Building a Copper J-Pole Antenna For VHF or CB.
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- Опубликовано: 7 апр 2023
- After building a copper-tube J-Pole (and a Slim-Jim) for 2m, I decided to make one for 6m FM. I had made one using ladder line, but this one will be stand-alone and in two parts using a foldable military antenna. This way the antenna can fit in my truck to be used for portable operations. It can be scaled up for CB or up to 10m probably, though that would make it more of a base antenna than portable. I tested it with my Racal VRM-5080 at the beach..
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Apply the heat at the far end of the fitting where the end of the pipe would be . Capillary attraction will pull the solder into the fitting.
Random spray painting on the terrace, "...this is why I'm single guys!" - Brilliant :)
Put the flame on the fittings. Also to make cleaner joints wipe off the flux where you want no solder to be before soldering.
That is one Sweet Build kg6mn
Hi Gil, the hottest part of the flame is at the end of the pale blue inner cone of your blow torch. It might make a difference for you.
Thanks for the tip!
👍Thanks for video Gil. J-poles are great antennas. Easy to make, efficient and not much foot print as no counterpoise required.
I suggest a tubing cutter. If you can not solder that well drill each joint and put a stainless screw in it. The screws do work very well. A scrap piece of composite decking can be drill and split for a spacer.
Using MAP gas (verses propane/butane) will provide the higher temps to make a better solder joint. When heating the pipe direct the flame on the junction piece (ie the elbow, T, or union). When the junction piece and pipe is hot you can just touch the electrical solder to the edge of the junction and the solder will be sucked in all the way around the pipe. Good Luck, K5DHL.
Great work Gil. It's all about trying.
Motters M7TRS 73 👍🏽
when i was in 2013 in Cannes .. i had QRP 10W on Beach :) .. Log time ago but awesome
That’s what she says….😂 Hope all is well Gil.
Solder will flow towards source of heat. Heat the fitting MORE than the pipe, though heating all parts well is important too. Also be sure to use emery cloth to clean parts to be brazed.
Hi Gil, nice presentation of a J pole for 6 meters, better luck next time out!
Nice video 👍
There are many Ham Radio, RUclips pages on the Internet, yours is much different. Do you like making things and trying new things, and it’s obvious that you like to teach. Teaching and tinkering is very important to any ham radio operator and I really enjoy watching your videos and getting different ideas and a different perspective. Your videos are awesome, thanks for posting them. 73, de NH7TR
Thank you, indeed I like teaching very much 😀
6:00 - You need a tubing cutter.
I enjoyed the TinkerCAD demo with the TLAR (that looks about right) engineering method. I use FreeCAD, and while it's a very capable 3D parametric CAD program, I use it as if it's TinkerCAD.
Great video and Happy Easter from Pennsylvania USA! 73, Matt N3VAN
You too!
OK it worked! But when soldering tube that size and length, you REALLY need a hotter/bigger flame - otherwise the mass of the copper just "wicks" the heat away. This is why many plumbers use oxy-acetylene torches! And try to avoid burning your flux - once burned, the organic residue PREVENTS the solder "wetting" the copper, rather than helping it.
Definitely!
You can make the equivalent using ladder line or twinlead and using a fiberglass pole to hold it. I have a 65ft pole and a 20 meter j pole even works..
I did, made a video about it..
@@RadioPrepper Cool!
I think for local contacts on 6m a hill top location rather than the beach would have been more suitable. Iirc the J pole has a fairly low angle of radiation. I've made one with ladder line for 2, 6 and 10/11m. Very inexpensive coupled with a cheap 10m fibreglass fishing pole. Decent contacts into Europe on 6m during the summer using 5 watts.
Definitely!
There is a tool that is made for cutting tubing. You screw it on at the appropriate location and spin it round the tube advancing its blade until it cuts all the way through. Nice clean accurate square cuts without the sweat of a hacksaw. Plumbers use them.
Indeed, I know about it, I just don't have one..
@@RadioPrepper No worries. I was suggesting it so next time you go to the hardware store you spend even more :)
Thanks, I probably will, very useful gizmo..
It's a pity that you don't know another ham with 6m FM gear, you could arrange a sked. Or contact a club and get them to post your 'activation ' time.
A J-Pole is a great antenna on 11m, but it's long at that low a frequency. Ladderline and a tree or pole, yes, copper tubing....NO. It would weigh too much and be very unweildy.
Gill, can you please tell me more about the handset of your Racal 5080? I can’t find it for mine 😢. Thanks!
You have some cool military radios man. Very hard to come by. I was thinking about making an 11 meter Jpole, but after seeing your 6 Meter one.... I think the 11 meter one would be a danger to aircraft... I'll need to rethink.
Try Ebay for the radios.. You have to be patient.
On that same website you’ll find calculations for ladder line cable version of the same antenna.
In the field, hoist it up a tall tree.
Alternatively, let it suspend down from a Jackite telescoping fiberglass pole. A fiberglass crappie fishing pole should be solid enough as well.
Yes, I.made one a while ago...
Hi Jil , How are you ? Still in south France ?
As you use copper for antennas I can just recommand to use after frequency & impedance adjusments some coating.
Something like RS componants ref. 714-462 is ok , many others possible, of course
that's why I use aluminum tubes, out of habit.
stick to radio, not plumbing. surprised those "soldered" joints were conductive.
I would love to see a 10m J-pole, would be a monster haha
Don't tempt me LOL.
I'll make one with a 10 meter DX commander pole, it's been in my mind for ages
Ah, try an end fed half wave (EFHW) dipole instead. I built one for 10m (28.4MHz) just this weekend. It’s shorter than the equivalent J pole.
The key is to use insulated wire. I used 18AWG copper insulated with silicone material. The velocity factor is 0.7. What this means is that instead of 5m antenna length, it’s only 3.5m tall.
I had the wire suspended from a telescoping fiberglass fishing pole. It worked well.
Oh I have, so.many times!
@@RadioPrepper - If you made a 10m J-Pole antenna, you'd be able to talk to other hams... unlike your beloved 6m. 😛 I do know what it's like to have a technical vision of a better world but nobody else will play. I still have a huge coil of 5/8" copper tubing in the basement that I want to use to make a giant 40m mag loop antenna so I can use a solar powered QDX (amplified?) and Raspberry Pi to create a persistent JS8 message server. I figure if enough of us maintained reliable JS8 servers, people would start to use message storing and forwarding, and then maybe JS8Call would get intelligent message routing, similar to email routing on the internet, but without the need for the internet. Actually, WinMail is the ham version of email. What I envision for JS8 is more like the ham version of SMS messaging. That's one of my emcomm goals.
Well, Great Job Overall, But I Guess I Will Need To Make A Video On How To Solder J Pole ANtennas Or Just Copper Pipes That Looks As Profesional As They Can.
Yooure Soldering Job Is C- , Im Sorry, But It Is, Otherwise, Everything Is A+
I have done better for sure!
Secrets to plumbing soldering:
Clean copper. No oils or oxides.
Good flux inside the joint.
LOT of heat. Use a bigger torch. It should take ~15 seconds.
You scorched the copper it had nothing to do with the torch. You didnt sand the connection first.
DID YOU EVER SEE ANY DIFFRENCE IN THE GAIN OR RTX PERFORMANCE OF A J POLE VERSUS A SLIM JIM? W4RNL DID NOT THINK SO SINCE THERE IS NO BIG PHYSICAL SEPARATION BETWEEN THE TWO RADIATING ELEMENTS
Hard to say as I have not used them at the same time..
My friend, I need help from your side, can you have your website?
Email gil@radiopreppers.com
THE MATCHING SECTION COULD ALSO BE USED HORIZONTALY SINCE DOES NOT RADIATE , MAKING THE ANTENNA SHORTER
bro stop yelling
I've tried many times on 6 fm, if the band isn't wide open, nobody is listening....
Right, but this is local..
ton chalumeau ne chauffe pas asse pour faire de bonne soudure.
✋73's🎙KD9OAM🎧📻📡