Author Topic: Building a simple vertical dipole antenna  (Read 3718 times)

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TheToad

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Building a simple vertical dipole antenna
« on: July 08, 2014, 02:38:12 PM »
http://www.amateurradio.bz/2m-70cm_vertical_dipole_antenna.html

I bought a nice Kenwood TM-281A mobile 2 meter radio. I have an SWR meter on the way and would like to build my own antenna for inside my little apartment. The above link is what I had in mind. It calls for 1/4 inch Acrylic plexiglass. I am building this on the cheap so I am wondering what other material I could use in place of this as I am having trouble finding plexiglass. around here.

spacecase0

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Re: Building a simple vertical dipole antenna
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2014, 10:08:32 AM »
any insulator you can drill through will work,
wood will work if you are going to keep the antenna out of humid environments

plexiglass is pretty easy to work with and you can get it most places, even hardware stores usually have it,
the polycarbonate plastic would also work perfect if you can't get the acrylic plastic
almost any plastic will work that is strong enough, just don't get something that is coated with a conductive film
PVC pipe would likely work well enough if you can deal with it being round,

what were you thinking of using ?

TheToad

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Re: Building a simple vertical dipole antenna
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2014, 12:11:19 AM »
Plexiglass if I can find it. I'm going around to the junk yard and see what I can find.