Extraordinary Tape Measure Vertical on Cheap Dowel Mast Pulley System

[@KQ4KXA]

Thats is the coolest antenna build i have seen nice job Simon

[@thehamjazz]

Oh wow buddy, you're too kind. I'll have another video coming out in a few days on an EVEN BETTER mast system for literally $5! hahahaa. This however is more for portability and throwing the dowels in your backpack and heading off to a POTA park etc. Cheers buddy!

[@DK5ONV]

Simon you blowning me away...good Job Mate. Wohooo...💯👌

[@thehamjazz]

Uncle Guenter brother! Wooohoooo. Thanks so much for your comment as always buddy. You're a legend buddy! You could build this for your trailer mate? hahaha Imagine having a mast out the back of the trailer hahaha. Love your work buddy. Cheers and beers my friend.

[@W6IWN_Radio]

I just worked you from my rain gutter antenna! I thought you were a in VK not VA lol! Tape measure to rain gutter awesome!

[@HenryPhelan-h9r]

Awesome stuff ❤🎉

[@Stewart-HA5RV]

That's great a couple years ago I made a adjustable counter poise using an old tape measure. I just soldered a crocodile clip to the end and then I can attach to any antenna base and pull out to the required amount and good to go. You could also do that with couple of extra tape measures for a counterpoise(s) too!

[@thehamjazz]

Hey Stewart, thanks for your comment mate. That's an awesome idea. So much fun to be had with a tape measure! Cheers buddy

[@RandallRash]

Dude, you are a manual Step-IR. That's great fun. Good way to help kids understand the effects of the antenna length.

[@thehamjazz]

Hey there Randall buddy, thanks for swinging by! I had so many people walking by and stopping yesterday and I don't know if that was because (as my wife puts it) "I'm shouting at people" hahaha, or they're geniunely intrigued, especially when they could hear stations from east coast and South America coming in. It really is a riot raising and lowering the tape for resonance. Wooohoooo cheers buddy!

[@SteampunkSammy]

Oh man, I want to make this motorized with a common cheap stepper to wind the string etc then make a PC app to run set points, allow for offsets and such 😁 Nice job!

[@thehamjazz]

Hey buddy that's awesome! Wow I want to see pics of your design. Sounds amazing. Cheers

[@TheSmokinApe]

Fantastic work Simon 👍

[@thehamjazz]

Woohooo thanks so much Ape Buddy! So much fun building this - and it works hahaha. Cheers mate!

[@m7trsradio]

Great work Simon. Just managed to watch the second part. Fantastic work woohoo 🙌🏽🎉 73 buddy

[@thehamjazz]

Thanks so much buddy! 👍🍻🙏

[@MrMudsHamRadioRadioTime]

What a fun and creative project. Thanks for throwing my side of the QSO into the video, next time I’ll put on my Cop outfit 😜

[@thehamjazz]

Hahahah Mr Mud! You rock buddy, that was sooo much fun! Can't wait to see what you've got in the works over there at Mr Muds Radio Time Town! Woohooo cheers brother!

[@jtn104]

That is amazing Simon! What we go through to get on the air. and this thing was great. I never thought of dow rods!

[@thehamjazz]

Hey buddy, thanks for your comment. I think if I did it again with the dowel, I would probably go 1/2 for 2 pieces, then say a 3/4 for 2 pieces, then the bottom section would be more like 1inch and a 1/4. This is awesome for portability and packing in light for hiking or a park bench. The antenna has blown me away buddy. Can't believe it! Woohooo

[@jtn104]

@@thehamjazz yeah, a little less sway. I have used pvc by buying 3, 5ft. sections with different inside diameters to be able to telescope them. I drill holes and bolt the sections together. It works but you get a little less then 15ft. With three sections.

[@stevea3498]

that antenna really did measure up !!! lol VE1SK

[@thehamjazz]

Hahahaha buddy. Did you hear your thunderous laugh when I measured you in Metric because you're Canadian!? Hahaha. That was absolutely priceless buddy. Wooohooo. I'm heading out to the park with the "BixTenna" today hahaha.

[@stevea3498]

@@thehamjazz yeah, I heard it !! lol

[@thehamjazz]

Hahaha that's awesome buddy. I'm just about to upload a short and you feature on it hahahaha. Cheers and beers my friend

[@MESA-East-Model-RR]

Fun and creative as always Simon!

[@thehamjazz]

Hey buddy, thanks so much. It's the greatest hobby ever - and the experimentation with stuff is endless. Wooohooo! Cheers mate and thanks for dropping by

[@Andy2e0ree]

Great one brother what a lot of fun

[@thehamjazz]

Wooohooo thanks Andy brother!

[@robk3005]

Great idea, I'll have to try the same in one of the 5 parks in my valley. Experimentation is at the heart of Amateur Radio, and you made a great one. Woo Hoo!!!! 73

[@thehamjazz]

Thanks Rob mate. Woohooo! Happy POTA buddy

[@darylcheshire1618]

tape measures should have an SO239 built in.

[@EvgeniX.]

wow that's super cool! true ham spirit of DIY and i like how u got excited 👍 wonder if connecting internally to the spring end will have the same performance?

[@thehamjazz]

Hey buddy, thanks so much for your kind words. I wonder the same thing? I think it might work the same? hmmm maybe a video in there somewhere hahaha. Cheers my friend

[@EvgeniX.]

​@@thehamjazz yep if it works from the center, you can screw a connector there it would look sweet! I would like to see a video with that one :) anyway, hope to see more nice content from you 👍 cheers, and 73

[@hamradioqrp-k0klb]

Woo Hoooo ! !! Nice Job.. Love the string and pulley system.. That's a great idea.. Gunna order me a metric tape measure so I don't have to do the conversions, LOL... Thanks for sharing.. k0klb

[@thehamjazz]

Thanks for your comment Kevin buddy. It works soooo well! When we had our QSO yesterday on 0 watts I was using a different mast. Not as portable but way more rigid. A marketplace beach fishing pole for $2 and jammed it into PVC. I’m using it on Wednesday’s live stream buddy! Fun fun fun 👍👍

[@KC3UVF]

Love it! I really need to look into the whole terminal block thing. So many ideas. Were you running the full hundred or did you have the power backed off a bit?

[@thehamjazz]

Wooohoooo buddy the versatility with these terminal blocks is mindblowing and I was running full Power woooohoooo 100W! 👍

[@KC3UVF]

@@thehamjazz nice! I've used tape measure for the ubiquitous 2m yagi but I don't think I ever put more 10w through it. I'm thinking something like that for 2 and 6m. My DX70 does 100 on 6.

[@Lennymc39]

Excellent idea Simon. Many thanks for sharing. EI2JHB

[@thehamjazz]

Hey buddy it works an absolute treat. It’s my POTA go to right now as I don’t need a tuner and can be resonant from 10-20! Then add a loaded coil and it rocks 40 wooohooo happy building mate

[@mikeramsey9747]

Simon, have you determined if the radio is seeing 50 ohm with your tape measure antenna, or do you need a UNUM to make it 50 ohm

[@thehamjazz]

Mike buddy! The TRUE magic of this antenna is that it is 50 ohms (adjusting tape length) on every band from 70cm to 20 meters! No Unun, just adjust the length and you get 1:1 on every band. I'm actually working on another video coming out either today or tomorrow on it mate. Happy building buddy.

[@rsedaker]

How many watts are you running?

[@thehamjazz]

G'day Robert - 100watts mate wooohooo. Happy building mate

[@TerryConyers-g3o]

New ham here. How many counter poises did you use and length. My interest is to experiment with different antennas and this one I would to try. KJ5BHF

[@simonstribling882]

Hey there Terry, I used 14 counterpoises that are 8ft 9inches long. This antenna is awesome buddy - resonant on 5 bands and not needing to change counterpoises or anything like that, is pretty sweet. Happy building mate and keep me posted how your build goes! Cheers

[@corsavic1]

Just watching ya video mate M7ETK

[@thehamjazz]

G'day Vic, thanks for dropping by mate! I'm planning on getting out to the Park with this monster antenna today. Cheers Vic!

[@HenryPhelan-h9r]

Awesome stuff ❤🎉