Mast ideas and recommendations (lemmy.radio)

submitted 5 months ago by 667@lemmy.radio to c/amateur_radio@lemmy.radio

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I currently use a ~35' (~10m) fiberglass telescoping mast, and I love it. It's great when I hoist my 10m window line j-pole (thank you KB9VBR!) and now that I'm messing around on 20m, it's just too short. My SWR is a bit higher than it ought to be on account of ground reflection since I can't get the base of the radiating element more than about ~1m (~3') off the ground.

The antenna I use (currently, at least) is fairly lightweight, so I'm not worried about mast flexion since the wight will largely be just outside mast center.

I am not to deterred by cost, and I am trying to avoid metallic antennas for fear it will mess with my radiation patterns and SWR in a new way. I am greatly interested in telescoping options.

Are you familiar with fiberglass or carbon fiber masts which get the top to a definite 15m (~50')?

Nearly all of my operations are /P, so it really has to be fairly convenient. I recognize that these requirements may be a little mutually exclusive.

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[-] AE5NE@lemmy.radio 1 points 5 months ago

Have you tried a 1/4 wave vertical with 4 radials sloping towards the ground? (all wire)? or even a vertical dipole fed halfway up? J-poles show significant coupling to their feedline and mounting arrangements and, as you discovered, are taller than they need to be for their gain.

[-] 667@lemmy.radio 1 points 5 months ago

I haven't tried any radials, and tbh I'm not certain to where I would attach them given the j-pole design has a matching network in-built. I've got a 1:1 balun at the feedpoint and an inline choke at the radio. My 10m antenna of identical design is great, and this one is great too (I see ~1:1 at 14.250), it's just much higher in the band than I had planned and I strongly suspect it's simply ground reflection since the radiating element is way lower than the halfwave it ought to be.

this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024

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