DIY 2M Ground Plane Antenna - Ham Radio - TheSmokinApe
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- 2M Quarter Wave Ground Plane Antenna - Ham Radio - TheSmokinApe
In this video we build a DIY 2 Meter Quarter Wave Ground Plane Antenna. Please leave any questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations below and I will do my best to respond.
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TheSmokinApe
using the bullet connector on the SO239 was really clever. going to save that idea in the old brain box.
Thanks, I just wanted something simple and easy
I know I am late to post, but this is an awesome presentation of how to make an effective 2-meter antenna and spend very little money.One of these is in my future for portable operation, for sure. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you liked it, thanks for watching William 👍
Nice job! I wish more youtubers would post diy videos, especially related to antennas. You are correct, a 45 degree angle for the radials will make the impedance theoretically 50 ohms for RF. Also...using aluminum is OK, but I believe you should use Ox-gard (or other product) to prevent oxidation when joining aluminum and copper or other dissimilar metals...just put some on the aluminum before you place the crimp connector.
That's a good idea David, thanks for the tip!
Really? I'm fed up watching DIYers' RUclips videos. Mostly because they spend 25 minutes explaining something which would be done in 10 lines of text and 4 photographs. Prefixed by 5 minutes of "all about me". Of course none of this applies to the present video. SmokinApe material has been very encouraging. My only comment is that (even thought I grew up in the UK) I cannot get my head around why you're use inches for antenna length. It seems to make the maths so unneccesarily complicated.
Just a heads up. You could have used brass welding rods which are ridged and you can solder them. Good video.
I tried but couldn’t find the length I wanted, thanks for checking out the video Norbert 👍
Hey there Ape, I just built a 2 meter ground plane antenna out of some Bell wire for telephone , was able to get the SWR at 1.125 works awesome of course I got the idea while on coffee and ham with you guys a few weeks ago, thanks to you and To and Chuck I’m addicted.. wish I could figure out how to send some pictures otherwise Chuck has a small video that I did thanks again for all the awesome ideas just two months into it and a lot to learn as a tech thanks again..
Hey Ed, glad you like the videos. If you are instagram you can send pics to me that way.
I have made and used these for years. I have one and my HTX-202 that I used in the early 90's when my wife and I were climbing the 14'ers here in CO. Spade terminals and coat hanger wire.
That's awesome, I like hearing about folk's projects.
Hey thanks for checking out my channel sir! I’ve built a handful of these using old metal coat hangers and they work great. The design I use is different than most, I think I have a new video idea. 73 my friend!
Very cool! Looking forward to the video.
Okay, so, this was golden!!! I've looked at a lot of different DIY antenna solutions, but none so cheap and so versatile as to put the tuning in range for me (see what I did there?)! I'm going to build one of these!!! Will let you know the results!!!
Good luck with the build DeWayne, glad it was helpful 👍
Iam From Indonesia-south east asia-thank you Sir for explaned about this antena Ground Plane-very good Hands Made
Thanks Petrus, glad you liked it!
I BOUGHT ONE OF THESE GMRS ANTENNAS OFF EBAY FOR MY WHISTLER WS 1098 POLICE SCANNER /HOPEFULLY HE TUNED IT CORRECTLY .
Good luck with it 👍
Built one similar to it 7 years ago. Never tuned it. Trusted my calculations and went with. Use it daily and have had no issues
They are great antennas, I'm pretty happy I decided to build one.
Great video and information. Based on this video I built a 1/4 wave and it works great. In fact it works better than several 1/2 wave antennas I made.
Hey Tim. Yes, these work really well 👍
I've made the same antenna , everything cut at 160mm for 446 mhz , SWR at 1.1 . Excellent video New subscriber 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇬🇧🇬🇧
Thanks for the info and the sub 👍
Built one of these the other day. I started with the 4 ground plane elements straight out. SWR was 1.8 something. So as I started bending the 4 ground plane elements downward a few degrees at a time, my SWR reading dropped accordingly. NO TRIMMING involved. At about 30 to35 degree down angle my SWR was about 1.03. More than 35 degrees (for the length of my elements) the SWR started to go back up. So the take away here. Tune it by adjusting the down angle of the four ground plane elements, no need for trimming the vertical or ground plane elements.
Nice work James and thanks for the info 👍
Good Video. I found the M0UKD calculator you used in the video to be very close with it's measurements. I have built a few of these for 70cm and 68cm band use and they are great as a quick antenna. From what I have found online in various places by various builders over many years is they all seem to agree on the dimensions. The radiator should be at or around 1/4 lambda, the radials should be .6 lamba longer. I have an SWR of 1.01 on 70cm, my 2m version I made the same way you made yours, but with brass welding rods so they would take standard soft solder shows an SWR of 1.015 at 145.5 which was my target and is 1.13 or lower from 144-148mhz. The radials are all 1.5-2cm longer than the radiator. The 3:1 bandwidth is from 139-158mhz, so VERY wide. These are really simple, but really effective antenna's.
Hey BMK. Yes, these are a pretty simple build for an effective antenna. Thanks for watching and for the comment 👍
Still learning from you. Passed my test this week and went through testing a bunch of repeaters. Found the truck setup works pretty good but then house needs some help. Something down this path is believe. Thanks for the vid.
Glad you liked the video Crockett. This was an effective antenna that was easy to build, congrats on passing the test 👍
Good video. I made a "J-Pole" out of 300 Ohm twin lead once. Really surprised me how well it worked from my hotel room when was out of town on business.
Very cool! Building your own antenna is rewarding, thanks for the comment!
I've got almost everything I need to build this antenna. I've got the SO-239 coming from Amazon. I can't wait to get it done. I'm thinking I'm just going to run the coax down a piece of PVC pipe to elevate the antenna, but I'm looking forward to testing it out.
That’s awesome AS, good luck with the build 👍
Good video. your presentation was very good. Keep up the good work!!!
@@willhoward9190 glad you liked it Will, thanks for watching 👍
I have built a few hundred of these and sold at hamfests and mail order. The easy way is to make a small jig with 2 bolts and bend the ends then you will not need the terminal connectors, faster and easier. Get a 2 by 2 inch metal plate drill 2 1/4 inch holes but 2 bolts thru about 1/8 plus apart and just bend the radius then use needle nose pliers to straighten the 90 degree out simple and easy you can turn out so many so quick.
That’s a pro tip! Thanks for checking it out Thomas 👍
That's an excellent idea. I got hung up on the soldering thing; aluminum doesn't solder very well if at all. Simply bending a loop in the end is much more robust and offers less resistance compared to crimped connections. The 2" square is also a more robust platform. Your suggestion should be an addendum to this video, it's so good. Thanks!
I did something similar but with a bnc, coat hanger wire, and europe terminal strip connectors to attach the wires. This way I can easily change between 2m and 70 cm. Benefit is lighter in weight to work better with my push up fiberglass pole. Also tuned it with nano vnc.
BNC connectors sounds like a good idea, I might just have to order some. Thanks for the comment!
I know it's two years later but do you happen to have a photo of what you built? I'm looking for something light weight for portable field deployment up in the air and this sounds perfect.
Thanks in advance for this video. Your work is appreciated
The 1/4-wave ground plane antenna is so classic, and it scales up or down so well too.
Thanks Mike, hope the video doesn’t disappoint 👍
That’s awesome. And the portability makes it a no brainer
Thanks Nick, glad you liked it 👍
Amen to having the antenna look good! Too many folks slap dash up those creepy #12 wire antennas. By the way, when you tune the antenna for 2m, give it a whirl on the 440-450 MHz repeater segment and you might be surprised.
P. S. you can take the 19.5 inches to the bank. It's gospel.
Thanks for the info and for watching WP!
@@TheSmokinApe..not being very studious, I missed how you soldered the aluminum brazing rods. Could I impose on you to cover that for me?
Looks like mine except I used more flexible wire and i.put a ring connector at the top element so I could pull it up into the trees. I really need to buy an analyser because I've been going almost entirely off other people's measurements and the SWR meter if my radios. Thank again for making great content
Glad you liked the video, I really like that ring connector idea!
I built something like this years ago but I used sheet metal as my ground plane with the flange connector attached to the sheet metal. I used solid copper as the center radial. I did sort of heat treat the copper. I heated it up and then quenched it. It did stiffen up the copper a bit. Anyway, I know I got lucky because it only needed minor adjustment and my VSWR was low. I was impressed with its range. I suspect it was the sheet metal ground plane.
That sounds awesome, thanks for sharing and watching 👍
What was the range?
Hello I am having trouble with my 1/4 ground plane antenna. It's all set up for a LPRS on 102.7FM it has 50' coax. No way to check SWRs I'm a DJ not engineer. It's all statically sounds bad range is bad should get a solid 2 to 5 miles with 15watts. Max. Can you hook me up with someone if you cannot help?
Great video , your vids are so smooth and easy to follow . Thanks...
Thanks David, glad to hear you like them 👍
Excellent video!
Thanks HRD 👍
#MNHR
Team replay for the win!
I dig this. Made a similar antenna out of wire coat hangers.
Thanks for the video man.
Glad you liked it NTC, glad t was a fun project 👍
Use silver-bearing solder to solder the connectors to the elements. Lead solder will eventually degrade and break off.
Thank Tom, this is a pretty good idea!
I made one with 5 cheap telescopic antennas, so it can be adjusted well into the UHF band.
That’s awesome, I’ve seen where folks have done that. 👍
Nicely done video! Thanks! Looks like a great little 2m design. 👍📻
Thanks Tommy, it was a fun project and the antenna still works great 👍
Good took me back a lot in time Hi
Awesome, thanks for watching Trig 👍
Solid build. Mine is a bit flimsy, but by design for packability.
Thanks! I wanted something more durable because its going to be hanging out back for a while.
Really excellent demo. Thank you
Tha is Bruce, glad you liked it 👍
Excellent! thank you very much!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I may or may not have already went over to Lowes to see if they had those metal rods last night 👀
Haha, did they?
@@TheSmokinApe they did!
@@DutchmanRadio sweet
Great video, thank you! Keep them coming.
Thanks Spud, glad you liked it 👍
Thank you for the video
Glad you liked it 👍
did you ever do a version two of the antenna? I built one using copper tubing I had laying around from re plumbing the water system to the refrigerator. so the diameter of my elements are 5mm dipole ended up 19.15 in and the grounds 19.2 in SWR is 1.12 at 145MHz 1.06 at 146.2MHz and 1.22 at 148MHz I stopped there and use it every day for local traffic.
@@MichaelLindsey I didn’t. Your antenna sounds great 👍
Noob here.
Just got my license.
Purchased the mandatory Baofeng UV5R, like everyone else.
A few questions:
1. What metal does the antenna/GP need to be? Any metal or does the material affect the radiation?
2. What to connect and where?
Let's say I connect the centre of the 50 ohm coaxial to the vertical antenna component and then connect the other wire (is it called braid?) to one of the ground planes, as it'll act as the other half of a dipole. What about the other plane/s? Do they stay isolated or connected to the 1st ground plane?
So sorry for the noob questions. Just trying to learn from the ground up, pun intended.
Thanks for the awesome video!!!
73
De VU2EHC
Any conducting metal should work, aluminum or copper are the two most common choices. I connect every think to an SO-239 adapter and then hook coax to that. If you connect coax to the antenna directly the center conductor goes to the vertical element and the shield or braid goes to the ground plane.
@@TheSmokinApe Got it.
Thank you so much for teaching me..
Will order the parts today!
Big bear hug from India
Stay safe from the darn virus..
73s
You too, be safe 🙏
Nice build. Question, how did you soldier aluminum rod to the ring terminals which are commonly made of zinc coated copper?
I wondered the same thing. As far as I know, I have never been able to solder anything aluminum. The maker of this video talks about it matter-of-factly. Is soldering aluminum a thing now? What do you use in terms of solder? Thanks for the excellent video.
Instead of bending the radials, bend the ring terminals right past the hole
Hmmm... didn't think of that...
I'm new at amateur, so please bear with my asking, but how well can a 2 meter TX be with the antenna on the earth? From what I've learned an antenna needs to be at least as high off as the wavelength. So, could we say 80" up minimum? Hmmm. Maybe that's why you met with dead air.
Hey Yung, this was on the ground for the the pic. I was about 6 feet in the air when I used it.
Soldering isn't an electrical connection, it's a chemical connection. Else, your mechanical connection could also be called an "electrical connection" as it also allows for transfer of electrons.
I liked this (and all of your) video(s). I got my license this past summer and am now trying to learn to use my license. I have two questions about this video:
1.) When you were on 146.73MHz, the antenna worked well and you were able to talk with people. When you switched to 146.520 you got nothing. I am not sure what you were showing there? Was the lack of a response because no one was listening on that frequency or was there some problem with that antenna at that frequency? (Am I correct in assuming the antenna would work fine on that slightly different frequency and there just wasn't anyone listening to talk to.)
2.) For VHF and UHF, Is there any negative to using a BNC connector (BNC Female Jack with 4 Hole Flange Panel Chassis Mount Solder Connector) rather than an SO239 connector on the antenna? I already have a 15 foot RG8X cable with male BNC connectors that bought because I was going to use as my feed line to hang a jungle antenna (as described by NC Scout) in a tree. I could get a BNC to SO239 adapter to make the antenna as you built it to work with the cable if using SO239 connectors is somehow better than using BNC connectors for some reason. I haven't yet learned which connects are best.
Yes, nobody was on 146.520, that antenna would be fine on that frequency. Yes, a BNC would work fine. Thanks for watching!
How did you attach the antenna up in the tree that’s what I would like to do if you have time I would appreciate you answering my question thank you
I used glue lined heat shrink to attach a loop to the top of the element and then tied that to the branch 👍
Great build, an N socket would be better RF engineering as the SO239 PL259 combination is rated only to around 100 MHz. Thank you for the video. 73's
Thanks a pretty good recommendation.
Solder a ring terminal on the top..... throw a string up a tree and pull it up.
That's a pretty good idea. I did attach a string loop with some heat shrink but the ring terminal sounds like a better idea.
nice content, thanks
Glad you liked it!
RE: SWR …Just starting to learn about ham radio…what are the benefits of this style of antenna VS folding Abree etc (i’m watching your other video) … eventually looking for something to take into the high Sierras. I saw someones comment about attaching a ring terminal and throwing up a tree and that seems like the way to go VS 42.5” antenna
Love the calculators. Any helix calculators? Are helices usefull on 2M? Thanks for the post!
Hey Melissa, if you Google “helix antenna calculator” a few come up. I’ve only seen them used for satellite work 👍
I made an antenna similar to this one and I made sure that the radials are the corect size But it doesn't receive well do you think it could be the 6m of rg58 coax losing signal??
That short of a cable shouldn't make a huge difference
Nice video. I guess it's time to hit up HD for some welding rods.
Quick question, any reason you wouldn't be able to just bend the lug instead of the actual radials?
You could bend the lug, thanks for the comment!
Is it possible to use these as base station antennas for the house with semi permanent mounting solutions? Should i make a balund of coax just before the antenna is i device to do this? Thank you for all you do! 73. KE8OKC
Hey BC, you could use if for a base antenna. I’m not really a fan of the coax balun as they are very narrow banded and difficult to tune 👍
You can make a simple RF choke for the 2m band from RG58. 5 turns around a 30mm former is all you need, or 5-6 turns on a FT140-43 toroid will choke any stray RF the same. You probably don't need it though. I don't have a choke on any of mine and have no RF issue's at 35w input
Hi, if i make an antenna for 868mhz it will work for helium miner ?
I have no idea, sorry man
How do these compare to a typical J-Pole made from Cu pipe? This looks like a great size/weight for my RV.
Sorry man, I have never messed with those copper pipe antennas.
Great video. I can't wait to make one myself. Do you measure the radials from the center of the bolt connectors to the end of the radials?
I just measured the length of the radials knowing that they would need to be tuned. Good luck with the build, it’s a fun project 👍
Just a thought... Since you are cutting the radials in small increments, I was wondering about the connection screws pointed upwards. Do you think they might be acting like small redials and messing with the SWR? Try turning them downward and recheck. Maybe they won't make that much difference, but it's worth a try. Thanks for the video and equipment demonstration. I'm gonna get me one of those NanoVNAs. 73s and stay safe, we WILL get through this.
That's an interesting thought, I'll have to play around with it. Glad you liked the video, thanks for watching!
Just built this exact project and can't seem to get it to work. The crap stock antenna that the uv5r came with was working better. I can't figure out whats wrong I've watched several of these builds and I've done everything the same....any suggestions?
Do you have an analyzer to check SWR / Impedance? That's usually the issue.
@@TheSmokinApe I do not. I've only been a licensed ham for about 3 months so I'm still trying to get that kinda of stuff. I know it's probably not accurate but I watched several different videos on the same exact build which I copied. Their SWRs were around 1:1 to 1:5. I figured if I copied exactly what they all did and used the same components I should get similar SWRs.
To be fair, I do hit a few more repeaters that i couldn't before. I also have it set up in my basment as the wearhers been pretty crappy in my area latley. So I would say it's working better than the uv5r stock antenna but it isn't setting any records for sure. I also made a 1/2 wave 5 element ground plane and get similar performance out of it. I might be reaching the limits of what the radio can achieve?
I think once you can check the SWR and get the antenna higher in the air your going to see better results.
@@TheSmokinApe thanks for the info. Being new to all this it's often hard to tell if you're doing something wrong or if it's done right and just not preforming how it should. I'm gonna try to get it up on my porch roof once the weather calms down and if I remember I'll comment back again with the results incase any of your other viewers try this project and have similar problems. Maybe it'll help them.
Did you measure/test with radial ends sitting in the grass as shown in last pic?
No, it was hanging in free space 👍
Nice work ! 73
Thanks Mike 👍
I may make this to connect my handheld. Do I need to have this antenna on the ground or is it okay on the floor of my deck? The deck is up about 12 feet.
It would be fine on the deck, I actually hung mine in a tree 👍
@@TheSmokinApe I may get a NanoVNA. I looked on Amazon and they are around $60.
Can I adjust a dipole with this as well? I just passed my technician exam so I am very very new at this.
I use the NanoVNA for all my antenna projects 👍
@@TheSmokinApe So if I bought the NanoVNA, I don't need a SWR meter because the NanoVNA has this built in?
Any tricks to get the solder to stick to the Aluminum rods?
Best advice would be to use a material that may be soldered to. Like not aluminum.
You commented that you would solder the terminals + crimping to the aluminum rods. How did that work?
Just heat up the part you crimp and feed the solder into the open spaces
Solder will stick and flow nice to brass brazing rods.
I see you got aluminum rods. Does it have to be aluminum?
No, any conductive metal will work but the length may vary 👍
@@TheSmokinApe I’m in Canada. I’m going to look in the local hardware stores here. It doesn’t have to be exactly 36 inches? I just got my ham license in September. So much to learn and so many projects I want to do. This has been a big help. Thank you. 73
The longest part is just under 20"
Anybody know the Db gain of this type.of antenna?
Sorry Rod, I do not
A quarter wave antenna with ground plane has very nearly unity gain (ie, no gain per se but also no loss); it is what everything else uses as the thing to be gained. In truth, gain is to a theoretical dipole that radiates in a sphere and there's no such thing but a quarter wave with ground plane is pretty close.
Can you build one for cb
It would be a big boy. That said, I saw a massive one a feller made for 20m 👍
@@TheSmokinApe I did one once. With a 102in whip and it did ok
@@ubergeek318 lol, if anyone tried I’m sure it was you
@@TheSmokinApe you know I can't stay off 11m
Almost as good a a hydraulic crimp ☺️
Haha, this one is total junk.
PMR 446 mhz
Vertical monopole 16.13 cm
4 Radials. 18 cm
LPD 433 mhz
Vertical monopole 16.61 cm
4 Radials. 18.61 cm
Diameter 2mm
Thanks for the specs Bruno!
Ummm...that doesn't look like a GMRS freq. I smell something fishy going on.
C'MON son, I was using a transverter 👍
RUclips video makers....Stop begging for likes and subscribers! If we like something, we know what to do.
Glad you liked the video 👍
Robert Treasure hawk,, Cushty subscribe to me then😀💥
No.
@@roberttreasurehawk5462 🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
I left a negative thumbs down anybody that ask for likes before the video gets shit
Awesome bro… I’m pretty sure you know where I think you should stick your thumb 👍
Isn't 1/2wave better than 1/4???????????
So that's a tricky question. On this antenna the vertical element is 1/4 wave and so are each of the radials. So it's in essence a 1/2 wave of "antenna." That probably makes no sense.
@@TheSmokinApe I get it bro. Thanks for sharing 🍸.
Why not just fix the whip to a metal road sign or square metal sheet ?
You could, from my experience these work better... 👍