Amateur Radio Stack Exchange
Amateur Radio Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [antenna-construction]

Materials and methods for building antennas, and design of supporting (non-conductive) structures. For design of antennas themselves, use [antenna-theory] instead.

281 questions
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Effect of different metals for antenna elements

Other than rust, corrosion, and other reactions with air that would make the use of a metal unfavorable, how do different metals affect the performance? Let's give Yagi an example: Let's say I use 4 different metals for the directors , reflector,…
Skyler 440
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Can I build a radio telescope out of a parabolic TV satellite dish?

I have the possibility to buy a very inexpensive 2.4m parabolic satellite dish and I would like to build a radio telescope from it. Originally this dish was designed to be a satellite TV antenna. Can I replace the TV LNB with radio receiver tuned…
SP5RFD
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Good wire for wire antenna?

What properties should I look for in a good wire for building a wire antenna? Could anyone recommend something specific for me?
Timtech
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How to detect common-mode currents or “RF in the shack”?

Let's say we already know that if your antenna is not suitably constructed or connected then you can get current on the shield of your coaxial feed line which will flow through the shielding/grounding of your equipment, becoming “RF in the shack”,…
Kevin Reid AG6YO
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What is the purpose of a balun and a unun in a feed line?

I have never understood how a balun or a unun works and under which situation I need to use either of them in an antenna feed line.
Dinesh Cyanam
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13
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Is an antenna analyzer necessary for building antennas?

I'd like to try my hand at building a few antennas for VHF/UHF use. I'm going to be going approximately from established designs, but obviously the final result will require some tuning. I don't currently own either an SWR meter or antenna…
David KF4MDV
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Protect rig from static charge on antenna

How can I continuously discharge static from my end-fed antenna? My Electraft K2/100's autotuner (schematics) has an SWR bridge using two 1N5711 pin diodes. These diodes get blown if any static builds up on the antenna. I've replaced them four…
Wayne Conrad KF7QGA
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Capacitive hats on wire dipoles?

Capacitive hats seem to be advertised as an option for mobile vertical antennas. One mentioned advantage is the they can widen the SWR bandwidth, making the antenna easier to tune. What might be the effect of using capacitive hats, not on a mobile…
hotpaw2
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11
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How to determine if my antenna is an effective radiator?

So I build an antenna, tune it with the SWR and make it look great for a 50 ohm load. That does not determine if it is good at getting a signal out or not, it could just be a 50 ohm dummy load. With my completed home-brew antenna, what is the best…
Skyler 440
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How to combine two 50 Ω antennas such that they appear as one 50 Ω load?

I'm looking for a simple way to impedance match an array of two 50 Ω antennas so that when they are combined they appear as one 50 Ω load. Assume that both antennas are identically constructed, are in phase with one another, and have the same VSWR…
Ben
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10
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How to design a rubber ducky antenna

I am attempting to design an antenna for a 162.4 MHz omni receive only application and am confident it is going to be difficult if not impossible. I have very tight specs on space(6" diameter by 3" deep cylinder) so the first antenna I came across…
Josh Cox
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Can I have multiple inverted-vee antenna fed by a single coax?

A friend who recently received his call is planning to setup an inverted-vee for 40/20m bands. Our take is the signal will take the path of least impedance into the correct length antenna wire. Something like the image attached; it depicts two wires…
VU2NHW
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Can you use a satellite dish for a ham radio antenna?

Can I use a satellite dish as a ham radio antenna? I was thinking that because there are two unused, working satellite dishes that have all appropriate wires attached conveniently to the roof of my house. Would there be a way to use the dish as a…
hopefulhacker-Reinstate Monica
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Aluminum vs copper antenna element lengths

Does the particular metal used in antenna elements make any difference in element length or spacing, i.e. 1/2" aluminum tube vs 1/2" copper tube? I know that length and diameter have an effect on resonance and impedance, but does the particular…
David Thorpe
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What is the largest gauge (thinnest diametre) wire I may use as an antenna?

A follow-up to Good wire for wire antenna? I'm QRT at present - thanks to fooling around with just a couple of diodes and PVC capacitors instead of a well-regulated supply. The antenna I used earlier was a mono-bander inverted-vee for 20M. I may be…
VU2NHW
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