I like your straight-to-the-point approach of describing/ showing each step. No rambling. No fluff. Just an efficient how-to video. Thanks!

This I've been looking for. Others don't really explain this part

I became a Ham almost 3 months ago, my first homebrew antenna was a 20 meter centerfed dipole similar to yours but the PVC was just a short tube, it's still in use and I make great contacts with it. 20 meters is my favorite band, I'm going to add two more legs and use spacers for 40 meters soon. 73! KI5JCO

Good explanation. I modified the structural parts a little based on what I had available but it's just what I need and cheaper than ordering the part on its own. Great explanation, you're a good teacher. Very clear instructions, great angles for seeing how you did it. Nice and simple.

My man only blinked twice during the entirety of the video. There is a great chance that you are a Staring Competition World Champion in an Alternative Reality. Thanks for the video. Really helpful by the way.

Great idea. I strongly recommend the use of stainless steel over the cheaper zinc plated junk so common at the big box stores. Even though zinc is often considered for outdoor uses, it also rusts quite happily and well after awhile. The rust will add impedance at those points as well as fostering corrosion on conductors. I built this exact same thing many years ago in my Jurassic period using zinc plated eye bolts, which is how I began a journey to the dark side only to be saved by stainless steel.

Thanks Mike! I think you've made the most detailed and easy to follow video I've been able to find on the internet for how to make a center insulator. I'm working on a fan dipole and I was struggling with picking the right hardware and assembling the insulator. Your video helped tons!

Excellent video Michael. I like this version (using a "T") much better than other PVC center insulator builds I've seen. Great explanation of the build too.

Really appreciate your detailed instructions and parts list. Built a tape measure yagi based on your article the other day. Thanks again.

Another awesome video! Thanks for posting and 73’s...

Real nice build and great video Michael! Thanks! 👍📻⚡👍

this looks way easier than what i was thinking of doing. thanks for showing me the light. great video. great channel.

Great stuff! Love your channel. I'm currently studying for my General and am looking to get into HF on the cheap with a home brew antenna. This dipole project you're working on is right along the lines of what I was thinking so can't wait to see the next episode. Keep up the great work and thank you! 73, KD9PXF

having the parts list and picture up front is useful. you're very organised!

I will have to give this a try, thanks for putting out another informative video!

Very good! I liked the instructions and the vital parts list. Thanks

I have made a few of these. I made some with multiple antennas hooked to the same center. They worked great. I spread out the different antennas on different lines. One was for the bottom of 10, 15, and 20 . One was for top of 10, 12, and 17 meters. KG7IRJ Ohio.

Michael this was another great DIY antenna project. Looking forward for the second part of this awesome video and then will start building my own. If it does 20 and 40 metres then it would be simply great. Hope you would also show how to correctly host this antenna on top of a terrace. Really appreciate all your hard work in creating homebrew projects that keeps us so much engaged and differenciates from other tons of similar channels. Have learnt so much from your videos and appreciate your prompt responses to my queries in the past. Have a great day ahead. Greetings from New Delhi, India. 73

Clear instructions, good job. This was helpful.

hey Michael!! im a brand new ham radio licensed past november 2022 (XE2AKL) here in san luis potosi mexio, and your video was the most easy of all!! thank you for your time and I am already your fan as soon as i get this done i ll send you a pic

Michael, I just used this design to make a 10m dipole this morning. I used it for a POTA activation this afternoon and made DX contacts in Spain, France & PR, as well as several in the US. Simple easy center insulator, excellent instructions. Thanks for your help.

I built on of those in the mid 80's... still have it. Worked well

Good project. I knew I was making this part way to complicated. I knew there was an easier way.

Perfect timing!

Great video! Very nice design and construction build! TYFP!

I use a 40m/20m fan dipole and 100 watts and have worked the world in the last 12 months.

Great job!!! Love the point and nothing more. Keep it up.

Cheap and easy to use I like it. Thanks for the great tip. Now ive gotta visit the plumbing section for my new antenna LOL :)

So why would this video get voted down??? Free information, well presented, thorough, clear and concise. Very good sound and video quality with clear instructions..... Some people just can't be pleased. Sad. Thank you for your effort anyway sir.

Thanks for your time!,

This was very helpful information.

Awesome . Thanks for sharing

Good explanation, with attention to safety.

This is a great video! You brilliantly demonstrate why sometimes its simply better to buy something from someone than to make it yourself. With all your parts costs, tools and time, you spent about 5x the cost of just buying one online.

Nice build Michael.

thank you for the DIY, I will do the same. Very informative channel

Great idea. The strain on the end caps is depending on the adhesive though. I would drill through and stick a pin in to bind them and seal with glue or hot melt tape. I hope that helps.

I've been using this design for years, works great. Great video!

this is awesome! thanks for the tutorial

Great timing! I just pulled down some old Christmas lights and got two good wires out of the bunch. I'm not sure on the lengths, but it might be 2 m antenna or maybe a 40m if I'm lucky. I know how to make a dipole, but I wanted the center a bit better than soldering on the coax. This is perfect!

Well put together how to video...thank you,

Thanks for the good information.

Thank you Michael

Great information, thank you.

Super simple👍

Appreciate your detailed explanation it’s time to replace my current dipole antenna. My current center insulator has been in use for 20 years. 73 de AA4SH

Thanks for informative video.

I made a dipole antenna for the CB Band back in around 2008. I used a triple female coax T connector for the center part. I used two PL-259 connectors to attach the dipole wires to it. One connector used the center pin and the other connector used the shield hole. It worked pretty good and I got a good match after trimming down the wires. I took a nylon coated clothes line and taped the dipole to it and used the clothes line to stretch it out and tie it off to the fence clothes line poles in the back yard. I taped the lenght of the feed coax from the center connector going down to the ground to a clothes prop and hooked the prop to the clothes line at the center to support the antenna. I called it an invisible dipole because it looked like I just had a clothes line and clothes prop stretched out across the yard.

Great video thanks.

Great video

That is how I used to make mine. Simple and works well. Now I make them by only using a cap and reducer. The cap version is also simple to make and a bit lighter. I like to make more than one when I do it so I have them on hand. It seems be just as easy to make 3 or 4 as it is to make one. Excellent video!

I really like your design for this center insulator! After watching this, the only thing I'd do different is use a step (cone shaped) drill bit instead of the spade bit to drill the 5/8" hole. As always, thanks for an excellent presentation! I look forward to seeing the rest of the antenna come together. 73 - N1NUG

Great Video.

nice job.. will last for years,, thank you..

Thank you for this helpful video! :)

Great idea.

Well done!! thanks!

Nice job. Coast effective and easy to build. 73; Leo

Excellent

As a fellow Wisconsinite, very aware of our "accent", I loved the outtake at the end. "Oh Jeez louise!"

I enjoy your videos - please keep them coming. I was thinking about adding a 4" section of pipe to the arm where the coax connects and building and inserting an a air core wire choke. I want to use the feedpoint with balun / choke for a multiband (40/20m) inverted V antenna.

cool. Always wanted to make a dipole and this thing works great

Dipoles can be used in VHF/UHF as well. Granted they are smaller but in a beam antenna they are used with parasitic and reflective elements. Also SSB contacts on VHF are made with dipole or folded antennas to save space. As you have said they are mostly HF/LF band antennas, they are more common in lower bands.

I know I have seen a movie with you in it. Some comedy I swear

I love your approach. The only thing I would do differently is instead of drilling the two holes for the wires to exit the center connector. I would have soldered ring terminals to the ends of the wires and used the eye bolts as a place to hock the wire to on the inside of the T fitting. Then I would have added 2 washers between to regular nuts on the outside of the Eye Bolts for a place to attach the dipole wire to, allowing for future wire repairs or to make the dipole for a different band.

I like this center insulator but I made a small addition. I put in a small screw (with the head on the inside of each arm). The wires from the connector in the base come out in the armpits of the T as shown. I put a ring connector on each of those wires and run to the screw. Each of the wires for the fan dipole also have a ring connector and attach to the screws and then i put a num on to hold the ring connectors in place.

Great video, Michael - and the outtake at the end was a hoot! I think I'm going to see about getting some parts from the plumbing section at the box store and get started on that fan dipole I've been meaning to put together. 73, KO4AZY

Wow...your lock down mullet is coming on a treat...looks like I have competition , I'm about 2 weeks away from a full on 1985 George Michael...nice build BTW, great video.

Very useful tip. I can either do it exactly as shown or use it as a reference. Hope you come up with a video of how you build a 1x1 balun. 73 from PY5WHO.

Nice design, looking forward to the follow up one on the actual antenna build. As for suggestions, I'd say to use deep well sockets or hollow shaft nutdrivers to tighten up the hex nuts and SO-239 nut, easier than using the pliers. Back in 1975 I was using CB radios, and had a base ground plane antenna get mangled in a windstorm. I ended up making a temporary dipole using RG-58 coax. I measured off a 1/4 wavelength from the end of the cable, sliced around the outer jacket without knicking the braided shield, and pulled the jacket off the cable. I then spread the braid where the jacket ended, creating a small hole, and pulled the center conductor out through that hole. I then cut the old jacket into two equal lengths, and tied one end of each piece onto the end of the shield and center conductor. I then tied the other ends of the jacket pieces to two trees, spaced the right distance apart, creating a horizontally polarized center fed dipole. Since I'd used the CB band center frequency of 27.185 MHz (and done the math, measuring and cutting correctly) when I checked the SWR across the band it was essentially 1:1. We ended up using my temporary fix for months. (Here's hoping this story inspires someone!)

Another great video Mike! 73 George KB3WAQ

I’d recommend a chassis mount so-239 because you can bolt onto the ground part instead of trying to solder to it.

I made mine maybe 18 yrs ago and still up but did make it and looks like a 1 to 1 balun and also feed three dipoles from just the one. A 160M , 75M, and also a 40m and cut for the center of the band that I operate. Need a tuner at the ends but dipoles are hard to beat!!! N4JOJ

Great video, and spot on. Any subjections on how to make this center insulator to work for a 5-fan dipole, I looking at making. Thanks again for the video.

Hey Michael, good show. Thanks. KC3BXZ Joe 73

Best way to get from tree to deck

The balun needs to have an impedance matching transformer to "balance" the load at 50ohms. You also need to make sure, when you erect the Dipole, you have several layers of insulators at uneven wavelengths to reduce noise and attenuation

Nice work. Thanks! Wish you were my neighbor. We could "compare notes" on our radios & antennas 😊

Instead of a spade bit use a step bit. You can make a variety of hole diameters and the cut is clean and quick. Perfect for SO-239’s.

Homemade antennas are the best

Michael, Thanks for another great video! What are your thoughts on whether instead of connecting a SO 239 connector at the bottom of the insulator, it would be better to connect a Window feed line with a SO 239 connect at the end of it to connect the coax?

Hi Michael, Nice homebrew Center insulator. Lack of such piping material here in Germany. I ordered my center insulators ready made from the british company moonrakerukltd on eBay or the German company WIMO. They are about 9$ or 7.5€. Homemade would be a lot better, I agree, because you can put an small 1:1 balun inside. 73 and stay healthy Stefan DG4RBS

great video. but do not use silacone, as sure it will plug up a hole but never really sticks to most everything, water will get past it. better to use caulk. also around the base/threads of the I bolts as a added protection.

I'd really like to see instruction on the best ways to tie the antenna cable to the eye bolts, it's never covered in these dipole center videos

Good job.Bravo.18 sv 134.Dimitris the Greek.73.

Always clear and informative. Thank you sir. KN4EQG

This was simple enough that I might just be brave enough to attempt it after I obtain the necessary tools. I think I might trim the 3/4" end caps though so that they sit flush with the T-connector. I hope you will do a follow-up video on making the wire portion of the antenna. I'm not feeling quite comfortable with that yet.

plastic t peice middle was the mount up and down dipole one would fit into the other extended to 9 feet up 9feet down you would leave the upright straight up diaganol the bottom straight down one tube would slide up and down for swr straight up and straight down as i said middle for mounting to the wall could also use as directional beam horizontaly

As a noob to antenna building can you explain what those to wires connect to that you soldered to the so239 connector? As always love your videos

Depending on your climate, a small drain hole next to the connector is a good idea. Any dew that collects inside needs a way to get out.

I used a 1 inch T and ending up costing abt $8 to make it And used screws to hold the plugs in not glue

I very much enjoy your videos. Does it matter if the wire is stranded or solid?

I'm curious where you found your power block with the Anderson connectors in it maybe you can share that I know it's off topic

When using PVC fittings for my center insulators, I added a flat washer and nut to the inside as well. I do not trust the PVC alone as the eyes could have considerabe pressure and the extra hardware is cheap insurance.

yes

Hello and thank you for the nice video I have a question ,I bought a 10 meter dipole long wire center fed I want to put this long wire about 4 foot above my metal roof building is this a good idea or bad idea? will it help with reflection? Thank you again.

Why not connect internally and keep it reasonably sealed? Make the wires into a loop, solder the loop closed, and put the loop beneath the washer for each side of the dipole before cementing the cap.

I'd probably tap the holes rather than driving a screw into the PVC. I've also seen bulkhead connectors with a spot to solder on the ground side of the wire. Other than that great build!

Very Informative Michael Thanks but what if i use end cap instead? 73s From DU6KD & DW6XLC

I just soldered the wire directly to the connector and use poxy glue. lol