Easy Build: 20m Half-Wave Rotatable Dipole Antenna

Рет қаралды 28,349

10 ай бұрын

Here's an easy to build 20 meter half-wave rotatable dipole. This antenna weighs about 6.5 pounds and be built for around $130. Adjust the tubing lengths for other bands.
www.prestonmoore.com/hamradio/...

Пікірлер: 70

@brenta1905 10 ай бұрын

One of the key elements to hamming. Great build. One of the mystical commercial sellers would charge $1500 for it after adding their "secret" sauce.😂

@georgebodley8068 Ай бұрын

your absolutely spot on about the outrageous price of antennas these days Good video bloke.Cracking job well done.

@HamVentureswithKD9YOZ 10 ай бұрын

Solid construction. Looks great!

@JesusIsLordofMybeing 10 ай бұрын

Very clean assembly. Thanks for sharing.

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Thanks. I'm already thinking about adding a boom and a reflector to convert it into a 2el beam.

@digitalanalogueham 10 ай бұрын

What a fantastic build great swr too!

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Thanks Chris

@tonyd6884 10 ай бұрын

Very Nice I will definitely keep this in the project to do list

@johnwest7993 10 ай бұрын

Excellent! I grow weary of new hams thinking they have to spend $400 on $120 worth of tubing just because it has a fancy name sticker on it. Ham radio is about learning about RF. That's why even a tech class ham is licensed to design and build 1500 Watt Xmitters. New hams really need to find Elmers, not salesmen to help them get going.

@DucatiMTS1200 10 ай бұрын

That's a real good job. I like to see a job done well! 73 de GI8WFA.

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Thanks Bill...appreciate it

@kn4yba80 10 ай бұрын

Looks great! Thanks for sharing...

@DK5ONV 10 ай бұрын

Excellent Job done on that Antenna built. 73 de Uncle Günter 💯👌🙋‍♂

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Good hearing from you again Gunter...73

@williampeacock9473 10 ай бұрын

Enjoyed watching you build the 20 meter rotatable dipole. I want to make one myself and a 15m as well. I have 17m rotatable dipole already. 73 WILLIE PEACOCK Blackshear, GA 🎉

@johnsonstechworld 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video. May be I will try a 6 m rotatable dipole when I get an HF radio, hopefully this year. I do not have space for any lower band antennas! Happy New Year. 73 de VU2JO.

@n5yiz 5 ай бұрын

Happy NY Jon, 73

@grandpaandlucas7054 10 ай бұрын

I built a 3 element for 20mtrs it done me proud. its out done my mates cushcraft A3s. well done gone job.

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

I believe it. I want to possibly convert this dipole to a 2-el beam in the future.

@seeharvester 9 ай бұрын

@@n5yiz You'll love the 2 element. I had one for 10 meters that worked great. 6' boom as I recall. Plans from the ARRL Antenna book.

@jeffmay1024 Күн бұрын

I would love to see the plans for that.

@kensimmons2133 10 ай бұрын

I hate it because now I am forced to build one, lol, great job. Like to see a video n the truck mast setup

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

It's very, very easy to build. 73

@limanowski1234 7 ай бұрын

Very nice build ...the drill block is real nifty. John Limanowski N9DNB

@n5yiz 7 ай бұрын

No as good as V-blocks and a press, but good enough.

@jamesgeorge1709 10 ай бұрын

Good job next time use 10 -15 snap on ferrite cores on your coax rather than the 240/43 core,it works better and looks better too. This was an awsum build I did something similar but built a vertical and going to build another and phase them so I can steer my signals on 40. So I'll have a 2 element vert array for about $200.00. 73 and keep up the good work.

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

That 43 core is just one I had on hand. It seems to work fine, but I haven't tested it on other bands with the dipole. Good luck with your vertical array. I'd like to build one also.

@KVUSMC-KU4SMC 10 ай бұрын

Awesome Build Cheers and 73s KU4SMC

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Thanks...I'm a subscriber to your channel...73

@MrCharleyb 10 ай бұрын

awesome build from 6y5ho

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Thanks Oscar...great signal from 6Y land!

@gadymarcus2362 10 ай бұрын

Magnifico.⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

@RC-Heli835 10 ай бұрын

Love those dial in sounds. How far have you made contacts with 20 Meter? Nice build also!

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

I'm very surprised at how such a simple antenna can work so well. I made 175 contacts the day after I made that video.

@RC-Heli835 10 ай бұрын

@@n5yiz Awesome! Check out the sound of this old ham radio dialing in. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fcqUqs-Axq3Jc4U.html

@JockoFlocko 4 ай бұрын

Great build, really nicely put together using solid hardware. I've been thinking about making something like this to replace the 20M portion I use on my Alpha Delta DX-CC antenna (part of a multi-band fan dipole in an inverted V configuration that doesn't work very well). I was curious about stacking two of these, one antenna's lobes pointing north and south and the other pointing east and west. Would they interfere with each other? Could such a configuration be co-phased? I'm trying to get around using a rotor because of where I live and the horrendous weather we get in the fall and winter months (heavy wind storms, freezing rain, ice, etc). Fantastic video, thanks for sharing it. 73 -VA3AWP.

@n5yiz 4 ай бұрын

I think that would be an interesting idea with the phasing. I plan on stacking the 40 meter and 20 meter dipoles on a 50ft Rohn telescoping mast. I have big plans for a few antennas. I've been busy lately and just haven't had time. 73

@ScatManAust 10 ай бұрын

nice

@paulobrasilhawaii 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for share, Im planning start my next week. 73 W4LDS

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

It looks like the K2SSS "SSS Solution" eBay store is temporarily closed until 8-29-23. He's on vacation. Good luck!

@paulobrasilhawaii 8 ай бұрын

Finally I finished and the result blow my mind, thanks again to share your experience! 73 de W4LDS

@phillipzx3754 10 ай бұрын

Can it be collapsed short enough to use (maybe) up to 6 meters? But what caught my eye is that clever mast mounting system in your truck. 👍

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

I can't get 6-meters out of this one unless I order more 5/8" tubing. The center section extends 36" (one side) and you can't insert the next tube enough to get it to the 54" or so needed. All that's needed would be a couple of 24" 5/8 tubes. all the other bands up to 20m can be configured. I'm going to make another video exploring different configs. 73

@johnforte3466 9 ай бұрын

Let's face it, not very much left other than antennas for hams to experiment with. The dipole is a very good antenna and being able to turn it helps somewhat.

@n5yiz 9 ай бұрын

100% agree....73

@theramblingsoflarry9290 10 ай бұрын

Cool

@charlesmanos7464 10 ай бұрын

I watched your video to the what happened to the price imports list you said you were going to have it I have not found that to be accurate

@KD9VUK- 10 ай бұрын

We have the same setup! 7300 and Wimo rails. Wish i had a truck though, i would do the same thing. Is that the mast section from the MFJ EX Tripod mast?

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

The Wimo rails saved my radio about three days after I installed them. I had the radio zipped up in the backpack and it fell out of the truck from the passenger seat. It landed directly on one of the rails. It hit the ground hard enough to bend the rail mounting screws. I had to replace the screws, but other than that, there was not a scratch on it. The mast is from Max-Gain Systems. It's one of the "HD" models. 73

@JA-fy1bn 9 ай бұрын

Excellent video! What would you consider the maximum power handling capacity? Thanks!

@chublez 7 ай бұрын

Should easily handle 5 watts EIRP.

@richarde735 9 ай бұрын

been waiting on that damn bracket for three weeks now. still not here yet! Texas towers was fast - 2 days

@n5yiz 9 ай бұрын

I think the seller was on vacation when the video dropped, so he's probably still playing catch-up. I'm thinking about ordering a larger size bracket and building a 40-meter version. Good Luck!

@MooneyDriver74531 9 ай бұрын

I am not finding SSS solution. Do you have the link to his ebay store?

@n5yiz 9 ай бұрын

www.ebay.com/str/yz4iz0?_trksid=p4432023.m570.l113337

@richarde735 10 ай бұрын

you must be close by to Texas Towers because shipping is $40 via UPS to my QTH.

@n5yiz 10 ай бұрын

Yes... shipping is expensive. I'm picking up direct. If you find any place that's cheaper, let me know.

@richarde735 10 ай бұрын

@@n5yiz I spent the $40. the hub guy’s store is shutdown while he’s on vacation

@willrucker1628 9 күн бұрын

Morning, I built this as per the video and my SWR is off the chart. I am new to this and am at a loss of where I went wrong. I am thinking it could be the pig tail, it was my first time building one. But I am not sure that I constructed it correctly. Can you explain on guide me to a video of how to make a pig tail? Or maybe the choke balum wasn't built exactly as it should be. I removed the choke balum and put in a 1:9 UnUn and got he SWR to come down to a 1:1 in the 21mHz range.73 KN6SCF

@n5yiz 9 күн бұрын

The pigtail I used is just a simple common mode choke. The center pin of the coax goes to one side of the dipole and the shield (braid) is attached to the other. It sounds like you may have a short if you wrapped your own. Check for continuity through the choke for both the center conductor and braid with a multimeter. I'm not sure if you were stating a sweep of the dipole with your Unun resulted in the lowest SWR at 21mhz or your were targeting 21mhz. The specs for the one in the video is for 14mhz (20m). Sorry, it's hard to gauge someones technical knowledge through the comment section. As a quick test, I think it would be best to bypass the choke or unun entirely. Just connect your feedline directly to each leg of the dipole. Sweep or check the SWR. I'm working on an update video about a 40m rotatable I made a few months back. I'll try to explain the feedpoint a little better. Video should be out Monday if you don't get is solved until then. Good Luck!

@willrucker1628 9 күн бұрын

@@n5yiz you were spot on. The continuity on the coax was non-existent on the center wire. Seems I was using too large of a wire lug. 73s and many thanks.

@jeffmay1024 Күн бұрын

Do you have a Length List for the other bands. I plan to make this 20 meter to your specks.

@n5yiz Күн бұрын

You can adjust the 20m version down to get the higher bands. I just use the quarter wave formula to get it close and then fine adjust from there. Use a Sharpie to mark the tubes for different band configs. It's going to be a couple months, but I'll be installing the 20m and 40m permanently on a Rohn mast. I'll try to video as much as I can.

@jeffmay1024 Күн бұрын

@@n5yiz so bringing in the elements brings it from 20 down to what meter band you want? I’m learning as I go.