since I did much plumbing so my soldered connections are not pretty.)
Thanks for watching.
9 Comments
8 years ago on Introduction
Your 440 Range will be a shorter pole look here
:(https://www.instructables.com/id/J-Pole-Antennas-Fo... )
also make a coil out of coax, 4turns of coax about 5inches in diameter , try and keep that about 3 or 4 inches from your feed point
10 years ago on Introduction
drbill - Stealth is always a good idea. Fortunately our HOA rules here are pretty lax and I have a lot of trees and foliage around to somewhat hide my projects. Although sometimes I forgo stealth and just hang it out there. The PVC Tube Ham Radio Tower Project video that I did sticks out like a sore thumb, especially from the street in front of the house. But it works well.
sciencerules - Good suggestion. So far the soldered connections seem very stable, but I'm always open to other options.
Thanks again for the views and comments.
10 years ago on Introduction
I want to make an all copper J-Pole but where I live they won't let me put one up.
Instead I went with 300 ohm TV twin lead for my J-Pole and it works pretty good at 1.2:1 SWR.
If they ask I tell them its for my FM radio receiver, stealth is my middle name now.
10 years ago on Introduction
I happen to have one exactly like this, and I can offer an improvement. Where the wires connect to the antenna, you can install a Female UHF type connector on the antenna and a Male UHF on the coax. makes a much cleaner and safer connection.
11 years ago on Introduction
Curious if this is grounded ? I imagine a lightning strike could be deadly. Would it be advisable to clear coat the copper to prevent oxidation of the metal?
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
Yes, it will be grounded soon. Exterior antennas should be. Regarding a clear coat; I've never coated copper exterior antennas. Any patina or oxidation on copper antennas hasn't caused a measurable problem for me in the past. Thanks for taking a look and offering your thoughts.
11 years ago on Introduction
Update on SWR. I tightened up all connections and re-checked the SWR. To my surprise it dropped to an almost flat reading, the needle hardly moves across pretty much the whole 144 to 148 band. If only my back yard wasn't in a massive valley! Even being topographically challenged I can hit two repeaters with a 4 watt HT that are between 15 and 30 miles away.
11 years ago on Introduction
Thanks for taking a look and for the advice. I used stainless steel hardware but will certainly keep an ear out for a degrading sound or rise in SWR. Or, I may just switch them out for brass. We'll see. If anyone has a suggestion on how to modify this existing J Pole to also cover 440 that would be great. Not sure that it can be modified. I might just need to rebuild the antenna with a slightly different design to incorporate 440.
11 years ago on Introduction
I made one of these about 12 years ago. After about a year or so, I began to get awful static interference and my SWR was way off from what it was before. Alan (my Elmer) came over and we brought down the antenna for inspection. The solution was as simple as it was cheap and easy. I, as it appears you did as well, used galvanized screws in connecting the leads. Alan told me to replace them with brass screws as corrosion between the galvanized screws and the copper tubing causes a form of electrolysis (I believe was the term he used) that caused the interference and can actually damage your radio. I did and the problem disappeared and has been gone for 11 years (also the SWR was better than when the antenna was new).