102" whip installed on a portable base station

[@UDX-21]

That is an example of someone having fun with the CB Hobby! Thank you for sharing, 21

[@butterbean4195]

good job, i remember back in the day when we didnt have the money to spend on cb stuff you did what you had to to get on the air. i had a 102" on a mirror mount one wire radial hanging down. with a 23 channel mobile radio on a battery. had maybe 50 bucks in it everything else was stuff i had around the house

[@manofkentcatapultsgunsando5069]

I use a 102 inch whip as a homebase antenna with a 100 watt linear hear in the uk. Spoke all over the world on it when the skips good. Excellent video buy the way 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@bluesteel5841]

I did this around 1980 when cb was big. I only used one 102 in ground wire and worked for me, swr was flat perfect. I would shoot skip on it . Been thinking about doing it again in 2020..have fun fellow cb'ers. Handyman out

[@jimt5673]

I know it should of been longer I use the spring on my truck. But the swr was good and made contacts with this set up. Worked well in to 10 meters as well.

[@davescbradiorepair8195]

Yes you can't hardly beat the 102" whip for mobile or base use. I made the same setup for my house but used the heavy duty spring which gives it the extra length and my SWR meter just wiggles its right at a perfect match.

[@TwistedFXgaming]

if you add a 6 inch spring and make the radials 108 inches long that becomes a half wave vertical dipole and that's why you been kicking ass on it!

[@americaswayout4489]

I like the way you held the radials in place, to adjust your SWR you could try making the angle of the radials more or less. Something most of us don't think about the stainless steel whip is very durable for mobile use but an aluminum pole or even a copper pipe will also work and with the higher cost of a SS whip likely is cheaper. Just insert the pipe in a plastic pipe to insulate it from your pole. Copper and aluminum are both more conductive than steel so they might even work better? Just something I have been thinking about because buying a 102 in SS whip is getting close to $100.00 with shipping while the copper pipe is easy to get at any builder's store.

[@countryside8122]

I mounted mine aginst my metal pole barn and used the metal pole building as my ground plane...works great.

[@Radionut]

Could you supply a list of materials measurements etc. for your elegant antenna I’d like to try that this summer out in my backyard

[@jimt5673]

ok I use 4-102” 14 gage wires crimped them together and use keychain rings on the end of each wire. I use 3/4” electrical conduit for the cross and tied it all toget with tape and tie wraps. I used a 2”x2” piece of angle iron for the antenna bracket. The pole I use came from a swimming pool skimmer. This was just a little project I tried at my fishing camp to see how it would work. many say I should of put a spring in to get the length needed for 11 meters. it probably would of brought the swr down some but worked well the way I build it. made some dx contacts with just the 12 watts out the radio. It also worked on 10 meters. Hope this help and works well for you.

[@giovanniberry1611]

That antenna is a make shift ground plane quarter wave with no gain

[@jfrphoto01]

It is a Starduster!

[@jimnunya1253]

Nice job, simple and effective!

[@shartne]

Over all not too bad. Clean you ground on your angle iron and maybe your SWR will go lower. It looked awful rusty is what I was thinking and a perfect ground is really necessary.

[@adriandrenalin6716]

Its a great and simple build but that bracket the antenna is mounted on has a rusted covering. rust will inhibit a good ground connection and poor connectivity. if you can swap it out for a stainless steel bracket you will have good connectivity.

[@thomasrogen3739]

Need to check at channel 20 on 40 channel to get a good mid band reading.

[@jimt5673]

I don’t use those frequencies. I set it for where I talk. It was only a weekend project to see if it would work. I have replaced it with a vertical.

[@innovision777]

Dam cool design dude !!! ...

[@danielmavity1556]

My question is was the pool pole metal or fiberglass

[@jimt5673]

It was a metal pole.

[@jeffreys.harris3433]

What kind radio is that?? That's cool

[@jimt5673]

That radio is a President washington from the early 70s.

[@jeffreys.harris3433]

@@jimt5673 nice looking radio, love those vintage base stations, I'm keeping my eyes open for a cb base with upper and lower bands👍

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

Glad you asked, because I couldn't see the name brand or model on the front of it.

[@Hydrostream1972]

sand the rust off

[@jasonpatterson3271]

I’m using a 102” whip for my base station but swr is a 3…! Heard I need a huge ground plane(metal). Help……

[@jimt5673]

Try to add some radials on it first. Also try to add a spring like used on a mobile for the extra length. 102” length is closer to ten meters. 11 meters requires a little longer antenna. The spring should give you that length. I used my antenna on 11 meter with that rig up but tuned better on ten meters. Hope this will help you. 73

[@gunslinger8130]

The only thing that I can see wrong with your system, is that you should have used some sandpaper or a grinder and sanded or ground down the areas where the bracket bolts to the mast, and definitely where your ground wires connect to the bracket for a good solid contact and then sealed it all with a thick coat of clear coat sealant...other than that, excellent job. I may try this myself!!!

[@jimt5673]

Gun Slinger it had s good connection and worked well it was just an experiment to see if I could get the swr down on a whip. It worked wasn't perfect but was good enough for the frequency I was going for. I have put up an Antron 99 on a tower and a long wire antenna running up a pine tree since the video and put the whip back on my truck with the spring before anyone tells me it's to short. I am able to shoot skip with it on the camp and out the truck running qrp. I talked into The islands, canada and the states running about 6-8watts.

[@gunslinger8130]

Glad that it worked out for you. I'm a perfectionist and OCD when it comes to anything that I do (especially my radio gear) so you'll have to excuse me...lol. I can get a little carried away with it at times.

[@jimt5673]

Gun Slinger I had this hooked to some of my old equipment that I brought to my camp. The radio and meter I was on I bought back in the 70s that I pulled out the closet for the camp. It still works. I do have my good equipment hooked with separate grounds for the antenna and grounds for the towers and have all my equipment grounded too. I use turners for the wire antennas to keep the swr flat at all times. I can operate from 2m to 160m and have multiple antennas up. I don't worry much about the cbs hook ups. I have a vertical and horizontal beam set up for my 11m base. I do still enjoy talking 11m and have lots of friends around the world on it.

[@gunslinger8130]

Damn, sounds like you got it all covered. Keeping the "top notch" expensive gear separate from "experimental" gear is exactly what I do as well. I have all my good gear on a separate desk with all my good radios, meters, power supplies, linear amps, antennas and switch boxes, and another desk with all my experimental frankenstein gear on that I just mess around with...just to see what kind of things I can come up with that actually work. Actually come up with some pretty good stuff that works that I use on the "good gear" desk...lol.

[@RabbiJesus]

Gotta keep grandma from drying clothes on it.

[@Budro4764]

I was going to ask you if you were from South Louisiana, but you said it in the video. What part you in ?? I'm north of Crowley.

[@jimt5673]

Boo LuQuette the video was made at my camp by Toledo bend. I live south of Houma

[@Budro4764]

@@jimt5673 Oh ok . I go to Chauvin twice a year at my buddy's house . His house is south of the Boudreaux bayou bridge on the left he has the only butterfly net on Lil Calliou bayou in that area....

[@jimt5673]

Boo LuQuette very familiar of Chauvin. My family was from down there I am on bayou Dularge two bayous west.

[@Budro4764]

@@jimt5673 My buddy Gene Collins is from Bayou Dularge, he still has a house there but lives in Houma... I have another good friend on the 2 bayous south of Houma Matt DeFelice, he's a tug boat captain....I know quite a few people from all that area also in Pointe Au Chein..

[@jimt5673]

Boo LuQuette i don’t know them guys. I originally from houma. Moved here about 20 years ago.

[@NoHandleNameScrewTube]

A bit longer vertical element yes like a 3 1/2 inch spring and move radials out and up a few degrees further at 45 degrees will net 1.0 or close from my experience but.. Great video 👍🏻 thank you for sharing

[@fivestar2227]

His coax length was wrong it needed to be measured in half wave sections all the way to the radio for a perfect match

[@KINGPAGE-fr1oz]

How long of coax should I use ?

[@jfrphoto01]

@@KINGPAGE-fr1oz Any length that you want will work! Use enough to get from the radio to the antenna. I've been doing this (radio) since 1966 and measuring a coax in exact 1/4 or 1/2 wave lengths is a cb myth unless you are using an antenna system that requires a tuned feeder! And then it is more than cutting a coax to an exact length as the velocity factor of the type of coax you are using has to be factored in as well! I still remember the great "every 3 feet is a perfect match" debate from the late 60's into the early 70's.

[@jeffreys.harris3433]

Will the pole itself act like a ground? Thinking about doing it myself 👍

[@jimt5673]

Jeff the pole wasn’t grounded and you probably wouldn’t need all the radials I put. one might do it. The swr’s were high not using the truck as a radial. This wAs something I was playing with at my camp. Worked good. I hAve replaced it with a tower and and an antron 99. Wanted something cheap out there incase someone would go mess with it.

[@jeffreys.harris3433]

@@jimt5673 thanks for the response, I live in a mobile home park, looking for something to set up? I basically use my ford ranger with the 2 meter, but my wife don't have a ticket so CB or GMRS I was thinking,

[@KINGPAGE-fr1oz]

How long is the coax and how long is the pvc pipes

[@jimt5673]

I used two 10’ lengths of 3/4 electrical pvc taped together in the center and the coax length I really don’t know how long it was. I have a 500’ roll and cut the length I needed to get inside the camp and soldered the end connectors on. I would say around 25’ +- .

[@Radionut]

What are the radios for again they don’t look like they’re in a position to work. You’re a genius and homebrew

[@jimt5673]

The radio in the video is a president Washington. It’s a cb radio works on 11m. I am no genius just trying out ways to make an old Mobile antenna work without having it grounded to a vehicle. Putting the wires replaced the vehicle part of the antenna. I could of probably got away using one wire but looked better with the four. Made it look like a ground plane antenna. Was only an experiment I tried at my camp. Since then I have installed a tower and out an Antron 99 and an end fed wire antenna another home brew I built for different bands.

[@mrobserver474]

What is the purpose of the radials? The metal pole would act as a counterpoise

[@victorgalagan1151]

Add 5 more inches to the antenna,its too short.102 is for 10 meter Ham.11 meters is for CB.For Ham its perfect.For CB its too short.Your mount has a 1 inch connector now.add 5 more inches to it!

[@dave858man2]

exactly these antennas were designed to have a 6 inch spring on the bottom. Make your radial closer to 45 degrees. ground planes at 90 degrees has an impedance of 37 ohms, a dipole has an input impedance of 73 ohms, 45 degrees slope is almost 50 ohms so your getting max power to the antenna, then adjust your length of the radiator and radials for a perfect match and perfect antenna, it will out perform most commercially available antennas

[@Gitarzan66]

In another vid a guy said attach the outer wire on the coax to the radials. Is that true? Or is that for ham? I didnt see a ground wire on this with the 8ft copper rod. I have been working on an antenna similar to this for a while and I am still unsure about a couple things.

[@jimt5673]

Victor Galagan I tried just putting just a ground and the swr was still high. Doing it this way brought the swr down. I do have an 8' ground rod and have it hooked direct to the radio. Remember this was used as a temporary antenna that I could take down and put up fast. It served the purpose. I put a permanent tower up since then and threw up an Antron 99. If your looking for a cheap antenna that works good I would recommend the Antron 99. I know there going to be other to comment on other antennas when they see this but it works really well for me.

[@Gitarzan66]

Jim T, Are you able to use the Antron without a ground plane?

[@jimt5673]

Gitar Zan I had the Antron on a tower at home for abase with the ground plane and worked really well. I put it up at the camp without the ground plane and is working good there also. But the skip has been pretty bad so haven't gave it a real test yet. I took it down and put up a maco 2 element y-quad. That's a good antenna if you're looking for a small beam.

[@doriansilva6785]

I have a 102" whip on my car trunk (pissed off the ol'lady) :-) added a SS 6" riser made by gunny 626 pucks, damn near flat across entire 11m band.

[@jimt5673]

I actually using that whip on my truck bumper mount with a spring to get the right length and swr are about 1:2 on 40 where I operate and works into the 10 m band. I would never drill a hole in my vehicle to mount an antenna. Bumper is ok.

[@hillbillyriggin8360]

What length would the ground radials need to be with a 108"?

[@jcrxpr]

I would think so but I would like to know the same thing.

[@brandonmickler813]

How can you pick someone up from another state

[@jimt5673]

Brandon Mickler Hey Brandon I going to try and explain how this works without loosing you. First thing on a cb there are two types one is AM amplified modulation and SSB single side band. Both can talk long distances but with SSB the radio puts out 12 watts and AM put out about 4 watts. I myself uses SSB. What you have to know is that radio signals travel in a straight line. So when you are talking local you can talk in line of site which limits your distance you can talk. But your signal continues traveling at the speed of light into the earths atmosphere. This is where talking long distance which is called skip comes in. Your signal hits the ionosphere and is reflected back to earth and is picked up by another station that can be in another state or even country. Not the ionosphere is charged by the sun which works in cycles that they say are every 11 years. At the top the cycle you can pretty much talk around the world at the bottom of the cycle the radio can be dead for weeks and months at a time. We are at the bottom of the cycle right now so it's a hit and miss to talk skip. There's a lot more with the different layers of atmosphere and how far you can shoot skip but not going to confuse you with that. I can tell you this a few days ago I made contact with Australia from my truck with 6 watts and can't talk to my house 10 miles away. If you decide to try and talk skip try and go to channel 38 lsb (lower side band) that's a call channel for skip. If you are really interested in radio and want to learn more and be able to talk long distance most the time you can go and study to become an amateur radio operator. This requires a special license and there are there are three grades each require a test. But you will learn all that I am saying and a lot more about how radio and antennas work. You can got to a website called hamstudy.org and take your hobby to the next level. While cb radio is dead you can still make contacts on these frequencies year round. It's lots of fun.

[@jimt5673]

Brandon Mickler I hope this helped you my message sent before I could finish typing. These iPhone have a mind of its own sometime.

[@potshot23]

I know I'm 5 years late, but your radial wires should be 5% longer than your driven element. Might have made a difference in your sir. Good video

[@jimt5673]

Steve Tomlinson I scrapped that antenna shortly after building it. That was just a trial to see if I could get the swr down. It did get a lot of looks and it did work.

[@joerowland7350]

@@jimt5673 i know you scrap it but if need do it again n a pinch 103 is spot on 73 n good dx n9prf 2fb2112 JOE Ps i wint to school in homa n Napolinvill L.A. in high school I love food n the people are the best

[@shartne]

If you could shorten it a 1/4 inch or more the swr would go down.

[@jimt5673]

shartne this was an experiment worked well. Put a Antron up and built a loop antenna since this video. Also put a tower to keep them permanent. I have come a long way since this video.

[@tf7274]

Drill a hole on a cookie sheet from Goodwill and put it near the antenna mount to act like a car hood.

[@randyberetta6277]

✓ out The Super Penatrator it's a Very good Base Antenna.!!! 🤔

[@jfrphoto01]

For the money, it is the best base antenna on the market!

[@qiaolinwu3560]

你们好我的命之子回事？到手的时间

[@Elfnetdesigns]

102 is not long enough...

[@joseaguinaga7670]

needs 5 or 6 inches more

[@timmack2415]

"the wire 102 inch long"? The plural of 'inch' is 'inches' More than one inch, is inches! My elementary school grammar teacher is turning over at her grave

[@smokestackmojavedesert8367]

What? Cant beat a 102 whip? I'll smoke it with a antron, cant beat a 102 think before you speak

[@jimt5673]

Smokestack Mojave desert Not sure what you talking about. Sure you can beat a 102" whip. In fact I used that for one trip to the camp and ended up putting a tower and an Antron 99. I operate a Maco y-quad at the house most time on the flat side. Both these antennas out talk the whip. I put the whip on my truck and use it mobile. I had Wilson 5000 in the truck but could park under the house with it so switched to the whip. This was just a project to see if I could get the swr down and be able to make contacts. I have many different antennas here. I have built a dipole and double bazooka for 11 meters also both work well. I even built a long wire antenna but has way to much noise on it. I like to experiment with building different antennas.

[@joseaguinaga7670]

antron is twice as long, that dont count, what he is trying to say is the 102 inch whip is the best of all the antennas used in mobile applications, and ca also be used as a base.

[@genesisfan029]

Smokestack cool story bro. Tell it again!

[@stevetaylor8446]

Sirio 827 will tear the ass out if an Antron 99. Fibreglass antennas versus today's RFI...no thanks. Tank whip for being less obtrusive and also ideal for mobile use...great antennas. Personally, I use a Sirio 5000 performer

[@qiaolinwu3560]

My quad loop will beat all of yoU