Portable Vertical

Created Monday 05 August 2024

I'm getting ready for POTA operations, and settled on a vertical whip antenna for the initial setup. I set it up in the backyard for the first time today, and tuned it up on 20, 15, and 10 meters. I'm really pleased with the simplicity of the antenna, and look forward to getting out to a park soon!

In assembling this antenna, I took good ideas from a number of people.

Set up with 8' vertical for 10 meters.

Set up with 16' vertical for 20 meters. The radials are short in this photo. They were 14' long when the antenna was actually tuned for 20 meters.

The radial system is simplicity at its best. I'm using steel tape measures which have certain nice features:

• Simple, repeatable adjustments
• Tidy storage
• High visibility to avoid a trip hazard

The tape measure radials have been fitted with alligator clips for easy setup.
The tripod is a slightly modified PVC tripod originally made for RV portable satellite dishes.

I made the mount for the whip antenna. A 1-inch aluminum rod is epoxied in a pvc coupling. I threaded to the rod axially to mate with the 10mm - 1.5 pitch metric thread on the antenna. I threaded the rod perpendicularly for the 3/8" - 24 thread of the SO 239 stud.

This is the entire package for the antenna.

Next up:

• Get out to a park and log some contacts!
• Make a loading coil for this whip antenna to work on 40 meters.
  • Update: The coil is complete

The telescoping whip antenna on Amazon