Homebrew Ground Plane for Solarcon/Antron A99 Antenna
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- Опубликовано: 8 дек 2022
- Well I decided to make 90 degree ground plane that is attached to the mast instead buying one made by factory for this antenna. I think it's more fun to build something from the scratch and see if it's gonna work. With current skip conditions that we have it's hard to tell if this ground plane makes any difference but so far I get good reports and making all kinds of connections.
Those being mild steel rod you could bend them to a 45° angle. Make a circle from a heavyweight wire and weld it on at say half way. Maybe help with local.
Interesting idea. I don't have any problem to communicate with local stations at this moment. Maybe when conditions will change during summer i will see some changes. Time will show. 73.
Interesting way of making your ground plane, easier way of doing it would have been to just get a very large washer or a small plate drill hole in the center that will fit down over where the two coupling nuts are on the antenna. And well your studs to that. Also the factory ground elements sweep down at a 45° angle. The angle of the ground elements will also dictate the impedance of the antenna. That's why quarter wave antennas have 45° ground planes. Trying to use 90° right angle on a capacitive fed halfway you're going to have some problems. You're going to create a whole bunch of signal going straight up into the sky. Also how about showing us the actual reflected power but once you finish the project.
Thanks for the comment. Most people say A-99 doesn't need groundplane but i did it just for fun and i did that ground plane because i saw it in 80s in Europe on Black Pirate antenna. I bought Solarcon Ground plane A-99CK just for testing and Yeah at some point i will make video with RigExpert to see if anything changes when Solarcon A99 is bearfoot and with ground plane etc. I did isolate Antron from my mast and i think that changed how it behaves with ground plane, but that could be my imagination also 😄. Very hard to collect data when you do dxing with skip, to many veriations etc. 73
That antenna is really working well! You were making it to Australia when most others had already disappeared into the noise. 73
I guess it is working well 😊. Sometimes I wonder if it's working at all 😂, I guess mother nature makes jokes on us 😂.
Great video, thanks for sharing! 73s from Ridge Hiker 595 Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
73's from South California. WR0767.
How did you come up with the length of the 6 radials ?
use copper, 468 x the frequency is the length of the antenna you will talk all over the world 🌎 when skip is rolling, build a 3 element beam with copper(Gama match is your homework look it up)
Looks fantastic. Good Job on the Welding.... 💯👍🙋♂
Thanks 👍
nice Idea .. You are very ingenious . more invention in your mind .. Thats very that's rare these days. In todays World . Congratulations and "like" for you under movie .Now is like President Bllack Pirate model antenna
Nice ot shoukd help the antrin is z dc shorted antenna the 45°angle radisl kit nefer improved then cause thats for a 1/4 streight fed ant like shakespher big stick that work but for A99 radials need go horzional yes you got it grat!
This maks dxing better
Good to know. I have both ground planes and trying to get some data to prove if ground plane does anything to this antenna or not. 73 and have fun outh there.
A local here used 4 102 inch whips on the bottom of his maxx 2000 and installed them at a 90 degree angle, sorta like an old 1970s aluminum antenna. It actually worked well!!
did he ever mention that his swr was affected by those 102". I will check on mine one day but I was just curious if you know anything about that.
Homeade star duster kinda sounds like whatyour talking Bout. I made something like this myself.
I used aluminum tubing and bent 2 9ft. Sections into an 45degrees clamped . 1.2.1 swr
The mast and radiating element is 1 inch aluminum tubing
Bottom 12 ft. Of the mast is steel fence tubing with threads and coupler
I use the quad 5 n2 and Antron 99 about 15’ in the air as well 73 from 985 in the buckeye state
Cool, they work very well at lover hight. Skip is booming in here.
Good effort...Well done you 👍👍
its a little 30+ days since you made the video, What Changes and Advice can you give us about this? work good? work bad? new ideas?
Thank you for making the video- I have Antron99, and thinking about groundplane too.. it site 10 feet above ground, on my wood shed.
Believe or not I am still not decided if it's better or not. I just got antenna analyzer and learning how to use it. I want to see if my SWR and other values will change when antenna is with or without radials. Some people saying that it makes no sense to have this with half wave antenna and others say that it will change radiation angle of the magnetic field and it should be better for skip. Question is how to prove that? In 80's they were selling antennas named Black Pirate with exact ground plane, so I guess they did that for some reason 😆. When and if I get some kind of data that I can show that ground plane changes anything I will make video. Solarcon makes ground plane for this antenna but under different angles. I was told by some local guys not not use that one for the skip. Not sure why. Didn't want to drill them with to many questions 😂.
Ok good buddy 😂😂😂😂😅😅😅
Nicely done
Did the additional radials change your SWR?
According to my old external swr did not, but I just got nano vna analyzer and i will do experiment and scan antenna with radials and then without. It will take some time before i do it because it's raining in here. Let you know something as soon as I know, maybe i will make short video.
Mines antenna is up around 35 feet of the ground are they really strick on the height in your county
All depends on neighborhood, city , associations etc. So yeah there are some restrictions plus neighbors issues etc. Always something 😄. 73 and have fun out there.
Very good idea,all steel disc w/6 elements.On the solorcon aluminum GPK ring I re-drilled and tapped the holes at 90deg.I sometimes forget to ware a old pair of gloves when doing maintinance.
That's cool idea. Did you see the difference in signal between oryginal GPK and 90deg.
@@myszaca It made the radiation pattern begin at the bottom way I saw all other antennas are.It seemed to receive with less noise on AM when it was lower to the ground under+ or -20 ft.I also shortend them 5in so they didnt sag.I used it mostly when I would go camping or park up on a mountain.Happy Holidays!!
@@jetcyclezero8907 That's cool. Happy Holidays and have fun with the skip. 73
FB ! Excellente réalisations Bravo
73's QRO
Great idea… gonna have to do this to mine replace the guy wires holding my radials… have a 102 about 25ft up with 3 radials 1 pointed to UK and others 2 pointed 90* offset from that, works alright but would need more radials if I wanna talk to the states… 73’s from NB Canada
Cool. I wish I could somehow proof that they work 😆. I did it because one of my buddies in Europe has a President Pirate half wave antenna from the 80's and it was built by the President company with an attachable ground plane kit. I am thinking of making the same aluminium ring that solarcon makes for A-99 but with 90 degree radials as I have now instead 120 degree or so. Let us know what your experience is with the ground plane with skip. 73 from WR 0767.
Jaki masz swr i czy sie laczysz z Europą?
Sorry nie widzialem komentarza. Swr jest 1.2 i polaczylem sie z Polską dwa razy, Francja i Italia plus inne kraje. Wszystko zależy od propagacji. Pozdrowienia 73.
Hello 767, came across your video and I'm doing the same thing. I'm going to use some antennas I got from a local cb shop in South bend ,Indiana, called CB SPECIALIST, good people. Hope it works for you and 73s, sir.
nice. let me know how did it go with your project.
Did you make your groundplane? I was wondering if you did and did you get better ears on your antenna because of that?
@@myszaca I'm working on a tilt setup. Have about half completed, the rest soon, going higher with the mast. Let you know when it's done. Did you see any improvement on your setup? Hope all is well, Happy 4th! 73s , KX420, Northern Indiana.
@@billhastings1006 So I have Solarcon with and without ground plane at my backyard, when I switch between both antennas and compare signals sometimes I can hear far away stations better with ground plane. Still not sure if that's happening because antennas are spread between each other 15' and one getting better signal than the other but from what I am experiencing at 14' above ground looks to me like those radials do something. I am thinking of changing radials to aluminum and making it with a telescoping option to see if the length will change something or not. Some people use 3' length on radials and stated that noise level was less then with long radials. Not sure about that project yet 😂. Well good luck with your project and keep me posted. Can't wait to see your opinion and experience. 73 and Happy 4th.
CY teraz jest lepszy odbior ?
Powiem ci że nie wiem do końca czy jest duża różnica między antena bez przeciwwag, propagacja jest taka mocna że słyszę stacje z różnych stron świata i sam już się zagubiłem 😂. Myślę że na pewno coś daje bo słyszę propagację czasami lepiej niż lokalne stacje. Według wzoru książkowego takie przeciwwagi powinny pomagać przy propagacji. Kosztowało mnie to może $15 i trochę zabawy więc zrobiłem.
Hay 767 i am 199 florida georgia line i hope to catch you on xhannel 28 soon.
We see how it goes. Lately there is a zoo going on on 38 😂. I go by WR0767.
I've seen your added radials and doe it make an improvement? I have the same antenna and setting up to do this to mine. Please let me know, it would be a great help to all! Thank you!
I just responded to the similar question that was asked below your post. Ongoing project. No data to proove it that it helps. Will do some test with antenna analyzer when I figure out how to work it 😄. I never had ground plane so its my ongoing test project. when I have time I mess with it. Set up your antenna and run it as is. One post below said that he run antenna like tht with 3" long radials and used it for skip. As far as I can read online it should do something to shoot sognal under different angle but how am I gonna prove that? 😄
@@myszaca Thank you. Going g back over and missed some post, but still helpful! I ask cuz we're all at differe.t places and it does react differently. Thanks again and maybe talk to you on the waves, 73s!
@@billhastings1006 yeah that's the thing, each station different rules like location, soil, hills etc. I am blocked on one side with the house and other with small hill at the back of the yard but still doing some skip shooting. So looks like putting antenna as high as possible is the key, tune antenna with analyzer and then try to get the lowest swr. This hobby is like they say CB-constant buying 😂 and messing with it.
Good job should work very good. It does suck when you have so many rules and guidelines you have to deal with for a hobby .
That's why I got Solarcon A-99 antenna. Almost 18' above the ground and it does a good job so far. 73
12/11Sunday Hello agian WR 0767This morning I was given #WR 0317.I am happy to get the # I asked for .If I hear you I will make sure to say Hello.WesolychSwait
That's cool, congrats. I got WR# around 3 weeks ago. What's your location ? Those 2 radios are one of the best for cb this days. Very stable. Wesołych Świąt. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Many work for an antenna that dont need radials to work!
It doesn't need a ground plane it's a half wave already.
Well I did it just for fun. Question is why factory makes one for this antenna. It has different angle though.
@@myszaca Not sure, maybe they sell them to fit a 5/8 wave antenna. Replacing the halfwave A99 with a 5/8 wave plus groundplane would give a little more gain over a dipole.
@@M0WWS not sure, but they sell ground plane for this one. My buddy has half wave Black Pirate antenna from 80-90s that came with the same 90 deg ground plane, it's it doing anything to this antenna? Don't know 😆. Don't have antenna analyzer. But according to some guys it will help with skip. Who knows. I know that I can talk to Australia, Canada etc from stock radio, with skip. I got single quad antenna that i have to put together and test it, then compare to this one. Fun hobby. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
@@myszaca they also claim it has 9db gain. More than a yagi
@@miker8379 😂, yeah I wish more like 0db
Rig it 😂😂😂
This antenna is an end-fed half wavelength dipole. It is matched with a shunt coil and a capacitor. A radial system (Counterpoise) will make no difference to the antenna efficiency or performance. Just snake oil.
Highly possible but my question is, why solarcon sales ground plane for this antenna, it's under different angle but it's designed for that antenna. Any clue? please advise.
Okay RF and antenna expert. Mixed terminology here. It's a half wave dipole and it's end fed?? Elevated ground radials on an end fed antenna do not improve ground efficiency? Radials cannot be employed to decouple the feedline from the antenna?
And if you're a ham, termination of licence effective immediately!
Too heavy, easier to get solarcon GP kit with collar and fiberglass rods.
For sure aluminum or fiber would be lighter. I just want to try one with a 90 degree angle. I may have to change to aluminum tubing. 73.
Apparently ground planes make no difference to that antennas gain.
leer eerst je hamer vasthouden!!
Danke. Zeigen Sie mir ein Video, wie man es hält. Ich werde es anschauen. 73