How to Make a Doublet Antenna for Ham Radio HF Bands
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- Опубліковано 11 бер 2022
- Ideally suited to operators with a good quality ATU system, a doublet offers an all-band-solution to HF but will need re-tuning each time you change bands. Enjoy. Callum. DX Commander.
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I like your videos like this, they are mesmerising, relaxing, educational and fun all rolled into one, great.
Glad you like them!
I agree! definately educational in a fun way.
Antenna/Amateur ASMR, if you will.
I 'VE NEVER LEARNED SO MUCH IN 20 MINUTES IN MY LIFE!!!! As a Commader you lead by example!
really! well, I never. that very good then. great stuff.
He's a Mohawk Commander!
It’s really enjoyable watching someq who know exactly what they’re doing and who wastes no motions.
Hey Thanks!
A true MASTER CLASS in building a durable antenna. THANKS for the education!
Cal has rolls and rolls of stuff I have bits and pieces of! Fun to watch. No wasted words in THIS vid . . .
Nice to see you on bench with M. Levy’s antenna. I am also on, but with M. Callum’s antenna for my next qsy in FK. Merci ..
Cal don't need no stinking helping hands to solder!!! Luv it
Flicking through hands down best video I've seen on wire antennas without a word spoken. Well done sir 👏 👍🏻
Wow, thanks!
I have watched-listened to this video a number of times now. I originally wanted to watch it as I am still at aw for the mystery of antennas. I have to say I recommend this video as I captures the spirit of part of the the art that we call amateur radio. I am touched. Thank you
Ah. Thanks!
Love to watch you work! Always learn new tricks. You're a real inspiration!!
Awesome! Thank you!
fantastic video , your attention to detail and quality of work are second to none ! , Youve got me rooting around the house now looking for insulators :)
Love watching a craftsman at work! "Calum's Antenna Factory." 😁👍
Love the videos where you don’t speak. 😂, seriously it a joy to watch someone purely enjoying their craft. And I learnt a lot by just watching. I may well make this just for the experience no idea where to put it though. There’s a Japanese guy does woodworking vids with no voice just natural noise, he’s made me late for work on many occasion. Anyway I have an expedition to complete… 73 G1BCP.
Late for work because of a video.. Join the club! :)
Glad you are back Again! I am downloading your vids at least the ones I particularly want to keep for reference. Thanks for all you do for the amatuer radio community. Cheers! KO4LFE
Don't worry - I have them ALL here..
I have been cutting the annoying insulation off crimps for ages. Heat gun for a win. Best ah ha moment in the video. Thanks Callum.
I use a butane lighter to soften the plastic insulators, and pry/pop them off with a screwdriver blade.
Your a whiz Callum. I first saw your videos back in the day when you had experienced that big bely out of the sky your saw driving on the way home to your place! Wow! a huge event this was. But, I've revisited several of your videos recently and really enjoying your content, topics, and suggestions. You and I are around the same vintage and I really do miss many of the older gentleman I used to speak to on the bands with so much knowledge to share. You remind me of them, I say that respectfully in that you are giving back to the hobby. These videos take time!
I know as I to am a musician and do reviews for pedals and pedal board builds. It all takes time. Well done chief we appreciate your work.
Hey Daryl! Nothing like a good noisy pedal board!
Glad to see you again Cal ! I think we worry more about your channel than you do. 😂
I know!!
I have truly enjoyed watching your construction process and I have learned much from it that will improve my own. Thank you for sharing this.
You are so welcome!
Welcome back. I love my doublet! I run an IC-7100 withan MFJ Intellituner - it is a nice combo,
Ah nice!
Hi Ray, I live watched quite few of your videos in the last week, didn't know you existed, a great voice for radio/video mate.
I like the approach of describing what you are building at the start, then get on with it, letting us see each segment of the assembly with little or no talk, but just enough text to fill in the gaps.
The white board check off is brilliant idea.
This video would be ideal to show as an instructional clip to what we call "foundation" licensees during their course and as a club project.
Tom VK3DMK 👍👍👍
Good idea Tom! Cheers, Callum.
I’m new to ham radio. Did a search to learn more about doublet antennas. What I got a lesson in is what QUALITY looks like in antenna construction. I’ll refer back to this often as I progress as a ham.
Welcome!!
great to see you back to what you love brother
Much appreciated!
Good sounds, all the infos pretty good as well, heading to my shed now, you got me started ;)
nice video and I love the music in the background. Great looking antenna.
Thanks 👍
I'm sure Callum was an Egyptian Engineer in his last life, got some cracking ideas, Wish he would sort a device that goes on top of the tower that you can run a wire to but still turn the beam underneath and the wire stays in that one position, nice to see you back on youtube. 73 Mike M1KEY M0FCG
Thanks! - I have a 102 foot doublet fed with 100 feet of open wire (at 2.75" spacing) using electric fence post insulators as spacers with wire ties to hold the wires in place.
I must say that I'm completely satisfied with it.
Easily breaking through large pileups with only 100 watts. - VERY efficient antenna, good down to 80m - with a manual tuner, of course. - Cheers!
Lovely
Welldone Cal.
I'm sure whoever gets that antenna is going to be very pleased with it. The click measuring electric drill oogimiwosit thingymajig is genius:)
Sandy
Yes Sandy still using that the ne!
@@DXCommanderHQ Just thought of a use for my cordless drill to wind up my ground plane wires.👍👍👍
You make great videos and have a terrific dry sense of humor.
I appreciate that! Thanks.
That was a great video Callum. Very informative. fyi I like how your shop is laid out.
Thanks 👍
Yay! We were worried. You disappeared around 7 ET!
I know.. "Unusual Activity" was the message. Several 2FA later and we got it back.
Aaaahhhhh… a master at work. Another great vid Cal! 👍
Thank you!
you do beautiful work my friend. a real craftsman in the hobby. RESPECT !!!
Thank you very much!
Excellent video. I always love watching your technic.
Thank you! Cheers!
Wow! You certainly have a lot of videos for a brand new channel!! Great content! 😂🤣😉
Hey Tyler! Yeah, I'm uploading about 5-10 per day at the moment.. Keeping them all in stock and releasing them one-per-day.. Some I'm releasing without any notifications (user guides etc)
Brilliant! Love the background music!
An admirable product, built by a true craftsman and something that is about as close to perfection as it is possible, given real-world hardware and materials. What you see created here is something I would call "asymptotically approaching perfection" and as a (former) engineer, my hat is off in admiration. My doublet is much (much) more (much more) into the "Good Enough" level of design and craftsmanship, BUT(!) if I HAD to emulate this level of craftsmanship and this close approach to perfection, I'd have never built my antenna in the first place and now I would not be able to operate on the HF bands as I do.
"Perfection is the mortal enemy of Good Enough" and many times the anxiety of trying to achieve perfection (or even asymptotically approaching perfection) prevents people from even trying to make something that is actually quite easy and practical. Those who would be discouraged knowing they personally do not have and they never will have the level of craftsmanship shown here, don't despair, you can still get on the air with a much simpler and cruder approach to a doublet antenna that will work every bit as well at radiating and receiving a signal.
What kind words thank you.. Now.. This was for a customer.. My own "wire antennas" strung up in the trees are normally a quick experiement that accidentally ended up being permanent!
@@DXCommanderHQIn turn, thank you very much for taking my comments so well. I was afraid that you might feel that I was being somewhat critical of your high quality, superb craftsman approach to building a doublet antenna. I've always wanted to encourage people and get them started building confidence by trying simple, easy to build projects. To encourage the not-so-skilled and the beginners, I mentioned that a "cheap and dirty" antenna of this type will also work really well. In that way, klutzes (like me) and newbies will be encouraged to build and experiment and that is one of the biggest rewards of ham radio that I know of.
I LOVE "Liquid tape". I have dry hands, and found that my new Amazon Fire tablet was "slick", so I masked off the speaker holes and other controls, then brushed on the liquid tape along the edges - works fine!
Great tip!
Really great quality and attention to detail....thanks
Glad you liked it!
Clever setup for measuring cable lengths
glad you have a new channel and found you again... 73’ Dl3PWR, Jochem.
Jochem!
@@DXCommanderHQ hello my friend!! ✅😁
Excellent work, congratulations. I use non-resonant antennas for many years, always with excellent results in all HF bands. At the moment, due to space constraints, I'm only using a 33.4 ft. on each side and 42.6 ft. handcrafted 450 ohm open line. I use a link type coupler, made at home, and it allows me to do 80 to 10m. 73 from Brazil PY4HE
OK! Thanks for the info - my only problem with these are band-change speed :) !
@@DXCommanderHQ Really, but once we find the tuning points on the coupler, and duly noted, we can change bands very quickly.
Yes.. just spin those dials!
Amazing video Cal!
Thanks!
Your back 🎉👍🏽
Yes!
This man is an antenna genius 👏
No.. just mad! :)
That's how I excately built my doublet antenna. 2 x 19,51m insulated clothing silver wire. 50m 2,5mm diameter for 17.-€ on ebay or a local hardware store. I had 16m of 300ohm twinline sitting in a box. DANNNG...in less than 25 minutes I had everything ready to test run my home made doublet. Very effective results on 80 and 40m Band. Total cost of the Parts for this Aantenna "38.-€" The cheapest G5RV for 80-10m Bans is NOW since the Prices for Copper went up a few weeks ago "89.-€" + Shipping. Before that it was 74,90€ free shipping.
Nice!
Love the background music :p
Welcome back :)
Thanks!
I remember back in the early 1980s, *the thing* to have for your electronics work bench was a thermal wire stripper. The advertising point was that you would not nick the wire (or possibly cut your hand)... They were a bit pricey and I never had one though and just continued to use either scissors or a not so sharp knife for stripping wires... I recently salvaged some nichrome wire from a heat gun (basically a hair dryer with less air flow so it gets hotter) and decided to make my own thermal wire stripper to test it out... I used a single 26650 (18650 would also work) battery and adjusted the length of the nichrome wire until it was right temperature for the wire I was testing it with... Although it worked pretty good, I'm still more likely to just grab use my pocket knife since that is always with me...
Toys.. You can't have enough..!
@@DXCommanderHQ -- Life is a game... He who has the most toys wins...
Nice job putting it together as it is nice and tidy. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours performs. Get that doublet up there at least 30 feet high. Also, be careful with the ladder line so it isn't run over conductive surfaces. Preaching to the choir I'm sure. BTW - Consider using a drone with a drop mechanism and fishing line with a weight, can be a way to get those lines up nice and high :)
OK, so we've made 2 x like this.. Both for customers. One a sight impaired chap - and another fella with one arm.. Both call inito the live strteams sometimes.
Slingshot!!!
Excellent work
Thanks for the visit
nice job cal
Thanks!
Antenna sensei vibes with this audio.
Just for some quick advice. Remember the doublet antenna system that Callum is building is as only as good as the Antenna Tuner. A true doublet does not use any coax. The type of tuners recommended for this is preferably mechanical style with a T or L network with a tuning start point capability of 10:1 ... Terminating to the back of the tuner using the 4:1 balun built in most of the older Tuners. But now there's a consensus using a 1:1 current balun like the new Palstar AT5K tuner has the 1:1 built-in ... If the tuner does not have a balun built in the T or L style network tuner will work fine on the output side with a short coax jumper to the external balun of choice.
Good tip.
Callum you do a great job of explaining things on your videos may God Bless You in 2022 and beyond! 73 KC9QVE Kokomo,Indiana
Thanks Tony!
@@DXCommanderHQ your welcome
Wonderful attention to detail with both the construction of antenna and the professionalism of the video. I have been a ham for more than 45+ years and in the day almost everyone ran 600 Ohm Ladder line and a symmetrical tuner like the Johnsons Matchbox. Running 450 ohm with all the interactive nuts and bolts are in way cool ..however why not just run a continuum with 600-ohm line constructed with the same wire as the feedline? The genius is always in the simplicity of the idea.
Customer CAN do this, but this is what he wanted..
@@DXCommanderHQ Clearly you have a high skill set and maybe one day in the future, if possible, build a Symmetric tuner with ceramic inductors. It would be an item for sure .. put me on your waiting list for that item!
I really wish this was a regular DX COmmander product because id love to have one!
I LOVE THIS VIDEO.....!!!!! 😍🥰
Love my Doublet but I made 4” spaced Feeder. Here in states we can’t get solid copper 450 ohm. They try doing copper clad but it turns black in short orders. So mine is made of 12awg solid copper THHN coated. I hear they are making a better coating but doubles the cost per foot so I guess I will stick with Thhn the clear coating is starting to bubble and peel after 3 years.
Ah! Yes, OK :)
Like the important stuff cuppa tea ☕️
Hi Całym, your yt films are very hi worth for hams, I have a collection of its. Thank you so much. De M0HWI Andy Coventry
Many thanks!
Awesome video 👍😎🇨🇦
Thanks 👍
Just a great video...
Thank you!
hey callum great job on building a doublet i enjoyed the video but i have one question for you ...every time you solder a connector on a wire antenna do you use the same amount of heat (tempature ) i see that in this video you set your solder gun to a tempature 0f 470 degrees is this pretty much the norm....keep up the good work ...thomas in north central missouri U.S.A.
OK, so I can't be bothered to change the iron.. I leave it on 470 because that seems to work pretty well - and fast - for fork connectors..
I can watch people work all day. lol. :)
I learn't alot from other tradesman on site just by watching but I tended to chat too... before we had the Internet to learn. Top quality work Callum, Once I get setup with a HF radio, I want to make my own doublet. Do you have a link for that kevlar wire you used?🍻👍
SUre.. Just Google: "dx50 dx commander" and it'll pop up :)
@@DXCommanderHQ awesome, thanks Callum. :)
I would have to put it up and test about 17 times before I’d heat shrink it all. But that’s the difference between me being an amateur and a professional like the him!!
Hahaha
great video informational . but that looked the old farm not that it matters... Keep on Keeping on.
Ye old farm!
I find that over time the connections on the doublet centre corrode and break, and never on a summer weekend. To avoid this I use a single length of DX Wire HDL per leg, from the end insulator to the banana plug into the tuner. Another advantage is that this system does not de-tune in wet weather.
Oh yes!
Looks easy enough, thanks for letting us look over your shoulder while you made it, Callum. I only have an 18 meter wide space behind my house which could give me two 9 meter long aerials mounted on a 7 meter fiberglass mast. Is that sufficient to make a doublet antenna, and if so, how many bands could I tune it for? Aiming for 40 to 10 meters. Thanks!
You MIGHT get all the way to 160m with that. I did extremely well in a contest once with 12m legs on 160m. BUT you will need decent outboard balanced tuner.
@@DXCommanderHQ An internal ATU wouldn't work???????????????????
Great video cal,started making mine today so hopefully next Friday I will be able to get you on 80m........if not are you selling these anytime soon? Made extremely well 👌
You can buy the bits - I've stopped making these UNLESS a customer has a disability (so we make one for a visually impaired chap and another for a man with one arm).
Bolt pressure through plastic support will loose, you may use a nut to make contact more stable and then put it in the plastic hole and fix it with a second nut.
This to keep stable pressure between head of the bolt, terminal and nut without plastic involved
Last one we made was 4-years ago. Customer says it's all still tight :)
MI AMIGO CALLUM, how are you im very Glad to see you back!!! hey this is by far the best video of Doublet antenna made. please whats the length og the ladder or window line??? thanks!!!! 73 from Tampa Florida.
It doesn't matter.. It was being fitted to a big ATU.. But about 30m I think.
@@DXCommanderHQ so is not critical. thanks callum!!
Great build Cal, can I buy that DX50 wire in the US? If not, can I purchase 200 liner feet of it?
Yes we do that.. I think it’s in the shop. On hols right now. Try Google: “dx commander dx50 antenna wire”
It would be great if the buyer would be willing to let you make a video of the doublet in situ.
Ah yes.. Both of them call in sometimes on the live streams!
Jeebus 60m of ladderline? Would it help if they lived closer to the antenna?
Hence the length :)
Ever studied the G7FEK antenna? Almost like a double zepp, but not quite. Can fit an 80m version to quite small space. Also, it doesn't need very much height compared to many other wire antennas, if I have understood correctly.
Yes, it's two verticals - both inverted Ls.
PS - DX Commander Classic with 80m element is almost the same really just with more elements :)
@@DXCommanderHQ Always the salesman, eh? ;) I'm looking into DX C, been for a while now. I have enough stuff to experiment with what you've created and shared and I'm halfway there to just pulling the trigger and buying one. But more than half the fun for me is the DIY part! So I'll experiment some more with what I already have. :) Also, thanks for the QSO, you faded out into the static just couple of seconds after I released the PTT... 73
How much tension can the ends of the elements take, being only secured with heat shrink tubing? I'd be afraid that it would slip easily.
Heat shrink is glue lined. You can pull as much as you like.
I wondered the same thing.
@@DXCommanderHQ OooOo didn't realize that.
Hey Callum, have you ever built a doublet using shorted 450 ohm ladder line for the legs instead of just normal insulated wire. I understand that about 30% shorter than normal would love to see you build one if you ever want to take up the project and make a video out of it
No for 2 reasons.. That 450 is expensive and in UK, it tends to be brittle.
Just curious Commander...whats the diff between a doublet & a regular old dipole ??
GOOD POINT.. and it's in the video log to do next week.
Great therapy
How about making your own with snap on spreaders ??? for 600 ohm ladder line.
Yes, that is genuinely an idea..!
Hats off !!!!!!!!! 73 de SV4RIN
Can be I missed something. But why using return “tails” anyway? My doublet is up for about 4 years but don’t have these fancy things. Also Made my own ladderline. I don’t like the wire size of commercial 450 ohm line. I have to admit you put a lot of detail in building this. 73, Bas
Any return is for strain relief or dog-bones etc..
Welcome back...where do they keep taking you?
A hospital called the "funny farm" :)
5:07 Hello, What is the technical name of that "white cross"? (Thank you)
Doublet Centre
@@DXCommanderHQ gracias
I did a google translate into American from English .
Doublet Center it said ……
Peace from the midwest (OHIO, USA)
I really wanted to make one of these, but the maximum length available to me in the attic is front to back at 33 feet. Judging by what I’m reading elsewhere, I’d need double that to make anything happen. Totally bummed right now.
No.. It'll still work BUT you will need a good outboard tuner.
Question for the crowd. Why so much fold-back? Wouldn't you want as little as possible?
In terms of percentage of a wavelength, it honestly doesn't matter for this one. Good question though! We built the linear loaded version of this and it just fine.. I'm still using it. 2 x 12.5m legs, folded all the way back from the top back to the feedpoint.
Why so big loops in the centerconnector? at 11:41
Big loops are strain relief so it lasts - and lasts.. Doesn't matter with a big tuner and ladder ine. Don't worry about the tuning.
👍👍
Did you make that cable length counter yourself?
Yes 😀
@@DXCommanderHQ Nice, looks good! Pretty smart way of doing it.
In your room, I now see a strat, and previously thought I witnessed a Les Paul..
OK, so that's a cheap old guitar. In the bunker at home, we have a strat and a les paul.. Both good copies.
What kind of wire are you using here
That's called DX50.
@@DXCommanderHQ think you can shoot 7k miles with it?
Will this need a 4:1 balun?
DOublets can be used with a 4:1 balun and coax. I specifically made these for attaching directly to the back of a large ATU.
@@DXCommanderHQ thank you.
I live in a flat in N London. I use dx50 wire, or something similar. It has been 'snipped' 6 or 7 times by neighbours at my current, and previous address. Very annoying. G7VFY
Ah!
I thought they terminated your channel this morning.
Apparently it’s been up and down all day! I’ve had to stop worrying about it!
Let’s us see how’s it done! Tnx DE ND4A
Did it work? Did you test it?
Yes, both customers (I built two - one for a one-armed man and one visually impaired). Worked great. Also, we built on for the old farm. Lovely.
@@DXCommanderHQ 👍
Mr. Cal.....Excellent videos ...EXCEPT.....being a novice and not handy with the equipment could you go
a little slower explaining the measurements and the overall plan
OK.. So there is a trade off between speed and understanding, I know that.. BUT you can always hit the gear-icon and turn the speed down to 75% with no loss of quality..?
Oh wait.. There was no talking in this one :)
Crazy but didn’t realize I could do that ….thanks
26 meters per leg? Not too long? Usually, the doublet is 20,58 m per leg (41.15m or 135' in all length).
No.. It can be any length. Ideally absolutely NOT a resonant frequency. So going half way (ot about that) between 40m and 80m means with an lovely outboard ATU, it'll work just fine. Now a dipole, as I'm sure you are aware, needs to be resonant..
@@DXCommanderHQ Sorry for disturbing, but what then is a Doublet dipole ideal length (80 to 10 meters)? Is the longer the better? How to know resonant points lengths to avoid?
After a long time (30 years!) I'm going to return to HAM radio. The doublet is probably going to by my first multiband antenna.
Belt and braces memo came from the department of redundancy department.