Build a Dirt Cheap Speaker Wire Vertical Antenna for HF
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Build an effective and inexpensive vertical antenna for any HF band. In this video I show you how to make speaker wire verticals to cover 20 through 10 meters. #hamradioantenna #hamradio #amateurradio
Link to my drawing plan can be found on the Coastal Waves & Wires Facebook page.
It's so good that you are bursting the myth that antennas has to be expensive. Also, the simpler the better.
73
André thank you so much my friend!
Great stuff!!!!! Thanks for taking the time to makes these vids!!!! Upstate NY here
Thanks so much for the kind words!
Your enthusiasm for your Hobby is a great inspiration to us all. Thank You.
Thank you so much for the kind words Jimmy!
You are a wealth of knowledge, appreciate you making things easier for us non-engineering Hams!
Thanks for the kind words! 73, Walt
I live in the desert and was looking for a portable way to mount my antenna. There's not always trees around. I love the beach umbrella anchor idea. Thank you!
They work great! 73
wow, those were the cleanest sounding CQ contest transmissions i’ve ever heard, usually on a contest all I hear is QRM bleeding over on everyone.. they must respect the 3k separation in France. Thx for the video and thanks for the antenna tool app tip.. that will come in handy (if I ever use a real antenna) LOL..
Yes those were the ones I could use, as you can see the bands were packed! 73 my friend!
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES hey, that app is nice.. I’ll def use that one.. will save me a lot of “head scratching” time.. lol
I’ve been im a state of analysis paralysis trying to figure out the best antenna to put up at my house. But you’ve inspired me to just grab some wire and start experimenting. Thanks for the nudge to get up and start operating!
Have fun Andrew! 73 de K4OGO
I really appreciate all your videos. I've been a ham since 1983 but pretty inactive for a long time. I've forgotten most everything I ever knew and your videos are really helping me get up to speed on everything again.
Thank you very much for watching! 73, Walt
Thank you for demonstrating that antennas don’t have to be complex or expensive. When I was starting out fifty years ago, most of my initial antennas were built with Radio Shack speaker wire with direct coax connection. Some were even connected using alligator clips. They all worked to some extent and most worked pretty well.
My very first antenna with my very first radio (the G90) was a 20m dipole into one of those binding posts. Worked a lot before I got given a G5RV JR. Now I use the 20m antenna for POTA
Awesome!!!
Thank you. You should do one using speaker wire as a doublet, feed line to a 4:1. Check out the NorCal Doublet. It was one of my favorites in the early 90's when I'd play portable.
Thanks Jason, I’ll look into that!
Thanks Walt. Another usful video and an antenna setup that I will try. I am already a 'speaker wire' convert and like you, I operate a G90. My antenna is just an EndFed random wire thrown into the trees at the back of the house feeding through a 49:1 balun. In the 2 months that I have been trialing it I have have made contacts into Australia, USA, Italy, Bulgeria and Austria. Not to bad from NZ on 20 watts, and in truth, I can see no reason for wanting or needing more watts. Keep your experiments, reviews and ideas coming Walt, you are inspiring a whole load of other hams out here and just showing us all what can be done.......damn the theory, just get out there and try it. Cheers Phil ZL2VTH
Thanks so much Phil! 73 my friend!
I like your style and presentation - easy and not complicated. Looking for more to come.
Thank you so much Lew!
Per usual, your videos educate, excite, and please! Keep up the good work!
F = 468/Fmhz for a half wave dipole total overall length. Verticals are, of course, 234/Fmhz.
Also, if you use a fiberglass pole, _carefully_ bend the top over, stake the bottom to the ground out from the pole about six inches, you will have a bow effect that keeps the antenna taught without having to to tape it to the pole.
Good info! Thanks!
Walt, you're a really, really great Elmer! Just a word to the folks that building your own antennas -- starting with a dipole or vertical -- is a wonderful way to get into the technical part of ham radio. Components are cheap and learning the theory by making your own is really empowering! But, to simplify the calculations for the feet and inches folks versus the meters crowd..
A vertical is length = 234/freq in MHz and a dipole is "twice that" or 468/freq in MHz. Another way to understand this is that a 40m dipole is approximately 66 feet so each side would be 33 feet. If you want an 80m dipole just double those dimensions or about 66 feet on one side and a 20m would be half that or about 16.5 feet on each side.
Just to be safe, cut the length an extra six inches to a foot depending on the band and trim, measure, and prune.
Great advice an info! Thanks for adding this in the comments. 73
Walt, your enthusiasm is infectious..after watching your videos I want to go play radio! 😁👍
Thanks Paul! I just love playing radio
Walt this video is superb. I travel a lot for work, and traveled to Arizona about a week ago. I've operated radio here before, but at the time I relied exclusively on an EFHW wire with 9:1 UNUN that I ran into a tree. Arizona is famous for not having a whole lot of trees, so any radio I did was very planned and methodical. About two days before I flew out here I saw this video, and I quickly set about soldering up a 15 meter and 20 meter quarter wave with counterpoise, and threw them in my luggage. When I got to AZ this week I bought the biggest crappie pole I could find (13 feet). Today I drove out to a park, tuned up the pole, and activated a park local to me twice (UTC day shift) with both SSB and CW. The thing you don't mention is how incredibly wide banded this is! I spent a short time tuning, but ended up just being okay without having the dip in my band (the sun made the nano VNA hard to read, and I didn't have a measuring device with me), but even with the dip on my 15m antenna being slightly below the band edge, I still had 1.3:1 within the voice portion of 15 meters! I have 2-3 big weekends of park activations and general radio fun planned up thanks to this antenna set up. Thank you for all you do.
KD5WCX
Thanks so much for the update and comment. That’s awesome! 73, Walt K4OGO
Hey Walt. I made a speaker wire dipole for 2m. 1/2 wave antenna at 15ft. Hook to a old Motorola radio. The only I built it is because I have had several local hams tell me if wouldn’t work. So I built it just to prove a point.
So come to find out it works awesome. Talking simplex 20miles fairly easy. Almost as good as my jpole at 35ft.
Take care Walt K4YAG 73
Awesome! 73, Walt
France and Wales from Arizona today on 15m with 85w and a vertical. Fun! just discoverd your channel after hearing you on Callums live stream today. 73 de KI7MJU
Thanks for dropping by the channel!!! 73 de K4OGO
Hey Walt. Good content as always. One of my first HF wire antennas was from speaker wire. I've since graduated to a Chameleon MPAS Lite, but my speaker wire antenna is always in my portable bag. Hope to put you in the log one day.
Thanks for sharing! Hope to catch you on the bands soon!
I built a dipole antenna for the 40m band a couple of months ago. I hung it about 9 meters high on an old telescope pole as an inverted "V." As luck would have it, I initially hit the correct lengths. Here in Europe the 40m band goes from 7.0 to 7.2MHz At dead center, 7.1MHz my SWR was 1.2:1. The bandwidth (SWR
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.
I have my General, but haven't got an HF rig yet, let alone an antenna. Now I have some ideas to try out for when I get one! Better yet, A great cheap portable option for camping, which is another goal. Thanks, and yes, I'm a subscriber.
Awesome Roger, I made this video for folks like you just getting into HF. This comment makes my day! 73 my friend
Just built a trusdx and built this antenna. Perfect swr. it was terrible untill I added 2 radials so I had 4 total. Thanks
Great! good luck and good DX!
Great video Walt! Nice to see someone who has the same passion for building antennas that I also have. This video just shows that you don't need to spend hunders of bucks to have an effective antenna! Thanks for the video. KD9VAN
Thanks my friend, it is indeed a passion!
Hey Walt, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy watching your videos. Thanks so much for doing what you do. You are awesome! 73 K2CMP
Oh wow, thank you so much for the kind words! You are awesome! 73 Walt K4OGO
one can have a lot of fun and learn much with a spool of speaker wire. I had an end-fed ( with one of my homemade 9:1 UNUNs) up for almost a decade that was made with el-cheap-o stranded speaker wire - it was the really thin stuff ( prob. old Radio Shack stuff) too! it was around 60 feet on the element and the counterpoise was a ground stake and also my gutter and downspout . the thing worked better than I could believe ! , ( other one was a ladder line doublet) the end-fed was an inverted L config. so it had about 35' vertical and then flat across the top. it finally broke from an ice storm, so I simply built another ( better quality speaker wire this time) . stranded speaker wire works best , plus it's easy to hide in plain sight ( especially once it oxidizes a little bit. so I agree - if you are a new ham or a old goat like me, get out and experiment .
Great comment! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Walt, great video we call those fishing poles Roach poles in the UK, using one at the moment sticking out of the balcony of my flat, cheap and cheerful dose the job for me.
“Roach Pole” thanks for the info! That’s awesome Adam!
Fine work Walt. Nicely done and hope many newcomers make one if these.
Motters M7TRS 73 👍🏻
Thanks so much! 73 my friend
Half-wave: 468 / fMHz = length in feet (use 234 for quarter-wave)
Hey Walt! I had all the stuff laying around and I decided to build one of these. I got it tuned, and used it with an X6100 and a battery for the massive 10w. In 2 hours I got 6 pota activations, and a guy in Canada. Not too bad considering all the other folks trying for the pota people. Not much salt water to take advantage of here in WI, but I am happy with the results. You are the man, and I am just a moron with a ham ticket. 73, KD9OCL
Thanks so much! We are all just guys with ham tickets playing with wire my friend!
Hi Walt,
They were some great contacts for such a simple antenna. That was a nice QSO you had with Callum this morning. There's proof the G90 can get out when paired with a decent antenna. Stay safe. 73 WJ3U
Thanks Don! 73 my friend
I really enjoyed the video! Really interesting to see how you can communicate long distances using a simple setup.
Thanks for watching!
Nice video Walt. Keep making those contacts over in Poland. Stay safe & 73!
Thank you so much! 73
Good video, playing with antennas is one of the most interesting aspects of Ham Radio👍❗️73 KV5P
Thanks Mike! Yes it’s my favorite part of the hobby.
Thanks Walter. 👍New project for next weekend.
Thanks for watching Laszio!
Thank you for your videos. I resisted doing much HF (issues with Municipality initially, but then) I got lots of bad advice. The "Right / Only way" was often lousy on performance and I hate the idea of spending high-hundreds to a thousand + dollars on an antenna. You've inspired me to screw around and find out. Currently on a cheap end-fed loosely hung from my tree on 100w and doing more and going further than I ever have. Thanks for the renewed inspiration. 73
Thank you so much for watching and for the kind words!
Wishing you great DX! 73, Walt
Nice review, love building at hoc antennas
Thanks!
What a kickass low Cost Antenna Setup. Good job on that, UW. The foxtrott Contest was the Reason for me not to go portable DX and instead taking Bumble Bee out for a Ride. Happy Sunday into Poland. 73 de YFUG 💯🙋♂
Thanks Uncle G! Yes that contest drove me crazy! 73 my friend!
👍All good advice, thanks. Have made a few antennas like this and they work. I found that I tended to have more repeatable results setting up pre-made 1/4 GP vertical antennas by raising the radials off the ground. I raised the bottom of the vertical element by 1 or 2 metres with the radial ends sloping down to insulated tent pegs.
Thanks Steve, I’ll experiment and give that a try
General class, grid EN72jj. Rig is Yaesu FT840 into long wire Windom at 30feet. Recent ice storm here took down my antennas, waiting for weather to warm up to put them back up. Nice video...simple, easy and to the point. I use an MFJ 948 antenna tuner for various bands...73 OM
Thanks for watching and commenting. 73 OM
I wish you had a more clear picture of exactly how you connect or wind all the wires (antenna, ground) to the bnc before covering it up with tape. And wish you could show how you attach the balun too for us newbies.
Hi, I've been asked this before so I did this video to show more detail. Hopefully this will help!: ua-cam.com/video/xEYp9IHqdIM/v-deo.htmlsi=J_nc2mUvYnLKOrEI
Cheap as chips! :)
I like that beach umbrella holder, I've never seen them before. Cheers Walt.🍻
Thanks! I’m sure you can find them there, you Aussies have all the cool beach toys! 😂
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I'm 2hrs from the nearest beach so that may be why. Lol
I'll be looking it up online though.🍻🏖
I'm about to set up my HF ham station and this video will help me tremendously as I was really looking for something cheap and portable as an antenna. Many thanks.
Thanks and have fun!
Very cool. I'm going to make one right away.
I was taught in the Army for quarter wave you do 234 ÷ freq (MHz) = length in feet
Nicely done Walt!
Thank you!
Great video, and definitely inspiring!! I'll be getting my 891 soon but have already ordered/received my Coffee and Ham Radio Apollo EFHW, which I'm looking forward to building. And now I have another few projects after that one. All of these are perfect for the field type stuff that interests me, and even save me a few bucks that I can spend on an antenna analyzer, tuner, and miscellaneous adapters to make it all work together. Thanks as always!!
Thanks! Have fun with your 891!
Great work Walt!
Thanks for the great video!
I’ve used garden wire the same!
73, and God bless!
G7EDZ!
The BNC binding posts are awesome and allow for some simple and effective antennas.
Yes they are!
Stupid question. When trimming a antenna, what part of the frequency allocation do you try to cut at? The center? Example: build 20m EFHW for extra phone portion, would you cut to length for 14.250? Does it really matter as long as you’re within the allocation? Thank you!
I’ve found that as long as you are somewhat near the center of the portion you want to use, you’re fine. I cut my 20m antennas for 14.240 and work the entire phone portion. 73, Walt
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES thank you, that’s what I thought. Gonna give antenna building a try!
I cut my wire antennas for phone and add a small female connector to the end. I have a variety of different length duplicate tails that I can plug in to give me resonance on the digi or cw portion of the band.
Built it testerday with a 1:1 balun from Ham Goodies and only 2 counterpoise wires, Tunes in with my Xeigu G90 on 80 -10 m bands easily with SWR at 1:1. Made a lot of QSO's accross the bands but sticking to mainly 40 and 20 as it works better than my juniot GR5V. Hoping to make more N America contacts with this low take-off job with 10w. Well pleased thanks. Doug MM7DSA
Thanks Doug!
I’ve been using a random wire for SOTA but this looks like a fun alternative. Will give it a shot.
Awesome, good luck Jeff!
Heard you in Denmark, on 40m on your 20m vertical, last night, so it does bring you abit around :) 👍
Haha thanks for the report!!!!
Thanks a lot. I never thought to do this with new spiderbeam, but I'm getting on this by my campout this weekend. I needed a proper side project like this to take my mind off of the collection of hamsticks I've been dealing with hihi. love and respect
Awesome video Sir! Thank you!
Thank you!!!
I found your channel and yes, you have inspired me to try making a vertical antenna. The Rybakof antenna is the one I have chosen to make. It's the end of November, and I hope to get it on the air December 2, and work 40, 20, 15, & 10 meters... Thanks for the tips, 73's de kd5smf
Thanks for watching and commenting! Good luck with that antenna! 73, Walt
...& u talking abt how easy it is to put up a vertical, makes me wanna go outside & make one, to make ANOTHER antenna (that I really don't need) but still wanna try, hi hi! 73 de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😃
haha I want to build every antenna I don't need too!
I love the ad that displays on your phone screen @ 2:03:
"This is not an ad but an act of desperation because Google doesn't index my website" 😂
haha I didn't even notice it
Thanks for another helpful video, Walt. Very useful info and the two you did on the Rybakov were especially so. I’ve copied your antenna drawings but don’t do Facebook. Are you no longer going to include these drawings in your YT vids? Thanks and 73.
Hi Lawrence, yes I will include my drawings for sure in the future.
Hey thanks WALT you are a BIG guy. I mean that as a compliment! Not talking about your body, haha! I loved your Favorite Antennas video, it got me yearning, striving, and acting! I have only watched a third of this video but I wonder why you need three antennas with each covering two bands. A doublet fed with ladder line to balun and tuner gives many bands. Ok I will keep watching now, not meaning to criticize just wondering. Keep going and having fun and sharing! Thanks!
Man, I have 500' of small guage speaker wire just waiting for my antenna projects! Cheers es 72, Davey - KU9L
Cheers Davey!
Excellent video Walt. Can i make one suggestion to simplify set up? You can secure top end of wire to pole with a simple hitch, and just wind twice or thrice around the length of the pole. No taping required. Makes set up and take down much quicker and easier.
Keep up the great work!
73 M3KXZ
Great idea, thanks!
You're living in POLE LAND. You didnt need to bring a pole.
Hahaha
Um. Compare to a J-pole that ain't all that good. Um.
I cannot believe how long it took me to get that oh my God
😂😂😂😂😂
Oh come on!! 🙄
The red connector goes to the antenna wire, but what is the black one connected to? Is that just going to the ground jacketing of the coax cable going up to that connector, or is it even connected to anything? Maybe it's a silly question, but was a bit unclear here . . .
Good question, the counterpoise wires are connected to the black connector which is essentially connected to the coax jacket.
The black is to earth ground need something to drive into ground about 12 inches or so
@@jimmieblue6262 no, you're confusing earth ground with RF ground. They are two different things. This antenna has no earth ground and doesn't require anything driven into the ground.
Thanks a lot, just what I needed for inspiration!
Thanks for watching!
me too inspiration thanks
I realized that my QTH is just 360km from Slupsk in SM1 land, but I run mostly FT8. However I have built some antennas myself, so experimenting is good. Electric fence alu wire is actually pretty nice from a weight perspective, but it's quite stiff. The transit to copper is also suspect to electrochemical issues.
Oh wow, that’s cool. I miss Poland
TY for posting. KI7JRA in Arizona 🌵☀️🌵
Thanks for watching! 73 de K4OGO
Nice All the Way Around !!!👏🏻👍🏻
Thanks 👍
Fun to see how something that basic can work 😉
It’s fun to experiment!
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES yeah 😁
The black goes to the radials Charles. Red is radiator, black is ground radials.
Nice video, sir. Thank you very much.👍
Thank you too!
Great video, mate. Just one question about the counterpoise matter. Do we still need them if our setup is next to the sea ?
Thanks, I just use one counterpoise next to the sea.
yes speaker wire fabulous however be wary the wire breaks quite easily as i have experienced 1st hand i no longer use but admit i was really excited with the cheap price of the wire just do not pull on it too much great video thanks Walt
Thanks! 73
Hi Walt, nice video as always. You did inspire me with the Rybakov antenna a few months ago. So, the past month, I started experimenting with all kinds of configurations after making the "original" design. Suddenly I discovered a nice, but logical, result after making some changes. Feel free to drop me an e-mail for more info. best 73
It will work as good as any other vertical. Electrically they are all the same.
Yes indeed, that’s the idea of the video to show you don’t have to spend a lot to have a good antenna
Great Video Walter. Im hoping to catch up with you at some time
Thank you Paul! Looking forward to that QSO
Hi Walter!
This video just popped up for me today and glad it did. Liked & subscribed.
Great tips and fun video. Also went back and reviewed & liked a couple other videos - great content!
73,
John - KK7JBZ
Thanks so much John!
73, Walt K4OGO
Wait "the experts" say carbon fiber interacts where fiberglass poles don't... Empirical truth wins once again. Thank you.
Haha, I quit listening to the experts a long time ago. That old black pole has been around the world with me. I’ve actually used it on the beach in Hawaii. 73 my friend!
The SOTAbeams guy tests that “carbon fiber pole” theory and debunks it on SB’s UA-cam channel years ago. Why people still think that it’s a problem I don’t know.
I think what happened is that, theoretically a carbon fiber pole “might” interact with the antenna because it is not a good dielectric like fiberglass. If you repeat that it “might” interact often enough people start to think you mean it “will” interact. The theory is not wrong, but in practice it typically doesn’t cause any issues
never pay attention to what the "experts" say...
@@TheNotaRubicon exactly! I’ve made it a mission to smack the experts down!
I got the Ballun 1:1 ready for 11 meter . Now I’m gonna use the same ballun with 40 meter 1/4 wave . For HOA hoping to figure a way to rap that exsesive wire and hoping to match the without anything going wrong will see I might need a match box .
Thank you for the Great Video ... gonna give this a try first...
Very inspiring ! thanks 🙂
Thanks for watching!
It’s great fun, messing with wires.🤪
Trying a 5/8 for 15m, as im a Mountain HAM that low angle of radiation should make great DX.
Thanks for your great work 73 de HB3XBL 👍🇨🇭
That 5/8 should be amazing in the mountains! All the best and good DX! 73 de K4OGO
great job
Thank you!
Yup, verticals work great and they are SO easy! Good video!
Yes! Thank you!
You make the most informative ham radio videos! Lots of poles and beach umbrella holders online. Which are the ones you ere using in the video? Thanks! Al
Thanks!
Available on Amazon, here’s the poles:
Goture//Telescopic Tenkara Fishing Rod//Ultralight Travel Fishing Rod,Portable Collapsible Bass Crappie Rod,1 Piece Carbon Fiber Inshore Stream Trout Pole 10 12 15 18 21 24 Free Tip Set(Top 3 Segment) a.co/d/0Q8APOl
Here’s the beach umbrella holders:
Beach Umbrella Anchor Sand Auger and Fishing Pole Sand Anchor by JGR Copa (Blue) a.co/d/djZxhnF
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks! Just ordered them! ;)
Nice video. I use a similar setup: 10m telescopic fishing pole sitting on top of 60 radials (totalling about 3000ft) fed through an SGC230. Works rather well. 73 de Glenn ON4WIX
Thanks Glenn! Sounds like a great setup!
Great idea
Thanks!
Simple antennas work pretty well. With that 20w Xiegu and your various simple antennas, have you been able to work back home to the U.S. from Poland?
Yes I’ve worked the states from here on 20, 15 and 10 but I think my best contacts from here are my long path QSOs to Australia. I have 3 in the log from here to VK. I was pretty stoked when that happened.
Good Day Walt. You could call this video; "How To Save $400 ! Of all the antenna videos that I have seen, this, is the most intelligent. Ham radio comments/instructions/how-to, etc. is like reading the bible. Thousands of pages of superfluous bunk with a little actual useful and understandable information.
You are Excellent. I just found you today and subscribed.
Thank You & Best Regards.
Thank you so very much for the kind words! 73, Walt
Greetings from Poland :)
Greetings!!!!!!
Amazing work that the same cheap speaker wire that I use in Portugal. For Delta Loop, End Fed, T2LT. Congratulations. A very good wire. 7351 Paulo
Thanks Paulo! 73
interesting. I’d expected you to say “Unun,” not “Balun” … 🤷♀️ I’m not sure it matters for a 1:1 😅 I’m curious how you check / or calculate that it’s 50 ohms … but sounds like it’s working!
468 / frequency then take anwser / by2 for each side got try the app looks cool
Great Video 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thanks so much!
G’day Walt. Have you thought about using your other pole to create a reflector and make your vertical directional with a bit of gain. Like the video. Cheers
Lance, I actually have plans to build a 10 meter vertical like that with the two poles while I'm here! Cheers
@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Hope to see a video on it. Would be interesting if you could compare signal strength with and without. 👍🏼
@@LanceVK6LK_AussieHam will do, I’ve actually been researching this and keep getting information that says a director is more efficient than a reflector when using only 2 elements. I’m thinking about trying to measure that as well.
Great video Walter! 73s TI2GBB GREG 🇨🇷
Thank you Greg! 73 DE K4OGO
I got a similar idea while calling CQ at a POTA this morning. Mine will involve soldering and 3D printed parts though. Why keep it simple when you can overengineer it?
Hahahahaha that sounds like the guys I work with!
I’d like to know more about the 1:1 set up
It’s a small choke I got from N9SAB. He sells them on eBay (Timotiz) and Etsy
Thanks for this great idea and video. Just what I'm looking for when will be in Iceland end of June. Not many trees to put up a dipole or efhw. Does a carbon fiber pole effect the performance? 73 Hope to catch you on 10 m while you're over there.
Hi John, no I’ve never had an issue with the carbon fiber pole. Hope to work you in Iceland!