I had one of those antennas for a long time. My swr started climbing after awhile. What I found was that the wire inside of the pvc started settling down. I used a small wooden dowel and a few pieces of electrical tape to keep the wire straight. Installed it back into the pipe and no more issues. I eventually gave it to a newly licensed ham radio operator, to help him get going.

@davem5276

24 күн бұрын

My way was to use a piece of strong fishline attached at the top of the antenna and fed through a tiny hole I drilled through the top cap. Once the cap was back on, I tensioned the line and sealed the hole and line with a bit of epoxy. P.S. A tip to keep away any potential moisture damage which can occur with some antennas, (I learned the hard way) assemble in a dry-air environment, and drop a couple of fresh desiccant packs into the pipe before closing it all up and sealing any gaps.

Wow that's just amazing, I'm in the same boat, last week, up the bloody ladder and down again, what should have taken me 1 to 2 hours, took me all day, in the heat, my SWR. When I first checked it was 1.3 to 1.2 wonderful , it's up and I Go in and check the swr again and it's up to 2 just out of the red, I looked just like you, I was done. Thanks for letting me know I'm not just the only one, cheers from ENGLAND 💯👍

@paulethier3416

26 күн бұрын

Thanks for the comment. It's been a bit of a learning curve for me. Having fun though.

Home made vertical dipoles of the right length for 2M work just fine for UHF/GMRS, I have made a dozen of them, for less than the cost of any retail antenna.

@paulethier3416

18 күн бұрын

That sounds fantastic. Maybe someday I'll give it a try making my own.

roll up slim jims are great !! I use them in the field all the time

With regard to painting the antenna, I own a DBJ-UHF antenna for GMRS. I emailed Dr. Fong and he said, “One of my students tried several paint brands. Krylon Spray paint works the best.” Hope that’s helpful.

@paulethier3416

21 күн бұрын

Thank you, maybe I’ll give it a try

Have one - love it.

Great antenna. Looks like better coax too. With mine (DBJ-1 and 60' of KMR400) I get 1.00 SWR at 462.55 and 1.03 at 467.5500. On VHF, this antenna has a steep drop. SWR of 1.74 on 154.5 but 5.01 on 157.5. You can use this for 2M ham too but it's not ideal (2.28 SWR on 146.52). At the end of the day, Height is Might. Good luck.

@paulethier3416

26 күн бұрын

Thanks for commenting. Those are almost the same SWR numbers I'm getting too. I was able to mount it up on the house yesterday.

I bought one of Ed's DBJ-UHF antennas specifically for GMRS. My version of making it look nice was to sand off the printing with 320 grit mesh sand paper and apply a Dymo label so I wouldn't have to remember which antenna it was.

@paulethier3416

25 күн бұрын

Cool idea. Thanks for sharing.

Did you make sure that you attached antenna wire to the top cap and glued both caps to PVC pipe????

@paulethier3416

27 күн бұрын

The instructions specified not to glue the caps. I taped the bottom cap just to try and keep water out. The wire is self supporting inside the pipe.

@rpcomms1

26 күн бұрын

Self Amalgamating Tape will water seal it on outside of joints.

@curtw8827

26 күн бұрын

Don't think you understand the concept, the construction is like a wet noodle, think you're supposed tie a string on the end and pull it taut then put the upper end cap to hold the string. Maybe that's why you have problems. Remember, the SWR into a dummy load is 1.0.

@paulethier3416

26 күн бұрын

@@rpcomms1 Thank you for the tip, much appreciated.

Antennas made out of aluminum welding rods are a nice way to make homemade antennas.

@paulethier3416

25 күн бұрын

Maybe I'll have to give it a try some day and make one.

@charlierumsfeld6626

25 күн бұрын

I have used copper clad brazing rods

@jeffkardosjr.3825

25 күн бұрын

@@charlierumsfeld6626 Yeah, I've used those also.

How did you ground the antenna? New to base stations here, forgive me if thats a dumb question.

@paulethier3416

6 күн бұрын

No such thing as dumb questions. I’m still learning too. The Ed Fong antenna does not require a ground.

What is the brand/model of your dual band VHF GMRS radio? I didn’t think that combination was permitted. I did unlock my HTs, just in case, like many others do. But I don’t want to remove a resistor on my mobile.

@paulethier3416

23 күн бұрын

It’s made by Rugged Radios and it’s a commercial VHF & UHF mobile radio. I use VHF for the FD I belong to and UHF for my work. Both are licensed frequencies. Then I also use it for GMRS.

05:18 what style/name of box is that? I need to snag 2 of them and clean up some cable runs.

@paulethier3416

26 күн бұрын

Here is a link amzn.to/4brm12o

@SteelWolf13

26 күн бұрын

@@paulethier3416 Thanks!

SPRINKLER SYSTEM PIPE FOR THE LAWN.

@paulethier3416

27 күн бұрын

Yeah I had a hard time finding the specific pipe required. I tried Pexs tubing as a substitute and it didn't fit the antenna that was sent.

How do you like the antenna so far

@paulethier3416

20 күн бұрын

It’s working very well. If you’re on the fence I recommend getting one.

What is the SWR at 144 Mhz?

@paulethier3416

27 күн бұрын

I’m not sure it’s not tuned to 144 mhz. My guess is it would not be good because the antenna I think would need to be longer. Ed Fong is the man though. Reach out to him and you will not be disappointed.

Just got to make sure to spread the word around to start using murs radios they say either use it or lose it from what I heard this license free radio service has been around since 2000 but never took off at all for whatever reason instead stupid FRS gmrs bullshit ended up coming up‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

@paulethier3416

25 күн бұрын

Murs is only 2watts I think. That’s probably the reason no one uses it

I had one of those antennas for a long time. My swr started climbing after awhile. What I found was that the wire inside of the pvc started settling down. I used a small wooden dowel and a few pieces of electrical tape to keep the wire straight. Installed it back into the pipe and no more issues. I eventually gave it to a newly licensed ham radio operator, to help him get going.