i loved inverted V a lot, remember in old days activation on a swedish island harbour hanging the V on a flagpole with 200 meters wire over some water contacted Japan over the northpole in aurora a 9+ on the 11 meterband, never been a HAM sadly too difficult and posibilitys for study were less
I began my journey to ham radio by starting with 11 meters. I used to feel the HAM test was too hard, but there are so many online resources to prepare you for the test. I hope one day I will catch you on the airways. It sounds like you like building antennas, too. I feel the rewarding part is when you make that kind of contact. Thanks for watching. 73s
Hi Jack..Brilliant video! Thank you..and thank you for publishing your many failures while attempting to measure the legs!! We've all done exactly that but few would have the courage to show it on YT..So well done.. We're all familiarwith that awful metallic sound when the tape decides to release it's grip and 'auto-rewind'. Re the VNA.. I guess that, initially, displaying a wider range of frequencies would give a clearer indication of where resonance is, before 'homing in' for a closer look. If the dip appears to be too low in frequency, we have to shorten the legs. Thank you again..This is real ham radio!😊 73..John..UK
Thank you for the wonderful comment. I like showing my failures with success. I like showing what could happen when building an antenna. I will work on the legs and see where I can get the SWR. Thanks for the advice and for watching. 73s
Building antennas is good fun and you learn as you go. I would drop the mast down and move the legs out further, if you can, so they are less vertical. They say 45 degrees is about the correct angle from the ground. It looks like the swr is going down as you go up in the band. I believe that is indicating that the legs are too short. Changing the angle will effect the swr too.
Thanks Tom for the assistance. I’ll try cutting a few new wires or adding on to test first. I will also pull the legs out. Have to get to the park for room. Thanks for watching and the help. 73s
A quick tip for the binding posts on the banana connector is that there are usually holes going through each binding posts if you unscrew the black and red caps all the way. You are meant to slide the wire in and then crank the caps down, that will be a much stronger connection and you can pull the wire through and then wrap the extra around and the wires will never pull out. That's an awesome antenna, I built an inverted 20m V like that a while back and it's a great antenna. I also added a second set of wires for 10 meters.
I have been thinking of a multi band antenna like this. I tried to put the wires through the hole it is a little big. I ordered smaller wire. Thanks for the advice and thanks for watching. 73s
@@MyHamRadioJourney sota beams wire is great for antennas Fan dipoles are also great. Just keep the separators about 6inches apart. Also can be inverted.
BTW for future, less aggravating measuring, I personally use a 100 foot fabric ribbon tape measure. clamp one end of the wire with some manner of clip, and start pulling the wire and tape through your fingers, keeping it taught.
Sweep from 13-15Mhz. That will tell you right away if you are long or short. If you need a more granular reading after you have it ballparked, recalibrate and reduce the sweep distance.
@@MyHamRadioJourney You should also have a setting somewhere in the menu to have the nano display resonant frequency. This also gives the complex impedance information in j ohms.
Hi my friend. Have you heard of a half square. Antenna 20m. Same materials on a little more wire. So that’s a 16.6ft vertical up to a negative black. This being corner fed. Then 35ft horizontal with an extra vertical down leg. This making a continuous length. At this point had ty rope to this point. Suspend both legs 2 ft off the ground This is my fav mon band with. Dx. For the 20m band. Mono band the legs vertical become phased. Low take off angels. Dx monster. East west dig. Line runs north south. Mark from thr uk
What should be a 30 second job to measure a piece of wire took about 7 minutes. I have always done the way Jack did at the end without any tape. I have five attic dipoles, 20m to 10m with chocolate block connectors at the centre. Dipoles work well. Reset your VNA to maybe 13 MHz to 15 MHz. I bought a NANO VNA and it makes things much easier than just an SWR meter as I used to do. It's so easy now to see if the aerial is too long or too short. I set my VNA at first for 4 to 6 MHz and 13 to 29 MHz. I have a low inverted vee outside for 5.262 MHz and soldered coax at the centre on a piece of p.c.b. cut in the middle to each leg and in a plastic box. It's squashed into a 25' x 13' garden. From above it's a kind of G shape. G4GHB.
higher freq shorter wire (element) however there are other things to consider. the length of feed line, the Gage wire used. by my calc 1/2 wave for a 14.810 mhz gives 33 feet .2.4 inch
Thanks for the tip. I feel my wire was a little short. I forgot about the insulators. I will add some wire and see if that helps the SWR. Thanks for watching, and 73s.
use electric cord wire istead of speaker wire and make an air choke near the feed point/ spread the elements 120 degrees and yoy will have swr 1 1...73..also throw that connector and connect them directly...
Speaker wire dipoles are simple, effective and inexpensive. Nice work!
Thanks. My car is becoming filled with speaker wire antennas. Thanks for watching, and 73s.
i loved inverted V a lot, remember in old days activation on a swedish island harbour hanging the V on a flagpole with 200 meters wire over some water contacted Japan over the northpole in aurora a 9+ on the 11 meterband, never been a HAM sadly too difficult and posibilitys for study were less
I began my journey to ham radio by starting with 11 meters. I used to feel the HAM test was too hard, but there are so many online resources to prepare you for the test. I hope one day I will catch you on the airways. It sounds like you like building antennas, too. I feel the rewarding part is when you make that kind of contact. Thanks for watching. 73s
Hi Jack..Brilliant video! Thank you..and thank you for publishing your many failures while attempting to measure the legs!! We've all done exactly that but few would have the courage to show it on YT..So well done.. We're all familiarwith that awful metallic sound when the tape decides to release it's grip and 'auto-rewind'.
Re the VNA.. I guess that, initially, displaying a wider range of frequencies would give a clearer indication of where resonance is, before 'homing in' for a closer look. If the dip appears to be too low in frequency, we have to shorten the legs. Thank you again..This is real ham radio!😊 73..John..UK
Thank you for the wonderful comment. I like showing my failures with success. I like showing what could happen when building an antenna. I will work on the legs and see where I can get the SWR. Thanks for the advice and for watching. 73s
Building antennas is good fun and you learn as you go. I would drop the mast down and move the legs out further, if you can, so they are less vertical. They say 45 degrees is about the correct angle from the ground. It looks like the swr is going down as you go up in the band. I believe that is indicating that the legs are too short. Changing the angle will effect the swr too.
Thanks Tom for the assistance. I’ll try cutting a few new wires or adding on to test first. I will also pull the legs out. Have to get to the park for room. Thanks for watching and the help. 73s
A quick tip for the binding posts on the banana connector is that there are usually holes going through each binding posts if you unscrew the black and red caps all the way. You are meant to slide the wire in and then crank the caps down, that will be a much stronger connection and you can pull the wire through and then wrap the extra around and the wires will never pull out. That's an awesome antenna, I built an inverted 20m V like that a while back and it's a great antenna. I also added a second set of wires for 10 meters.
I have been thinking of a multi band antenna like this. I tried to put the wires through the hole it is a little big. I ordered smaller wire. Thanks for the advice and thanks for watching. 73s
@@MyHamRadioJourney sota beams wire is great for antennas Fan dipoles are also great. Just keep the separators about 6inches apart. Also can be inverted.
For future reference, fasten your wire to your tape measure then stand something heavy on top of the tape to hold it in place while you measure.
I need this device I have more ideas. Thanks for watching. 73s
BTW for future, less aggravating measuring, I personally use a 100 foot fabric ribbon tape measure. clamp one end of the wire with some manner of clip, and start pulling the wire and tape through your fingers, keeping it taught.
I have one of these, and I will give it a try. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for watching. 73s
Sweep from 13-15Mhz. That will tell you right away if you are long or short. If you need a more granular reading after you have it ballparked, recalibrate and reduce the sweep distance.
I will try this approach. Thanks for the information and for watching. 73s
@@MyHamRadioJourney You should also have a setting somewhere in the menu to have the nano display resonant frequency. This also gives the complex impedance information in j ohms.
Hi my friend. Have you heard of a half square. Antenna 20m. Same materials on a little more wire. So that’s a 16.6ft vertical up to a negative black. This being corner fed. Then 35ft horizontal with an extra vertical down leg. This making a continuous length. At this point had ty rope to this point. Suspend both legs 2 ft off the ground This is my fav mon band with. Dx. For the 20m band. Mono band the legs vertical become phased. Low take off angels. Dx monster. East west dig. Line runs north south. Mark from thr uk
Make the coax exit away 90 dg away Great antenn.
Thanks for this information. I will give it a try. Thanks for watching. 73s
For less of a wrestling match you could stretch out your tape and mark the floor in the appropriate spot, then stretch out your wire separately
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing. I will try this on my next build. Thanks for watching. 73s
My 👍👍👍 for "CW junkie". 73.
CW is a great mode to work and is just enjoyable. Thanks for watching, and 73s.
What should be a 30 second job to measure a piece of wire took about 7 minutes. I have always done the way Jack did at the end without any tape.
I have five attic dipoles, 20m to 10m with chocolate block connectors at the centre. Dipoles work well.
Reset your VNA to maybe 13 MHz to 15 MHz.
I bought a NANO VNA and it makes things much easier than just an SWR meter as I used to do. It's so easy now to see if the aerial is too long or too short. I set my VNA at first for 4 to 6 MHz and 13 to 29 MHz.
I have a low inverted vee outside for 5.262 MHz and soldered coax at the centre on a piece of p.c.b. cut in the middle to each leg and in a plastic box. It's squashed into a 25' x 13' garden. From above it's a kind of G shape.
G4GHB.
I would like to see a picture of your antenna. If you get a chance, can you send one via my email on QRZed? Thanks for watching and 73s.
16 foot 48 inches is 20 feet. or do you mean 16.48' which is nearly 16 and a half feet or 16 foot and a tad shy of 6 inches?
16.44 or 5.01 meters. Maybe I said it wrong? Thanks for watching. 73s
About 16ft 5inches is a good starting place to start tuning from
higher freq shorter wire (element) however there are other things to consider. the length of feed line, the Gage wire used. by my calc 1/2 wave for a 14.810 mhz gives 33 feet .2.4 inch
Thanks for the tip. I feel my wire was a little short. I forgot about the insulators. I will add some wire and see if that helps the SWR. Thanks for watching, and 73s.
Fun vid Jack! 73!
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching. 73s
use electric cord wire istead of speaker wire and make an air choke near the feed point/ spread the elements 120 degrees and yoy will have swr 1 1...73..also throw that connector and connect them directly...
Great tips! Thanks for the advice, and thanks for watching. 73s
16 foot 48 inches. That's funny.
I meant to say 16.48 or 5.01 meters. Thanks for watching. 73s
wives love helping you measure stuff lol
I guess that came out bad? Thanks for watching. 73s
Isn't 16ft 48in just 20ft?
16.44 or 5.01 meters. I might have said it wrong? Thanks for watching. 73s
Don't use white/clear zip ties outside, they disintegrate under sun in one year.
Thanks for the tip. I will have to get some black ones. Thanks for watching. 73s
You can get UV rated zip ties in any color.
side snips is the PC term 🤣
I teach that every day. Thanks for watching. 73s
16 ft and 48 inches. Lol. 20ft?
I meant to say 16.48 or 5.01 meters. Thanks for watching. 73s
Stop trying to make fetch, err, I mean "Your good old friend, Jack" happen. It's not going to happen.
Always a friend in ham radio. Thanks for watching. 73s