Flowerpot antenna's are great. I have made them for 10m, 11m, 15m, and 20m. All fit on my 10m pole and work great. I have made several contacts around Europe and the US from Australia.
There's such a remarkable difference in the audio of your FM transmissions on CB frequencies versus the AM cluster-blank I'm used to... in fact, that's why I dodged ever getting into CB radio 40 years ago...
It depends of the other tx brand... In France we use AM since mid 80 and I prefer AM for mobile and local chatting. I use rarely FM except when I try to contact someone on the other of the channel 😁 or Germany.
I haven’t noticed anyone else mention it, but it isn’t actually end-fed. It’s centre-fed, but “end connected”, as the outer surface of the braid (at the point where the braid terminates to expose the centre element) acts as the other half of a standard dipole along with the centre conductor. The coax coil then chokes off the RF from this “third” conductor in the coax before the coax once again becomes just feedline with nothing radiating. I have one for both 11m and 10m and they work well as a vertical dipole. 👍
I had an argument with someone once in a TH-cam comments section when I pointed this out. He was adamant that I was wrong and no amount of trying to explain on my part would convince him otherwise!
nice vid... getting the base up another 15 /20 should be perfect.... rx will be well up.. dunno if you have a variable RF gain on that.. with the cycle so good.. 120 miles hill to hill should be possible and continental contacts... especial to Germany (they like FM) and France easy... even Australia 🇦🇺 was done again... recently..
Random CB antenna experiments appx 1980 in the US. Spending some time in the gold country near Angels Camp CA. Found an abandoned electric fence, or at lean=st it was unused at the time we inspected it. Looked like it went a long ways around this field, "Looks like a good antenne to me." so we hooked it up and it was terrific. We chatted with folks in Oregon for a while. This was at the legal 5 watts on AM too.
So I need to install an electric fence without the fence charger. I'm sure there are better antennas out there and more matched for the frequency I'm transmitting on. 73
@@ronb6182 There's no telling when it comes to random antennas. This could have been anywhere between a mile and ten miles of wire. How many wavelengths? Who knows. Just on that day, at that point, it worked great.
@@josephcote6120 yes just like using the old fashion bed springs for a TV antenna. We had a bed that had bed springs. I also made copper coil antenna out of telephone wire. It had green red and yellow wires it was only three conductor phone wire. Our farm neighbor worked for the phone company years ago and dumped the black two conductor steel copper clad wire and also the wire that hooks to the telephone we would untangle it and bring it home. My nephew made wire animals and I had coiled the wire and attached it to the antenna clip that clipped on the back of the TV. It picked up VHF real good for an indoor antenna that was analog days it don't work on these digital TV's not good you might get a broken picture but no sound. 73
The design of the antenna, for ease of deployment, is to slide the coil down the fibreglass pole (I.e. pole through the middle of the tube) and attach the wire at the top.
Cool Beans. Before & after I received my amateur license in the States I practiced with a lot of antenna designs to achieve gain and directionality. One of my favorite was a two and three element vertical Yagi for CB radio or 27 Mhz in the States. It was simple to make in that it was rope strung between a top length of PVC and lower member of PVC separated by roughly 16 feet with the driven element and the reflector and director if used taped to the ropes. They kicked..... 73 kc2wvb
These antennas have good recommends. I had something the same for 446 MHz. Like you i placed the coil outside the pole but your supposed to put the pole through it. I am sure people will let you know (did on my vid) Nice vid bro. Take care.
Enjoyed this feature on the Thunderpole TX , I bought myself one a few months ago. I Have also been impressed with its capabilities when using it outdoors and indoors in Portsmouth area where i live. Its a very good handheld and have been trying out different aerials, but can't decide on a permanent one. So thanks this is a good guide for me, and I will look at getting a thunderbolt aerial myself now, the price is also very impressive. Cheers Jim .
Yep - same antenna set up but on a 9m pole here. Works great at home or portable. SWR is always 1.3 or below so I can't speak highly enough of Hawkins Thunderbolt SSD12 half wave antenna. Loving the CB content Lewis keep it up! I am Manchester way and hope to catch you on the air one day 👍
Hi I’m new to all this. If I bought the TX what thunderbolt would be best for me. I would use it outside on a fishing pole outside my camper van. Thank you
Thanks for your channel. You just convinced me buy this thunderpole Tx.after not being on CB for over 35 years Has anyone ever made an antenna that a drone can lift up high. just some thin copper wire? Plus could you power it with some copper wire so it stayed up forever until the motors wear out! Now that would be a rather cool video.
If possible you could then remove the battery & that would help with the weight lift of the thin cable. Just think full wave CB antenna for a couple of quid if you already have a drone. The coax would exit at the top floor so no weight for the drone to lift that. I know I'm going to get slatted for this crazy idea!
It does seem like a pretty cool antenna. I've been thinking about ordering a thunderpole T-X But I hate to see what the shipping gonna be to United States
I have the 10m Pole same brand. Used it for Airband with a Slim G and it booms in. Then NOAS V Dipole, 1/4 wave for LORA cube Sarah. Wish I had the 12m.
Absolutely love CB radio . We get out on 27 Megas ,,,, all round the planet,,,,, ( lm not nockin the amateur band ) and I don't even use a burner . Take care mate.
I have a Hawkins Thunderbolt 5/8 wave on a 12m Spirit of Air fibreglass pole as my homebase antenna and works much better than other antenna's i have owned.
Hi good video. I bought this cb radio about a month ago. I like it better than my ALAN and my INTEK. I bought the in car adapter not to use it because I’m disabled but for £14.99-it’s a still and if I did sell it having the in car adapter it sells better. I wonder if there make a case for this radio. 👍
Been waiting on Thunderpole to get them back in stock, hope to order 1 at the weekend Already have the Thunderbolt Ssd12+ and several tele masts, but hope from up Anglezarke i can Dx across the Nw with my 4w.
Hi I am definitely going to buy the Thunderpole when they are back in stock. The Ariel in this video looks perfect for outside my camper van when we are camping. Could you please tell me what model to buy for the TX please and also what would I need for the car ? I haven’t used a CB since the 70s so not upto date with all the new stuff. So any information would be fantastic Just gave you a sub too Atb Paul
Hi I have a question, can you also use carbon fiber rods or carbon fiber fishing poles as antenna masts?! Or is carbon fiber (to) conductive or could it maybe block a radio signal?! I am wondering this for a while now. I am still a noob in the ham radio world! 😅 Cheer's! 👍😉
I don't know how carbon fibre compares to fibreglass, but my base antenna is a solid copper wire 103 inches long fed through the middle of a fibreglass fishing pole. I think any non-metallic material can work fine as a mast.
It looks and works well. I looked at the UK dealers, at about 99 pounds UK, and $128.00 US. All dealers were out of stock, but mote seem due by Sept. 73 de W2CH Ray New Hampshire.😊
I'm in the Chorley area near Rivington pike so could potentially get far out , I know that on Sundays at 8pm ONE enthusiast have a meet up on air so maybe Cb ers should do the same
Thanks very much for giving me a beautiful memory recall! 55 years ago my uncle used to take us up Rivington Pike kite flying after we'd made them out of plastic bags and bamboo sticks. Sometimes they flew! 😂
Make a end-fed choke sleeve resonant feedlineT2LT yourself out of a piece of coax. Why pay £32 for it? That's insane money for a piece of coax and a bit of drain pipe and 10 minutes work..
Is the swa already set when you buy the thunderbolt and how do you check what the swa is on the thunderpole t-x when connected to the radio only asking as new to this thanks
need to get me CB setup at home and in me camper, be a good way for me and me lad to have some radio fun, and hopefully some more contacts :D thanks for the great variety of videos, really enjoying the CB one, just need to get mine out ! :D
LOS works well on all bands. You see the difference driving thru valleys in rural areas and urban streets. Low bands have a nice ground wave that rolls over hills and 420 bounces off buildings and goes thru windows, thus popular for cellular. Even two meters is more of a mobile service without repeaters and inferior to 10, 6, and 4 in rural hill towns. You might try all bands in different conditions.
@@philthehmk8752 The coil is a coaxial choke and nothing more, also the rest is exactly an T2LT. You can build chokes in different diameters even with more turns. Don't be fooled by what you see here on TH-cam regarding the T2LT. There is not a single video showing how to build the improved T2LT. Only those cheap, poorly performing versions are shown. The Thunderbolt SSD 12 shown here can even be improved. Electrically, this SSD12 is excellent, but when you look at the efficiency, the radiated power and the reception quality, there is still a lot to improve.
That a great hand held. Must be your videos. The thunderpole XT is out of stock with more on the way . The midland is in stock but I got that one. and the optional AA rechargeable battery pack. it came with the 6AA holder. love that end fed halfwave. I bet if I shorten a tad it will tune 10 meter ham just fine. 73's Boston NY I sent you a cut of tea !
Its full of idiots who can't be bothered to move to one of the other completely empty channels. It never used to be like that. This is what spoils CB today.
Flowerpot antenna's are great. I have made them for 10m, 11m, 15m, and 20m. All fit on my 10m pole and work great. I have made several contacts around Europe and the US from Australia.
It’s crazy to think of channel 19 being busy as it’s silent around here.I enjoyed that video Lewis..Thanks
I have both PMR and CB versions of this antenna they are brilliant
There's such a remarkable difference in the audio of your FM transmissions on CB frequencies versus the AM cluster-blank I'm used to... in fact, that's why I dodged ever getting into CB radio 40 years ago...
It depends of the other tx brand... In France we use AM since mid 80 and I prefer AM for mobile and local chatting. I use rarely FM except when I try to contact someone on the other of the channel 😁 or Germany.
I haven’t noticed anyone else mention it, but it isn’t actually end-fed. It’s centre-fed, but “end connected”, as the outer surface of the braid (at the point where the braid terminates to expose the centre element) acts as the other half of a standard dipole along with the centre conductor. The coax coil then chokes off the RF from this “third” conductor in the coax before the coax once again becomes just feedline with nothing radiating. I have one for both 11m and 10m and they work well as a vertical dipole. 👍
I had an argument with someone once in a TH-cam comments section when I pointed this out. He was adamant that I was wrong and no amount of trying to explain on my part would convince him otherwise!
👍thanks for sharing 🏴
maybe he did see the vids on how to may one lol....
nice vid... getting the base up another 15 /20 should be perfect.... rx will be well up.. dunno if you have a variable RF gain on that.. with the cycle so good.. 120 miles hill to hill should be possible and continental contacts... especial to Germany (they like FM) and France easy... even Australia 🇦🇺 was done again... recently..
Random CB antenna experiments appx 1980 in the US. Spending some time in the gold country near Angels Camp CA. Found an abandoned electric fence, or at lean=st it was unused at the time we inspected it. Looked like it went a long ways around this field, "Looks like a good antenne to me." so we hooked it up and it was terrific. We chatted with folks in Oregon for a while. This was at the legal 5 watts on AM too.
So I need to install an electric fence without the fence charger. I'm sure there are better antennas out there and more matched for the frequency I'm transmitting on. 73
@@ronb6182 There's no telling when it comes to random antennas. This could have been anywhere between a mile and ten miles of wire. How many wavelengths? Who knows. Just on that day, at that point, it worked great.
@@josephcote6120 yes just like using the old fashion bed springs for a TV antenna. We had a bed that had bed springs. I also made copper coil antenna out of telephone wire. It had green red and yellow wires it was only three conductor phone wire. Our farm neighbor worked for the phone company years ago and dumped the black two conductor steel copper clad wire and also the wire that hooks to the telephone we would untangle it and bring it home. My nephew made wire animals and I had coiled the wire and attached it to the antenna clip that clipped on the back of the TV. It picked up VHF real good for an indoor antenna that was analog days it don't work on these digital TV's not good you might get a broken picture but no sound. 73
The design of the antenna, for ease of deployment, is to slide the coil down the fibreglass pole (I.e. pole through the middle of the tube) and attach the wire at the top.
Great antennas I use the 5/8th one when static mobile and always get great results.
Cool Beans.
Before & after I received my amateur license in the States I practiced with a lot of antenna designs to achieve gain and directionality.
One of my favorite was a two and three element vertical Yagi for CB radio or 27 Mhz in the States. It was simple to make in that it was rope strung between a top length of PVC and lower member of PVC separated by roughly 16 feet with the driven element and the reflector and director if used taped to the ropes. They kicked.....
73 kc2wvb
These antennas have good recommends. I had something the same for 446 MHz. Like you i placed the coil outside the pole but your supposed to put the pole through it. I am sure people will let you know (did on my vid) Nice vid bro. Take care.
right because mast through the coil!
Enjoyed this feature on the Thunderpole TX , I bought myself one a few months ago. I Have also been impressed with its capabilities when using it outdoors and indoors in Portsmouth area where i live. Its a very good handheld and have been trying out different aerials, but can't decide on a permanent one. So thanks this is a good guide for me, and I will look at getting a thunderbolt aerial myself now, the price is also very impressive.
Cheers Jim .
That is REALLY impressive. I didn't think there would be that much difference at a fairly short range. Thanks for the info!
Yep - same antenna set up but on a 9m pole here. Works great at home or portable. SWR is always 1.3 or below so I can't speak highly enough of Hawkins Thunderbolt SSD12 half wave antenna. Loving the CB content Lewis keep it up! I am Manchester way and hope to catch you on the air one day 👍
Totally agree. I've got 3 Hawkins and they are excellent! Well made and work much better than home made wire antennas!
So òn stock antennas are these radios any good
Hi Lewis, this is my kind of experiment, congrats on a great video and excellent result! 73
Yes agreed. Our Prepper group use Hawkins antennas a lot on UHF VHF and HF 10 and 11 meters. Been very impressed with them.
Hi
I’m new to all this. If I bought the TX what thunderbolt would be best for me. I would use it outside on a fishing pole outside my camper van. Thank you
Thanks for your channel. You just convinced me buy this thunderpole Tx.after not being on CB for over 35 years Has anyone ever made an antenna that a drone can lift up high. just some thin copper wire? Plus could you power it with some copper wire so it stayed up forever until the motors wear out! Now that would be a rather cool video.
Yes there would be lose on the voltage in a very small gauge but you could calculate it and increase it for the said length.
If possible you could then remove the battery & that would help with the weight lift of the thin cable. Just think full wave CB antenna for a couple of quid if you already have a drone. The coax would exit at the top floor so no weight for the drone to lift that. I know I'm going to get slatted for this crazy idea!
That is a T2LT antenna. I use a DIY model of the TH-camr "Hulti's Funkbude"..
It does seem like a pretty cool antenna. I've been thinking about ordering a thunderpole T-X But I hate to see what the shipping gonna be to United States
That’s great Lewis. Great video. Loving the tx more every time I see it 👍
Another great vid Lewis. Cheers for all the effort you put in
I have the 10m Pole same brand. Used it for Airband with a Slim G and it booms in. Then NOAS V Dipole, 1/4 wave for LORA cube Sarah. Wish I had the 12m.
Absolutely love CB radio . We get out on 27 Megas ,,,, all round the planet,,,,, ( lm not nockin the amateur band ) and I don't even use a burner . Take care mate.
I have a Hawkins Thunderbolt 5/8 wave on a 12m Spirit of Air fibreglass pole as my homebase antenna and works much better than other antenna's i have owned.
Thanks for sharing all your great intel
I like this new wee h/h + the thunderbolt
Hi good video. I bought this cb radio about a month ago. I like it better than my ALAN and my INTEK. I bought the in car adapter not to use it because I’m disabled but for £14.99-it’s a still and if I did sell it having the in car adapter it sells better. I wonder if there make a case for this radio. 👍
It seems like these antenas arent being sold at present. Any suggestions on an alternative for a portable no ground plane antenna?
This radio with SSB would be amazing
And miraculous,, I think Yaesu would have made it possible 50 yrs ago
Are hawkins still trading I'm so plese could you tell me where you bought it I'm desperate to buy one thankd
Been waiting on Thunderpole to get them back in stock, hope to order 1 at the weekend
Already have the Thunderbolt Ssd12+ and several tele masts, but hope from up Anglezarke i can Dx across the Nw with my 4w.
Hi
I am definitely going to buy the Thunderpole when they are back in stock. The Ariel in this video looks perfect for outside my camper van when we are camping. Could you please tell me what model to buy for the TX please and also what would I need for the car ? I haven’t used a CB since the 70s so not upto date with all the new stuff. So any information would be fantastic Just gave you a sub too
Atb
Paul
When testing on AM and receiving a signal your radio display clearly read 'EU FM' which is probably why the received audio was muffled.
Hi I have a question, can you also use carbon fiber rods or carbon fiber fishing poles as antenna masts?! Or is carbon fiber (to) conductive or could it maybe block a radio signal?! I am wondering this for a while now. I am still a noob in the ham radio world! 😅 Cheer's! 👍😉
I don't know how carbon fibre compares to fibreglass, but my base antenna is a solid copper wire 103 inches long fed through the middle of a fibreglass fishing pole. I think any non-metallic material can work fine as a mast.
Do you have a link where to buy this please?
It looks and works well. I looked at the
UK dealers, at about 99 pounds UK, and
$128.00 US. All dealers were out of
stock, but mote seem due by Sept.
73 de W2CH Ray New Hampshire.😊
Just look on TH-cam how to make the T2LT antenna. You can do it yourself. Its not that complicated.
Awesome information 👏
Hope it works well. Cost an arm and a leg to have a pair shipped to Canada... LOL. Thanks for the heads up ont this antenna.
I'm in the Chorley area near Rivington pike so could potentially get far out , I know that on Sundays at 8pm ONE enthusiast have a meet up on air so maybe Cb ers should do the same
Sundays Pmr 446 that should say
Thanks very much for giving me a beautiful memory recall! 55 years ago my uncle used to take us up Rivington Pike kite flying after we'd made them out of plastic bags and bamboo sticks. Sometimes they flew! 😂
How do you get that antenna? Nowhere online for sale
Make a end-fed choke sleeve resonant feedlineT2LT yourself out of a piece of coax. Why pay £32 for it? That's insane money for a piece of coax and a bit of drain pipe and 10 minutes work..
@RingwayManchester >>> Great video...👍
A Thunderbolt antenna is always a good choice i was so far always satisfied with them. The radio seems great to.
The more I see this radio…Audio is absolutely amazing.
I’m literally getting to grips with my T-X ordered a mag mounted aerial for the car
Best aerial I ever used was an Antron 99 is this better ?
@Lewis did the springer on the tripod not need a counterpoise or anything? I've got a tankwhip I was thinking of doing this with
I'm surprised you're not picking up any skip as you work the local stations.
I made lot of contacts around Europe with the t2lt
Can you use the Thunderbolt SSD58+ 5/8th too,with that handheld ??
Are the thunder bolt hawkins still fir sale where did you get yours thanks regards adrian
Where in the UK do you get them from. I can't find them anywhere?
I don't know what it is with these modern radios that have AM. They never appear to perform that well compared to the older gear.
Very low modulation and muffled sound, you're right 😁
Is the swa already set when you buy the thunderbolt and how do you check what the swa is on the thunderpole t-x when connected to the radio only asking as new to this thanks
Thats... That Thunderbolt logo is the logo for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Well, the original one anyway.
Where did you get your hawkins from
Flower pot antenna brilliant simple end fed halfwave
need to get me CB setup at home and in me camper, be a good way for me and me lad to have some radio fun, and hopefully some more contacts :D thanks for the great variety of videos, really enjoying the CB one, just need to get mine out ! :D
T2LT with balun
This exactly. The coax is wound into a choke.
Does Thunderbolt have a proper website? Got a link?
nice
Hi
how do you swr it in please, i bought one but not used it yet, so just need to know how to change the swr on the antenna
cheers
paul
It’s 1.1 across all the uk 40
I use the Thunderbolt SSD58+ on a 12m spiderbeam for 10 and 11m band cracking aerial, well worth the money.
Please let me know where you got tje antenna from
LOS works well on all bands. You see the difference driving thru valleys in rural areas and urban streets. Low bands have a nice ground wave that rolls over hills and 420 bounces off buildings and goes thru windows, thus popular for cellular. Even two meters is more of a mobile service without repeaters and inferior to 10, 6, and 4 in rural hill towns. You might try all bands in different conditions.
Hi I’m new to this could you please tell me the plug connection from the thunderbolt to the coax on your tx
Thanks paul
BNC From the radio to a pl259
@@RingwayManchester thank you
@@RingwayManchester hi is that a male connector
I've got a Maycom AH27 and wondering if I add an external Ariel like I have a DV27 magmount do I need to add a SWR meter
You don't need to but you should do.
Had the 10 and the 4m ones from Hawkins Radio. Work very well. 10M was very long
vhf can travel further than that doesnt it?
apparently this antenna works 10-20 with an atu
Were can you get this Antenna
How far away from Rory was he ?
How can i order one of these antennas
Midland 42DS v thunderpole TX face-off next??
👍
How would my Antron 99 work with this rig?
Probably very well
Hi wher can i order one of these
That’s quite a impressive take off you have there, might be worth you trying SSB some time
This is not an EndFed dipole (8:28) it is just a dipole. As you can see it is an T2LT Antenna.
Not really a T2LT, smaller diameter coil with a lot more turns.
@@philthehmk8752 The coil is a coaxial choke and nothing more, also the rest is exactly an T2LT. You can build chokes in different diameters even with more turns. Don't be fooled by what you see here on TH-cam regarding the T2LT. There is not a single video showing how to build the improved T2LT. Only those cheap, poorly performing versions are shown. The Thunderbolt SSD 12 shown here can even be improved. Electrically, this SSD12 is excellent, but when you look at the efficiency, the radiated power and the reception quality, there is still a lot to improve.
Great stuff. I may actually get one ! (tweaked for 10 meters )
Cant find this antenna any were
That a great hand held. Must be your videos. The thunderpole XT is out of stock with more on the way . The midland is in stock but I got that one. and the optional AA rechargeable battery pack. it came with the 6AA holder. love that end fed halfwave. I bet if I shorten a tad it will tune 10 meter ham just fine. 73's Boston NY I sent you a cut of tea !
What is so special about channel 19 (27.78125 MHz) that makes it over used?
It’s the calling channel
Was always channel 14 for calling around here back in the 80s
Its full of idiots who can't be bothered to move to one of the other completely empty channels. It never used to be like that. This is what spoils CB today.
@@adamhousden6349not the same frequency... Ch 19 with Cobra 148 gtl is 27.185 MHz and AM mode
LOL 🤡
dont do this to me man, every video i watch of yours cost me another £90
Cool
That thing has a pretty ugly Ballun! so it is an end fed coax dipole?
Really good antennas have had one for a while
Thank you for doing the different antenna comparisons under the same circumstances.
Do you get static build up on a fibreglass pole? i.e. can you get a static shock from it?
If the UK getx president lincolins dhere are these hts on USA anazon anx cb shiops still waiting.
Jut goidxantenna xomparisants