Tuesday, December 17, 2019

6 & 10 metre portable telescopic dipole antenna

Here's another portable antenna to try. It uses a pair of TV rabbits ears. Because what I had didn't spread out to a very wide angle, I removed them from their holders and attached them to a piece of plastic chopping board. And because they were only 1m each long I added some loading to allow operation on 50 MHz (which needs about 1.35 to 1.4 m length each). 

Then more turns were added to give 28 MHz operation. This makes sense because 28 MHz is normally open when 50 MHz is and overall there's more activity on 28 MHz. So if you move the coil tap you get a portable dual band antenna. 

The video describes it a bit more and demonstrates a 1000km plus SSB contact on 28 MHz. You could likely get more bands by adding more turns but efficiency will gradually fall. This design is a good option for 27 MHz CBers looking for something they can take portable but which folds up to a small space. 



Would I use it in preference to the loop I already have for 28 & 50 MHz? Probably not. Not because performance is lacking but because it's a bit unwieldy to use while walking around.  

PS: Want to learn about portable antennas? You'll find many ideas and projects in the top-selling Hand-carried QRP antennas.

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