I put up a 150 foot aluminum electric fence wire antenna last fall and stretched it overly (ridiculously) tight as a test. There was a heavy ice storm during the winter. In the spring the wire seemed just as taut as when I installed it. It does not seem to stretch like soft or half-hard drawn electrical wire copper. I was impressed with its mechanical durability for such a small diameter wire.
I made a beverage antenna out here at my farm a bit over 550 feet it’s end fed too . To support it I used sections of steel chain link fence pipe welded into 20 foot tall with 5 foot cross bars and welded bolts to use electric fence insulators I set in concrete larger pipe so the t posts can be set in them I spaced them 100 feet apart giving me 1200 feet of antenna . I soldered my coax to the aluminum fence wire first cleaning it with fine sandpaper fluxing it well using the propane torch then siliconed it well to keep moisture out. Only the center conductor was used I grounded it to my tower . Have worked the world with that antenna ! With less than $50 investment the pipe was given to me to haul off and had the sackcrete left over from another job . One thing you will have to drill the insulators to 1/4 inch to use the bolts welded to the cross bars easily done with a masonry bit holding the porcelain insulators with gloves . And do not over tighten them on the bolts they will crack !
Thanks for the video. I use a 400 ft long wire as my main antenna. I am in a creek bottom that has over 80 old growth oak and walnut trees some that are close to 75 ft tall. I took my air cannon and shot over the tops of the trees and then pull a 12 gauge thhn wire through the tops and let it lay in the limbs. One insulator at the far end with a cord to pull the wire tight. The house end is anchored to a steel post with a rope to the wire and then the wire runs through a 1/2 conduit under the eve to a window that has a hole in it and then into the house to the back of a Vectronics HF-1500 tuner. I have used it on 160 a couple of times and all the way to 15 meters. It works well on these bands but 12 and 10 meters is a different story. They just do not play well with the ICOM 7300. I been using this for at least four years, only problem I have had is it does not play well with ice storms and 60 to 70 mph winds. It has been down 3 times but always put back together and get back on the air. 73 N5NOQ
Sounds pretty good. In my initial tests on this, 10 meters seems to work pretty well. I’ll have more on that in the follow up video. We’ll see how well mine survives. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it makes it through the winter.
I am currently building out a ham shack on 4 acres of land. This seems like a cool idea and I can easily reproduce it except for the outdoor antenna tuner. Might be worth getting one but what I have to do in the mean time is to put up my 300 foot doublet. I have gotten a few ideas on how that will work. Including using Mastrant in 2 parts kind of like the pully thing and then when you tie it to your fence, I will be weighting each end with a brick/concrete block rather than trying to tension it.
Outdoor tuner isn’t strictly necessary. Although I prefer keeping the antenna wire out of the shack. Less chance of RF in the shack. And, these days, less chance of picking up noise from all the electronics in the house.
Thanks for all the steps involved, it was like being there! I'm going to bet this antenna will do excellent on receive and the MFJ tuner will allow good tuning for 160m to 6m! Looking forward to the next video. 👍 Stan - WB5UDI
Instead of that scotch 2228. Try Scotch® Rubber Splicing Tape 23. Its whats on almost every connector in calif on state systems. ✌️. The “snakeskin” goes over the connection above and below. Then you use the good quality scotch 33. Used on connectors… coax grounding cables .polyphasers etc. ✌️ on some connectors coldshrink is used but its hard to beat 23 and 33. Never seen a leaky connector once if done right. Great video thanks.
Tom, Anxious to see how well it works. I had a 520 feet delta loop up for 160 use. It worked much better as an end fed with a counter poise tied to a 10 ft. ground rod. sort of an inverted L. I used an old MFJ 985D roller inductor to match it up. 73 Paul WA3X
VERY interesting video Tom!! You’ve got me thinking! I have a 1/4 mile spool of fence wire that I’ve used to make 3-4 loading coils…..it never dawned on me to try making a more robust shack wire antenna.
I have thought about it. I’ve even thought about a 10 meter rhombic. The trouble is finding supports. My better half is probably not going to give a thumbs-up to 30 or 40 foot poles all around the property. 😁
I like what you are doing. Pattern should be rather directional, starting with broadside on 80 and, as frequency increases, with the main lobe(s) tending toward the line of the wire. I wonder at the decision to change to copper down to the tuner. I'd have just continued the aluminum from the insulator down to the tuner. At the insulator, I'd have just made a single bend in the aluminum and run a short wire through the insulator and fasten each end to the main wire. The point is to avoid coiling the conductor. The twisted wire around the insulator starts out as a non-issue, but changes (albeit very slightly) as the wire oxidizes. Stan, K9MFI since 1958.
The switch to copper wasn’t for copper’s sake. I wanted to have a more flexible, stranded wire coming down to the tuner that would move around more easily in the wind. I have done some searches for stranded aluminum wire, but all I ever find is 1/0 and up service entrance wire. I don’t think I want strands that big. 😆
@@HamRadioA2Z I see. That copper wire is a part of the radiating material and, depending upon what is nearby, movement could affect tuning. I'd be looking for a more rigid run down the side of the house. Nevertheless, what you've done will give you many, many contacts. :)
Hi. Thanks. Not counting the wire coming down to the tuner, it’s about 13ft. At its lowest point about 50-60ft. Away from the house. It slopes up (actually more like the ground slopes away) to about 40 ft. or so in the tree at the back.
@@HamRadioA2Z that’s pretty good. I was just wondering if you had to duck if you drove a tractor or mower through the field but you have a good height. I have one that slopes up from 12 foot to about 23 foot and it works well for me. Mine only covers 10 to 40 meters but it works really good.
I put up a 150 foot aluminum electric fence wire antenna last fall and stretched it overly (ridiculously) tight as a test. There was a heavy ice storm during the winter. In the spring the wire seemed just as taut as when I installed it. It does not seem to stretch like soft or half-hard drawn electrical wire copper. I was impressed with its mechanical durability for such a small diameter wire.
I made a beverage antenna out here at my farm a bit over 550 feet it’s end fed too . To support it I used sections of steel chain link fence pipe welded into 20 foot tall with 5 foot cross bars and welded bolts to use electric fence insulators I set in concrete larger pipe so the t posts can be set in them I spaced them 100 feet apart giving me 1200 feet of antenna . I soldered my coax to the aluminum fence wire first cleaning it with fine sandpaper fluxing it well using the propane torch then siliconed it well to keep moisture out. Only the center conductor was used I grounded it to my tower . Have worked the world with that antenna ! With less than $50 investment the pipe was given to me to haul off and had the sackcrete left over from another job . One thing you will have to drill the insulators to 1/4 inch to use the bolts welded to the cross bars easily done with a masonry bit holding the porcelain insulators with gloves . And do not over tighten them on the bolts they will crack !
Sounds like a great project. There are a lot of ways to make good antennas for not a lot of money.
Thanks for the video. I use a 400 ft long wire as my main antenna. I am in a creek bottom that has over 80 old growth oak and walnut trees some that are close to 75 ft tall. I took my air cannon and shot over the tops of the trees and then pull a 12 gauge thhn wire through the tops and let it lay in the limbs. One insulator at the far end with a cord to pull the wire tight. The house end is anchored to a steel post with a rope to the wire and then the wire runs through a 1/2 conduit under the eve to a window that has a hole in it and then into the house to the back of a Vectronics HF-1500 tuner. I have used it on 160 a couple of times and all the way to 15 meters. It works well on these bands but 12 and 10 meters is a different story. They just do not play well with the ICOM 7300. I been using this for at least four years, only problem I have had is it does not play well with ice storms and 60 to 70 mph winds. It has been down 3 times but always put back together and get back on the air.
73 N5NOQ
Sounds pretty good. In my initial tests on this, 10 meters seems to work pretty well. I’ll have more on that in the follow up video. We’ll see how well mine survives. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it makes it through the winter.
Picturesque background, great video quality, nice job with your antenna!!! Those splicer reducers - thanks for the tip!!
I am currently building out a ham shack on 4 acres of land. This seems like a cool idea and I can easily reproduce it except for the outdoor antenna tuner. Might be worth getting one but what I have to do in the mean time is to put up my 300 foot doublet. I have gotten a few ideas on how that will work. Including using Mastrant in 2 parts kind of like the pully thing and then when you tie it to your fence, I will be weighting each end with a brick/concrete block rather than trying to tension it.
Outdoor tuner isn’t strictly necessary. Although I prefer keeping the antenna wire out of the shack. Less chance of RF in the shack. And, these days, less chance of picking up noise from all the electronics in the house.
Very nice video thanks for sharing, I wish I had that much room for antennas
Thank for a great video. Wish I had a yard that big!
Thanks for all the steps involved, it was like being there!
I'm going to bet this antenna will do excellent on receive and the MFJ tuner will allow good tuning for 160m to 6m!
Looking forward to the next video. 👍
Stan - WB5UDI
Amalgamate-to merge into a single body. I can't wait to talk to about how it worked out. Nice video. Thanks for that Tom! 73
Thanks for the definition!
Instead of that scotch 2228. Try Scotch® Rubber Splicing Tape 23. Its whats on almost every connector in calif on state systems. ✌️. The “snakeskin” goes over the connection above and below. Then you use the good quality scotch 33. Used on connectors… coax grounding cables .polyphasers etc. ✌️ on some connectors coldshrink is used but its hard to beat 23 and 33. Never seen a leaky connector once if done right. Great video thanks.
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks Tom. Your videos are always so well presented that it is easy to follow along and understand each step!
Tom, Anxious to see how well it works. I had a 520 feet delta loop up for 160 use. It worked much better as an end fed with a counter poise tied to a 10 ft. ground rod. sort of an inverted L. I used an old MFJ 985D roller inductor to match it up.
73 Paul WA3X
VERY interesting video Tom!! You’ve got me thinking! I have a 1/4 mile spool of fence wire that I’ve used to make 3-4 loading coils…..it never dawned on me to try making a more robust shack wire antenna.
With the price of copper these days, I think the fence wire is the way to go for any significant sized wire antennas.
Thanks for the video. I look forward to see if it works!
Whenever I finish wrapping the insulating tape, I will tighten 1-2 mice to prevent the wind and time from bringing dust over the sticky part.
With that amount of land, might as well think about a full wave loop at a certain point.
I have thought about it. I’ve even thought about a 10 meter rhombic. The trouble is finding supports. My better half is probably not going to give a thumbs-up to 30 or 40 foot poles all around the property. 😁
I like what you are doing. Pattern should be rather directional, starting with broadside on 80 and, as frequency increases, with the main lobe(s) tending toward the line of the wire.
I wonder at the decision to change to copper down to the tuner. I'd have just continued the aluminum from the insulator down to the tuner.
At the insulator, I'd have just made a single bend in the aluminum and run a short wire through the insulator and fasten each end to the main wire. The point is to avoid coiling the conductor. The twisted wire around the insulator starts out as a non-issue, but changes (albeit very slightly) as the wire oxidizes.
Stan, K9MFI since 1958.
The switch to copper wasn’t for copper’s sake. I wanted to have a more flexible, stranded wire coming down to the tuner that would move around more easily in the wind. I have done some searches for stranded aluminum wire, but all I ever find is 1/0 and up service entrance wire. I don’t think I want strands that big. 😆
@@HamRadioA2Z I see. That copper wire is a part of the radiating material and, depending upon what is nearby, movement could affect tuning. I'd be looking for a more rigid run down the side of the house.
Nevertheless, what you've done will give you many, many contacts. :)
💥EXCELLENT JOB, Tom 💯👊
Thanks!
I'm thinking about doing this same thing myself. Can't wait for part II - Thanks Tom! VE3GHP
This was awesome 👍
Thanks!
Cliff Hanger!
😉
@@HamRadioA2Z Very interested to see how this turns out as I have room to do the same thing.
Can't wait to see how it works!! Robert K5TPC
Good video. How high is the wire off of the ground at it’s lowest point? Thanks.
Hi. Thanks. Not counting the wire coming down to the tuner, it’s about 13ft. At its lowest point about 50-60ft. Away from the house. It slopes up (actually more like the ground slopes away) to about 40 ft. or so in the tree at the back.
I think it’s high enough to for pretty good take off angles for 40 meters and up. It will probably be a cloud burner for 80 and 160 meters.
@@HamRadioA2Z that’s pretty good. I was just wondering if you had to duck if you drove a tractor or mower through the field but you have a good height. I have one that slopes up from 12 foot to about 23 foot and it works well for me. Mine only covers 10 to 40 meters but it works really good.
Beautiful place! You definitely need a tower in that back 40. Don K1DLA
Any update on performance?
Part 2 will be out later today.
Wondering why you went to all the trouble to splice in a chunk of copper?
The 14 gauge aluminum is a little stiff. I wanted stranded wire from the insulator down to the tuner so it would move around easily in the wind.
I am self-amalgamating. I do it to myself.
BASTARD !!! I have to wait for the next video to see how it works.....you bloody tease.
😁