Portable Telescoping Mast / Vertical Antenna

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Portable Telescoping Mast / Vertical Antenna

Рет қаралды 107,457

Күн бұрын

We are always looking for a simpler way to swing a beam into the air on Field Day. In making this telescoping mast I thought I should use it for a vertical antenna also.

Пікірлер: 116

@TOTALLYRELAXED Жыл бұрын

Great job, Jonathan! I just put up a GMRS antenna at my house…but, I wasn’t financially able to be as fancy as your install was after the expense of buying two HTs, one base radio, SWR meter, power supply, all of the clamps, coax, rebar to reinforce the bottom of the mast, etc, and the mast itself. The top of my antenna is only 21 feet above the ground but is working quite well talking from my house in Houston,Tx to California, Louisiana, and all over Texas with the help of repeaters currently. I have to say that I absolutely LOVE your crank-up operation of each section! Stay safe and 73s! ~Jim WRXY 695~

@radionb3i Жыл бұрын

Nice.... Happy it is working well for you.

@frankalvernas6628 9 ай бұрын

Very clever ! Thank you for sharing this with us. Great job!

@tonyfremont Жыл бұрын

I helped a guy put a hex beam up, several years ago. It is very light and low wind load. It tuned up well and has survived Houston weather since.

@radionb3i Жыл бұрын

Yes...our Field day group has switched to all spiderbeams. Very light, not traps, nice gain, and very easy to assemble and they give 10, 15, 20 with very low SWR. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eql9m9emuprFqGw.html

@kamaledirisinghe Жыл бұрын

Jonathan, you explain it nicely and do things carefully and safely. Congrats from Sri Lanka (closer to Mauritius) 4S7AB

@SiCkDiAbLo 3 жыл бұрын

You made that raise in the air way to easy....Great Job!!!

@earlblackjackmartinjr5750 3 жыл бұрын

Wow what a setup. What did you do for a living, build antennas. That's a well planned and executed build. I applaud you sir and my hat is off to you. I wish you were my neighbor so you could help me with reinstalling my antenna that should have never blown over. A small 10 minute jackblaster of a storm took it an guy wires for a whirl. Its a colossal 10,000 watt. No damage at all but I have no one to help me so I put my imax 2000 back on top of the house. To me you put a jigsaw puzzle together. FABULOUS NEIGHBOR..... 👍👍👍👍😊

@nigelwright3567 Жыл бұрын

Hi Jonathan, What a great video - your 'Telescopic' Antenna Mast design is just great !! Here in the UK some of the 'Mast Suppliers' would be charging a few thousand dollars for a somewhat similar Amateur Radio Mast ( .... but not to the same quality, obviously !!). I'm determined to have a go at making something like this one day. Very well done. Best Regards, Nigel W.

@vetinger 4 ай бұрын

tHANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR GREAT WORK AND THE VIDEO. 73!

@mikeramsey9747 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting build of a vertical antenna that had amazing results.

@edbouman5013 3 жыл бұрын

All I can say is WOW! That was impressive!

@ericbilliter3354 3 жыл бұрын

You Sir are a genius! Very impressive!

@theElderberryFarmer 4 жыл бұрын

Very nicely done, sir - I really enjoyed watching your video! I am new to the amateur radio hobby, and have built a 1/4 wave multi-band vertical antenna based very closely on the DX Commander All Band Vertical antenna. Your results bear out what I have found in studying just a little about antennas - that vertical antennas have a lower take-off angle than horizontal ones, and thereby are better suited for long range DX work. With my antenna and a 20 watt Xiegu G90 radio, I was able to have a conversation with a station in Canada, 1000 miles north of my location, on the 20 meter band. Having success with my home brew vertical antenna was very satisfying to me - I can only imagine how pleased you must be with the results of your project! 73 to you, KO4AZY.

@richardaldom741 3 жыл бұрын

Nice, go by a box of wing nuts for the radial plate. Since it’s a “temporary installation, it would likely make the job of installing the radials easier. I have a DX Commander, and he connects 5 or 6 radials in6to a single yellow fork crimp and just slides it over the bolt and tightens it up. Very nice construction of your mast. Years ago, I scratch built a lighting mast that went up 45ft in 3 sections, but when we built ours, it was steel and we used rollers to reduce friction when winching it up. The lights presented a significant wind loading, so steel was better suited for the loads. I think we did 4”, 2” and a round 1.5 pipe at the top but it’s been a long time. Got to love verticals for low angle takeoffs.

@barrykery1175 3 жыл бұрын

What a great video as well as a great design. I'm also very impressed with the results of the vertical working DX. I was wondering how you knew when to stop cranking so you don't unplug the second section of mast. Here's a suggestion. The cable that connects to the telescoping section is fixed to the tubing. Once you extend it, put some red paint on the cable close to the ground where you stand. Also put some red paint on the bottom section of hour mast. When you extend the second section of tubing and the two red paint marks line up, you are done. To be able to easily take apart the mast to use it for field day as well as a DX antenna in your back yard is great. The shunt coil is a great idea. I choose to make UnUn's for matching. Jerry Sevick's book shows how to make a 38 ohm to 50 ohm UnUn and it also puts the antenna at DC ground. I've made numerous UnUn's for inverted L's but they are 22.22 ohms to 50 ohms. Nice job, nice video and thanks for sharing. Barry G. Kery, KU3X

@radionb3i 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Actually I did put a piece of tape on the second cable so I knew exactly where the vertical was 1 to 1 on 80 meters. Because it worked so good I actually built a fan vertical for 80 and 160 with wires. I really like that fan vertical....don't know why it took me so long to take an interest in something like that. I must say I tried this telescoping mast to raise a 2 element 15 meter beam from the back of the car but quickly realized it's bracing was far from sufficient. So fabricated a strong tripod with angle iron to raise a spider beam for this field day. I really believe it will work great. I am sure I will have an update on that project when I finish the homemade spiderbeam.

@jimjaeger8968 3 жыл бұрын

When I saw the SWR I realized brilliance must go hand in hand with madness. I guess it's true what they say: Necessity is the mother of invention.

@wildbill1 3 жыл бұрын

Great job! Love the home brew

@SherwoodR631 3 жыл бұрын

love the idea - thinking about building the mast similiar to this.

@MrJarbuck 3 жыл бұрын

That was a fantastic watch. You've gave me some great ideas. 73s from Ireland MI7WPX

@radionb3i 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment. It works great as a tall vertical, but my bracing on the car was insufficient to raise a beam for field day. I reworked the bracing now for Field day this June.... I think I will make another video on my redesign which I believe will work much better.

@theodorekobishyn8387 4 жыл бұрын

Clear , informative and creative....you gave me some ideas for future projects... nice work

@williamrose9301 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing this video. Very informative and pleasantly entertaining. Well done! 73's

@garyhopkinssr8561 Жыл бұрын

That was really ingenious good craftsmanship good video thank you sir

@ajcates9136 3 жыл бұрын

My wife said no big antenna off the roof sooo now I have got to get creative and yes I subbed

@kermitefrog64 3 жыл бұрын

I have been wondering how I could make an antenna for my TV antenna. Great video.

@krazytrinisteve 3 жыл бұрын

This is crazy! Insane man! Now I have to make one....

@wmh327 4 жыл бұрын

Sir, This has to be one of the most impressive, professional looking setups I've ever seen. I have been into the CB hobby for a number of years and I've recently been interested in getting my Ham license. It amazes me the amount of intelligence and information that Ham's seem to have stored up in their minds. It's quite overwhelming to say the least. You have definitely brought the interest in obtaining my license back to the surface. Hopefully we'll be able to make contact in the near future. Best of luck to you from Central Indiana and God Bless! -Brian

@radionb3i 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks.... It is fun to build stuff and make it work.

@richarde735 4 жыл бұрын

So Jonathan, when are you coming over? This is exactly what I need! When it was all said and done, how much did this project cost you?

@radionb3i 4 жыл бұрын

@@richarde735 I really don't know.... Maybe 350 plus balun which was 89.

@richarde735 4 жыл бұрын

Jonathan Charles $350 isn’t bad. I’m currently building a no radial vertical flat pole antenna for 20m and I may add radials and make a 40m

@radionb3i 4 жыл бұрын

I think adding radials would help a lot....well worth the extra effort. Check my last video doing qrp....just three elevated radials did very well.

@techguy9023 2 жыл бұрын

Well thought out. I hope you enjoy it.

@stephentubach9923 4 жыл бұрын

This is really neat! While I am not a radio operator, this antenna tower would likely serve my purposes. I believe a shorter version of this tower would allow me to mount my cell phone booster Yagi antenna as well my personal weather station at our remote camp in the Allegheny National Forest. It should permit directional tuning of the Yagi while also allowing easy maintenance of the PWS. Thank you!

@richarde735 4 жыл бұрын

you should get your amateur radio license.

@zootnanny3451 3 жыл бұрын

Great Video....... Well done sir..... I'll look out for more videos ..... es 73 from the UK ...

@basshorseman998 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much Jonathan, amazing what I thought I knew vs what very clever designing can produce! New sub, Thanks again n2qfk

@MrJaylassiter 3 жыл бұрын

Great work! Thank you!

@deankoerner2436 2 жыл бұрын

Great work, that's amazing 👏

@CarolinaPlayboy 2 жыл бұрын

Great Project... it gives me hope for mine.

@CarolinaPlayboy 2 жыл бұрын

What size pipe did you use to go inside the 2" round pipe you put in the square tubing and extend that even more?

@veggiepowered 3 жыл бұрын

I'am Your Newest Subscriber Great Videos

@markarca6360 4 жыл бұрын

I think that is also good for portable/mobile base station mast for a WISP.

@alzeNL 3 жыл бұрын

impressive work ! congrats on such an amazing contact from the US in such adverse conditons (i think the solar minimum would of been even greater back in Nov 2019!)

@elioalcala4371 3 жыл бұрын

Beautiful job

@alvarogaitan2529 3 жыл бұрын

thanks Jonathan terrific job 73

@wolfie26 Жыл бұрын

You sir are a legend

@alvarogaitan2529 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Jonathan terrific job excellent you numero uno you number one Perfect

@dangarley807 Жыл бұрын

Great job! Thanks for sharing. 73 WH6A

@generaluser4145 2 жыл бұрын

Great job

@1959nex 3 жыл бұрын

VERY NICE PROJECT...

@drumminsonlive9199 3 жыл бұрын

Impressive...I like it...

@jennifer86010 3 жыл бұрын

Great video !! Very ingenious design, and we don't see to many 80 meter verticals. 18:00 Interesting on-air contacts results, however I've learned that with quickly-changing band conditions, QSB and other ionospheric dynamics, it has taken me many "A vs. B" tests over at least a week to determine which antenna is a better performer....sometimes??? Mother Nature likes to play tricks on Ham Radio Operators !! Now, I just wish she would get out of comedy and go back to biology, so we can have good RF propagation and decent listening conditions for another 11-year Sun spot cycle !!

@earthenergyhex 3 жыл бұрын

Do you have plans that show how you made the telescopic pole? I would like to make one for a windmill

@peterbrown7758 3 жыл бұрын

good job mate 73

@charlesbolin4474 2 ай бұрын

Do you have any explanation on how you constructed the channel and pivot point? I see hinges and some welding on the channel. I'm looking to do something similar mounted to a non-pentrating pitched mount to raise a mast about 20 feet in air for UHF/VHF, weather, and cameras. The telescoping piece is a real bonus. Thanks.

@Fortworthman999 Жыл бұрын

😁Imagine if you could install this on the cities water tower!!

@samjones56 3 жыл бұрын

73s great video

@station-wb4izc Жыл бұрын

What a great method and video for such an application. Would you consider sharing a materials list and diagram of the hinge/ support structure. 73, Steve WB4IZC

@radionb3i Жыл бұрын

I just welded two strong door hinges a 4 inch sq steel column that I cut in half to create a cradle for the mast....then I attached the hinges to this framing lumber and angle iron I had. You probably could construct it differently with what you have in storage. I made a smaller one without a hinge for FD this past year. You can see them in use in this video. They actually worked really well. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eql9m9emuprFqGw.html

@111111111Tiger 3 жыл бұрын

Impressive !

@jaimelovera3256 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@JayN4GO 4 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Keep that hex at 30ft max;)

@denverferrell5217 Жыл бұрын

Nice! It's Mike not Mexico

@miguelsalami 3 жыл бұрын

NICE Heavy Duty setup for a permanent homemade mast need some aircraft cable to guy it. Rope stretches too much!

@radionb3i 3 жыл бұрын

You are right.... just had it up a couple of weeks. But it worked so good I replaced it with a fan vertical for both 80 and 160 built with wire. I think it is almost as good. It is vertical up to the 60 foot level before it turns horizontal to make the L. This will be permanent.

@radionb3i 3 жыл бұрын

@@miguelsalami Without seeing the situation it is really hard to give an answer. Your local carpenter would be a better person to ask I imagine.

@Y100001 2 жыл бұрын

so many kinds of rope, most of which are not suitable here. Consider Mastrant-P, Break Strength 660 lbs.

@realoldgeekster 3 жыл бұрын

Wow, great job on the Antenna.. do you have the specs for your static dissipation coil and ground radial plate at the bottom an how it is all attached to the Antenna. Thanks for taking the time to make and post this wonderful video.. Mike N4LEP

@ABHAYYt2611 3 жыл бұрын

👍👍👍👍👍

@user-if3of2wd8d 2 жыл бұрын

👍👍👍👍👍💯💯💯💯💯💎

@chuckcarter7864 Жыл бұрын

You need a remote mike

@joelfonggadea7147 3 жыл бұрын

HI... Greatings from PANAMA I'm HP1JFG, can you please explain how to elevate the two square segment, I mean It looks you use an internal pulley.

@radionb3i 2 жыл бұрын

I have the pulley on the outside right against the square mast. It pulls the cable through a rather large hole. The cable goes into the center of the inside mast through a slot I sawed 4 feet from the bottom to 18 inches from the top. I capped the bottom of the the inside mast and have a ring bolted to the cap inside the bottom mast. I attached the cable to the bottom of the mast with that ring. The bracing was not sufficient to raise the spider beam on Field Day. So I made up my own platform to raise it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a9GjZqiZq8qlook.html This past year we used it for Field Day. I have no pictures of that but my niece made this little video.... we had the spiderbeam up 40 feet. I think you will like this. facebook.com/heather.tieszen/videos/1200075377119368

@bntravelin2 4 жыл бұрын

good job de ne7ts

@americaswayout4489 4 жыл бұрын

I acquired a couple of aluminum parking lot light poles that were blown down by Michael a Hurricane that blew through my community, anyway they started out at 30 ft but the hole used to do maintenance on each was the weak spot so they were broken there making them 27 ft on one of them , the other 22 ft someone tried to cut it up for salvage and a cut piece 5 ft long piece that came with them. They are about 8 inches inside at the bottom and have a about 2 foot square platform on the top where the pole is still 4 inches inside where the lights were mounted . I guess they could be mounted together using the platform making a 47 ft single . Or I could just add what ever length needed to make it work for 40 meters or like yours 80 meters, but 27 ft to 66 is rather a task. I will review your video a few times and if OK , might ask for any suggestions you might have as to how to mount the pole at the bottom. I am not real trusting as to thickness so a way to fill it and strengthen it at the bottom needs figuring out. Anyway thank you for sharing and if an update exists, please post a link. Thank you !!

@markbailey8319 3 жыл бұрын

Can you please send me the specs on the tubing you used, I want to build a tubular crankup mast with guy wires and looking for info that would be helpful and this video helped me a lot. Please email me the info if you don't mind. My email is bigmark5485@gmail.com. thank you

@jameyevans29 Жыл бұрын

Thanks 73s KQ4GDB

@sakshisharma2323 3 жыл бұрын

👍👍

@K1ZEK 4 жыл бұрын

Nice job, enjoyed the video. 73 Leo k1zek

@Y100001 2 жыл бұрын

Copper conductive grease on AL tubing -- would that create a dissimilar metals problem?

@radionb3i 2 жыл бұрын

I don't believe so. It is a product that is often packaged with commercial beams to keep aluminum elements as a kind of antioxidant paste I imagine. I like to use copper grease with Field Day beams because it allows telescoping aluminum to slide together and separate easier.

@PY3FBI 4 жыл бұрын

Good working 73 de PY3FBI

@skeets6060 2 жыл бұрын

Maube I missed it but are is the center attatched so you can raise it ?

@radionb3i 2 жыл бұрын

yes.... I saw a slot in the inside tube so a cable can be attached to the bottom of tube....the cable goes through a hole to the outside pulley and down to the winch.

@marlboromatt5656 2 жыл бұрын

I just can’t figure out how the rope is used to telescope the additional section.

@channelview8854 Жыл бұрын

The rope (usually a wire rope) goes up the outside of the bottom mast section, over a pulley, then back down the inside. There, it attaches to the bottom of the nested inner section. Winching the rope merely pulls the inner section up.

@davidhefner5668 4 жыл бұрын

An old sailboat mast...Hmmmm.

@wsmith6270 4 жыл бұрын

Your video is most informative, I am contemplating the construction of a crank up tilt over tower to support a rotor and a multi band HF 2 element quad. I would love to be in touch with you, e-mail would be fine

@radionb3i 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your comment. My email address is Jcharlesstudio@gmail.com

@americaswayout4489 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you, you just gave me an idea, I have two aluminum parking lot light poles, they started out at 30 feet, but were blown down by Hurricane Michael, the weak spot being the hole used for maintenance etc. Any way they are 8 inches inside at the bottom tapering to 4 inches at the top. I might figure a way to put the shorter one over the longer and then raise it up somehow giving me a 47+ ft pole that could then hold a cobweb or other non-turned antenna or even load as a vertical . I thought of attaching one on top of the other, but that would leave an 8 inch opening at the top to collect water and be a weird off balanced pole with 8 inches at the ends a 4 in the middle where joined. Thank you again you got me thinking?.

@patrickhogan1218 3 жыл бұрын

Great vidio keep up the good work

@Jonjemit9006 Жыл бұрын

Jonathon, did you consider making the telescopic section out of round tubing? Pros/cons?

@radionb3i Жыл бұрын

The primary reason why is that my local metal supply store does not carry round tubing. Square is so much easier to fabricate though. We use round tubing for masts for Field day....but they do not slide....we tighten them down with hose clamps and they work great. You can see how we use them in my Field Day videos.

@RC-Heli835 3 жыл бұрын

This is very nice! How much does it cost?

@cougar-den5439 3 жыл бұрын

3" square aluminum (1/8" wall) mast by 24 feet long = $123 2-1/2" square aluminum mast = appx $89 A Steel Ratchet winch (1400 lb. capacity with a reversible ratchet) is available from Ace Hardware for $47 (link below) www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/farm-and-ranch-supplies/farm-equipment-parts/7020662

@RC-Heli835 3 жыл бұрын

@@cougar-den5439 That's not bad at all for a mast that nice. Thanks for the video! I'm thinking of building a 30ft steel tilt over pipe with guide wires at the top and run a Sirio Gainmaster up it like a flag. That way I could get it all the way to the ground real fast in case of high winds.

@cougar-den5439 3 жыл бұрын

@@RC-Heli835 This isn't my video. Just trying to help out.

@RC-Heli835 3 жыл бұрын

@@cougar-den5439 Oh ok I didn't catch that. Thanks for the info.😬

@alvarogaitan2529 3 жыл бұрын

from kb2uew

@bamsefarkanstrup8468 3 жыл бұрын

73, OZ1KAI

@ib11b2 2 жыл бұрын

Will you be my neighbor?

@brianshanahan3878 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@zs1we325 4 жыл бұрын

How does the wire connect into the other telescopic mast when you crank it up.

@radionb3i 4 жыл бұрын

I greased the bottom part of the inside mast with that copper grease to help make good contact between the mast sections....other than that it is just the pressure between the sections to make good electrical contact. Seems really solid.... Never saw any spiking in swr which would give me to think the connection would not be solid.

@zs1we325 4 жыл бұрын

@@radionb3i Many thanks for the reply Jonathan. Could you direct me to a plan or idea that I can build for a small telescopic mast. I was pondering with the idea of using 2 sections of tubing - one 40mm and the other to slide into that, but stuck with the hole interface. how the wire goes into the other tubing to raise the inner section of the pole. Fantastic Idea you got there ! 73's ZS1WE Cape Town SA.

@radionb3i 4 жыл бұрын

I don't really have a plan...maybe I could make something up. I will email you something to email address on qrz..com.