the vswr issue might be because it looks like the antenna ground plane is below the mast pole, try rising the antenna up higher so the ground planes are above the mast pole.

1. I love this video. 2. I wish operators understood the concept of aesthetics. You've done a fairly decent attempt at non-industrial aesthetics.

It’s never high enough is a true story, just added 4’ to my mast today and already want to raise it higher

That entry panel looks really nice! I've been thinking about doing some upgrades to my coax entry and will be taking at hard look at this to see if it will work for me. Thanks for sharing!

Looks good, I like that copper ground plate.

Looks great! I would recommend grounding.

G'day from Australia .... We use UHF as our primary 80 channel citizen band radio systems operating on 476.4250 to 477.4125 . I have about 10 handhelds both 2 watt and 5 watt and four of my units are dual band UHF/VHF units . I have three vehicles and all three have five watt car UHF's for road usage which is the maximum allowable output power for private use . After that you require licencing and qualification . In my State (Tasmania) we have lots of non highway roads where mobile phone coverage is not good or non existent so having UHF access is great . We have two emergency channels on 5 and 35 which is 476.525 .. Channels 1 to 8 and 41 to 48 are Duplex repeater channels where repeaters are present . I have three repeaters Channel 3 , 7 and 8 not too far from me , One day I'd like to set up a basic base station at home . Your vid is a great help for a good antenna set up . Thanks ...

Nice and clean ground system! the antenna if you can place vetical to the box not the other side, seems too low and too much coax and place the pole on the wall and not on patio so gain in height...my 2 cent 73 de iz3qvb

Nice install, what about a ground for the antenna mast?

Very nice. Hope to catch you on MN 3127 some day.

you need to put that antenna farther up the mast close to the tip of the mast it might help you with the swr i know it did me

Diamond makes some great antennas. During tropo openings, I've used my X50 at 35 ft above ground and made FT8 contacts over 700 miles away. Have you considered having the mast pass through the deck and pass into the ground? Another video idea would be to repeat the Pi Star distance test but with the hotspot using the Diamond antenna. I know it isn't what hotspots were intended for but would be interesting to see.

Newbie here KO4MWD. I like the antenna set up. If I might recommend looking at some angle brackets to mount on the bottom side of the deck board then through the deck joist. Might be over kill, but in the mountains of Virginia where I live it gets VERY windy. Where is a good place to order lmr600? I'm currently running a btech uv50x2, 100' rg8u, and a tram antenna 1477 I believe. Thanks! 73

My guess would be the swr issue is the 20ft of coiled coax.

Nice VHF/UHF install. You really thought it out, well. If I were doing it, I would do it the lazy way by just putting a tripod on the roof. Maybe you'll be able to get into our repeater, if the conditions are right, over here in Jamestown, ND. 147.180 (+.600 input) no PL. There is a guy in MN that gets in, quite often. - ND0TS

Nice..........

Better to use WHITE heavy duty zip ties. Black absorbs heat from the sunlight and wears out a lot quicker.

Nice video. I've been considering the same entry panel. How did you secure the panel to the side of the house. Just screws directly into studs?

This is just what I need for my new shack. Is there a way to run ladder line in through the box?

Ground your mast, and you should be able to bring your SWR down. Right now, looking at what I see your mast in part of the antenna (unbalanced load) pretty much. Heard say that you had some SWR issues. This should fix it, I've seen it before. It's simple to see that coax braid side is just a Ground, but that's not the case its still one side of a basic dipole regardless of calling it vertical, yagi,. Hope this helps it.

Can you please tell me the name of that junction box with the copper ground plate? Or where to get one?

What was the answer to your SWR problems.

Forgot to mention in previous reply . VHF is essentially used for aircraft , marine coms and safety/ weather updates and police , fire , ambulance , forestry , SES ,and rail and is mostly encrypted and anyone caught with units that can interact on these emergency services faces huge fines and having to give up the equipment and repeat offenders can face gaol time ..You can listen though via scanners so long as you can't hook into and hamper operations . HF is used for long distance as you'd know of course . 27 Meg /SSB is essentially gone now , The truckies and buses etc use UHF almost exclusively now . Even though VHF is primarily for essential services some of the services do carry UHF as well as a back up which is mostly for citizen use in case it's needed or VHF links aren't available or failed .

This is a great set-up but limited to those with a deck. I got a deck on the second floor but just bought a 8ft tower for the roof. I'm getting second thoughts now. I'm not sure I'm going to use the tower I bought now that I see your set up. I have more weight to support than you. Maybe 50lbs total. Think your set-up is much stronger for wind too. If I go with your set-up, I will need more than one stand off support of the house.

What was it like working with LMR 600? Did you do the connections yourself? You mentioned switching to the Ultraflex at the box. Was that just to make the 90 degree turn or for any other reason? would you make the same coax decisions if doing it again? ...independent ground rod, or tie into panel ground rod for house service?

I have been thanking about a Diamond X300-A to replace my little X30a..

I just did the same install last week, with slight modifications. I installed two, twenty foot poles, one with that same UHF/VHF antenna, which tops out at 37'. and another with a Discone antenna which tops out at around 25'. The poles on also on my rear deck but, because I have an 8' wall on two sides, that are constructed between 8"X8" posts that also support the deck itself. My masts are then supported with 2" pipe strapping, and lag bolted to the posts. They are also guy wired to the deck railings ? (None of this really impressed my wife all that much, but she went along with it.) The pipes are individually grounded with 60' of heavy duty coax running across the cellar to my shack. I just analyzed the VHF/UHF antenna last night, and got a really nice 1.2 SWR reading, but I have yet to try to make a contact. The area I live in has two repeaters, and the next closest ones are 7, 14, 21, 27, and 30 miles, with plenty of hills in between. Unfortunalely, I live in a lowland area, so getting out on UHF/VHF is always a struggle.

Does the antenna needs its own power supply or just the antenna coax that goes to the radio? Sorry if I sound stupid but I am just getting in radio stuff

What radio are you using in your UHF VHF system? Thinking about doing what you have done. KN4ZPG

Is that ground rod tied to your house ground as well? You should only have one ground for everything, and bonding the rods together is important. Otherwise, nice setup! Thanks for the vid!

Matt--I just ordered the medium sized panel and like you have vinyl siding to deal with. Drilling holes through drywall and sheathing should be fine, but I am curious as to how you mounted the box and dealt with the siding. Did you just drive screws through the mounting holes and into the vinyl and the sheathing? Did you use cleats tied to studs (it doesn't appear you did.) Or does the box just "float" along the edges of the siding with spacers / standoffs holding it away from where the screws enter the siding?

I have ben running a Comet GP-9N it it the twin to the Diamond X510HD & I Believe Them To Be The Best 2 Vertical vhf/Uhf that Money Can Buy..As Long as you also Get Really Good High Quality Coax..I may know Why Your swr was a little High..I noticed your ant was a little low on the Mast try bringing it up pretty much Even & i think your SWR Will Drop ! Thanks for Sharing & 73's

Looking to put up my first antenna at the house, do I have to ground the cable or anything so it does not fry my radio if struck by lightning. any info helps, thanks.

Where did you get that box? Is there a website to order that?

suggestion ….. drill four holes in a plate and put that under the deck to get even more stability ….. very nice setup though

K0LWC Why did you not put the grounding rod closer to you entery box all those bends not really good for grounding

Nah, go with the Diamond X6000A. I have one, it's the bollocks.

Points to coil of coax, points to antenna, wonders why SWR is an issue.... maybe the COIL of FEED LINE!

Extremely, long cable witch will cause a big antenna gain loss.

⚠️ OCD ALERT !!!⚠️ It bothers the F out of me how your ground and coax CROSS underneath outside the box. Looks so sloppy. Also, there's no way that mast is secure enough between the deck and where you attached it to the 4" standoff at the roofline. That length of sections in between is going to buckle in high winds.