Cheap 2m antenna for the cruiser? (1 Viewer)

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Boise, ID
I came across a guide to build a 1/4 wave 2m antenna here, and I was wondering if this would work for the cruiser. The chassis would be acting as the ground plane, and a brass brazing rod or similar as the antenna. I was thinking I could solder in the rod, seal the end with hot glue for weather proofing, then mount the SO-239 to the vehicle, making sure an electrical connection is made with the ground plane.

Would that work? Better designs to consider that are cheap? I would be running the cable in to the cabin to my Yaesu FT-60R for now.
 
Do you need to worry about trees or other overhead obstructions? The simple wire and the SO-239 connector is fine for a temporary setup but its not very robust. A SO-239 is for a chassis mount and not for anything that have stress on the center pin. A NMO, UHF or 3/8 thread connector would be much more rugged.

Good luck with your project,

Larry in El Paso
 
Do you need to worry about trees or other overhead obstructions? The simple wire and the SO-239 connector is fine for a temporary setup but its not very robust. A SO-239 is for a chassis mount and not for anything that have stress on the center pin. A NMO, UHF or 3/8 thread connector would be much more rugged.

Good luck with your project,

Larry in El Paso
Thank you, good info :) I am not too concerned with longevity at this point, when I can afford it I will install a proper Comet or similar antenna, I just want something that will work for now on the cheap
 
I came across a guide to build a 1/4 wave 2m antenna here, and I was wondering if this would work for the cruiser. The chassis would be acting as the ground plane, and a brass brazing rod or similar as the antenna. I was thinking I could solder in the rod, seal the end with hot glue for weather proofing, then mount the SO-239 to the vehicle, making sure an electrical connection is made with the ground plane.

Would that work? Better designs to consider that are cheap? I would be running the cable in to the cabin to my Yaesu FT-60R for now.

I guess you realize the linked antenna is meant as a stationary, not mobile antenna - but in principle it could work as a mobile antenna, without the ground-plane rods or the PVC tubing, as long as you put it in the middle of your roof.
 
I was thinking about it today, and it might make more sense to make a dipole or J-pole antenna that has its own ground plane, and attach it to my front bumper. I'm not sure what parts I would use, but that way I could get it quite high without having the truck's body interfere, so it might work better. Thoughts?
 
I was thinking about it today, and it might make more sense to make a dipole or J-pole antenna that has its own ground plane, and attach it to my front bumper. I'm not sure what parts I would use, but that way I could get it quite high without having the truck's body interfere, so it might work better. Thoughts?

The traditional 2M j-pole antenna made out of copper tubing (I have one for my base station) would have a very high wind load mounted on a vehicle. I know you're trying to save money, and I applaud your desires to home brew, but for practical reasons it's going to be hard to beat a purpose-manufactured mobile antenna. You could probably pick a used one up at hamfest swap meet very cheaply.
 
The traditional 2M j-pole antenna made out of copper tubing (I have one for my base station) would have a very high wind load mounted on a vehicle. I know you're trying to save money, and I applaud your desires to home brew, but for practical reasons it's going to be hard to beat a purpose-manufactured mobile antenna. You could probably pick a used one up at hamfest swap meet very cheaply.
True, I was thinking about making it out of steel or something that wouldn't have to be as big. Maybe I can find brass brazing rods long enough...
 
Cooper tubing is easy choice for making J Poles. One 10 foot piece of 1/2 inch copper tubing, one "T", one 90 degree elbow and 2 caps. You will need a tubing cutter and a high wattage soldering iron or a torch. I have made over 2 dozen of these. There are lots of how to videos on YouTube.

Larry in El Paso
 
I bought a Tram 1185 2 meter antenna from Amazon. Less than 25.00 has held up for 2 years and I don't see any problems with it. magnetic base and it stays on my ARB bumper in plane with the hood. Cheap until you want something better. Can flex with trees or brush, Can easily be removed.
 
I don't know why you would go cheap on an antenna, they're not really that expensive.

It's like asking about which cheap motor oil should I buy? Which dollar store afterbrand chocolate bar is best??

Depending on where you mount the antenna, you'll either have a 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave. 1/4 on VHF aren't very common, and don't work very well for a vehicle either.

Your 5/8 will need to be narrowband, and should be a groundplane type to work best. It should be mounted somewhere like roof centre, and will be big.

A 1/2 wave is smaller, usually thicker rod, and wideband. It'll be a bit poorer performance. It may be available with no-groundplane coil, and could be poorly places at your fender or cab edge.

A 1/2 wave with groundplane coil will work better, and should be at roof centre. A spring mount may be orderable for the 1/2 wave.

PCTEL, Laird, Maxrad, lots of sources for quality NMO antennas, NMO RG-58 cable, NMO bracket.
 
The Comet Antennas SS-460BNMO is about $40 and has a spring built in so it wont break off as soon as it touches a branch.

Any solid antenna you use when wheeling will not last unless you are in the desert southwest where there are no trees.

You could try a ladder line antenna. There are a bunch of Youtube videos on how to make one an with all the parts it will be about $10.
 
I've given up on the idea of a permanently installed HAM antenna on my trucks - too much brush and desert scrub on most of the trails around Phoenix. I have a Diamond 2/70, tried it with a spring mount on the fender, but that coil in the middle really likes to claw into branches, and the antenna gets beaten up pretty good. Magnet mount on the roof - I can't count the times where I scraped a cheap CB stubby off in the past. So my solution is CB - we usually go in highly spaced groups, and there's a fender-mounted Firestik - or handheld HAM radio for regular comms, and the 2/70 for my 50W Yaesu on a magnet mount in the trunk - that'll go on the roof when I'll really need it.
 
Maybe I'm not done yet - I've ordered one of these: Antennas to go on the passenger side fender.
 
I've given up on the idea of a permanently installed HAM antenna on my trucks - too much brush and desert scrub on most of the trails around Phoenix.

I have an NMO mount on the roof of one of my trucks; when I'm in heavy brush/trees I run a STI-CO Flexi-whip up there. It's only 1/4 wave, and hence short and extremely flexible as the name suggests. I've actually gotten quite good performance out of it (long range). It's pretty much just stayed on that truck now. Nothing bothers it; low ceilings in parking garages, drive-throughs, trees, etc. You will need to tune it (cut it) for 2 Meters though, so you'll need access to a decent antenna tuner.

Amazon product ASIN B004Z9414I
 
Here we go - that signalstuff.com antenna made from Nitinol came in, mounted on the K5; super flexible. 2m 1/4 wave, SWR is ~1.3 at 146.520. Cable is RG316, and a PL259 to SMA adapter. My Diamond NR770HAB (2m 1/2 wave) on the same mount is close to 1, but that one won't survive there, also not on a spring mount.
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We'll see how this works, and how long that little set screw for the nitinol wire holds up.
 
My club did a 5/8 wave homebuild party, it was pretty fun and my antenna has worked great for years! But I need to get a different antenna because I can’t use the 70cm band on my dual band radio.
 
I bought a Tram 1185 2 meter antenna from Amazon. Less than 25.00 has held up for 2 years and I don't see any problems with it. magnetic base and it stays on my ARB bumper in plane with the hood. Cheap until you want something better. Can flex with trees or brush, Can easily be removed.


I have one of these. The rubber on the mount bottom is cracking, but still works. Once it starts peeling off, I'll get another
 
So far, this Nitinol antenna has held up to the brush by the side of the trails just fine. We've gone out every Sunday the past six weeks, outdoor recreation being labeled as allowed and encouraged activity around here. Made contact across ~40 miles on simplex (25W or 50W on my Yaesu FT 1900R) today, at least one mountain range in the way out to west Phoenix. We were riding trails, I was on a ridge, so no obstruction for a few miles. There wasn't a good place to turn around and check that same contact with the hood (which is my ground plane) in a different relation to the antenna. On the freeway, this thing bends in the wind quite a bit, maybe not the best for transmitting while driving.

Here we go - that signalstuff.com antenna made from Nitinol came in, mounted on the K5; super flexible. 2m 1/4 wave, SWR is ~1.3 at 146.520. Cable is RG316, and a PL259 to SMA adapter. My Diamond NR770HAB (2m 1/2 wave) on the same mount is close to 1, but that one won't survive there, also not on a spring mount.


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We'll see how this works, and how long that little set screw for the nitinol wire holds up.
 
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