Ham radio antenna

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Question:

Getting ready to live in a fifth wheel and am looking for tips or tricks on installing uhf/vhf antenna and also hf. Any thoughts on the easiest way to go (by that, I mean the fewest holes)? I’m looking at a new King of the Road or Holiday Rambler 73 de Howard W6HQA

Response:

WELL, Howard, we just went thru this one a few weeks ago, so we should be GOOD at it – but probably aren’t For HF, I mostly use the SGC 230 Smartuner – a fully automatic, computerized job that will handle 150 watts from 1.7-30 Mhz. I am able to utilize anything from a standard whip to long endfed wires, depending on location and band. Sometimes, I use a "screwdriver" antenna, and it works quite well on whips, but not much else, so efficiency is limited compared to the Smartuner. For VHF-UHF, the construction of your RV plays an important part, and it would be pointless to suggest methods that don’t apply to your specific situation, so you might want to elaborate a bit on your RV. Normally, the gooseneck, if it’s available, is a good mounting point for masts, etc, and that is where I have mounted my HF antennas, then there is the rear bumper, and if your fiver has a ladder to the roof area, that makes a good anchor spot too. As far as specific antennas go, well, THAT’S like asking what pickup makes the best tow vehicle, and I won’t touch it! Happy RV/Hamming… I’m retired AND *LOVING* it! — Gary..KJ6Q..

Response:

Getting ready to live in a fifth wheel and am looking for tips or tricks on installing uhf/vhf antenna and also hf. Any thoughts on the easiest way to go (by that, I mean the fewest holes)?

Howard, as Gary said, we have worked this topic a little recently, and as always there is no "right answer" for everyone. I guess most of us realize than any vertical antenna radiates and receives with equal mediocrity in all directions, and that beams are pretty impractical!! (Wish I could take my LPDA and 70′ tower on the road) What I do (never claimed it was the best) for VHF is stick a mag base 1/4-wave whip alongside a short CB antenna on a steel shelf mounted to the front of the class C cabover. It is low enough not to get knocked over and of course works best forward. For HF I glued down a 2′ x 3′ piece of painted 18ga HRS near the rear of the coach, on which I plunked down a 3-magnet base with a home-brew tiltover contraption. This will take any of my 5 interchangeable Hamstiks, which can easily be changed from the ladder and folded down when not in use. To provide "radials" I painted down some aluminum foil strips all the way to the corners of the coach. Laid down the foil in wet paint and immediately painted over it. Coax runs down the ladder and in through the bottom. I do not claim bragging rights for anything other than the fact that it works with my KW-440 tuner, is quick to set up, and is cheap to do. Maybe that will give you some ideas. Will KD3XR

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Getting ready to live in a fifth wheel and am looking for tips or tricks on installing uhf/vhf antenna and also hf. Any thoughts on the easiest way to go (by that, I mean the fewest holes)? Howard, as Gary said, we have worked this topic a little recently, and as always there is no "right answer" for everyone. I guess most of us realize than any vertical antenna radiates and receives with equal mediocrity in all directions, and that beams are pretty impractical!! (Wish I could take my LPDA and 70′ tower on the road) What I do (never claimed it was the best) for VHF is stick a mag base 1/4-wave whip alongside a short CB antenna on a steel shelf mounted to the front of the class C cabover. It is low enough not to get knocked over and of course works best forward. For HF I glued down a 2′ x 3′ piece of painted 18ga HRS near the rear of the coach, on which I plunked down a 3-magnet base with a home-brew tiltover contraption. This will take any of my 5 interchangeable Hamstiks, which can easily be changed from the ladder and folded down when not in use. To provide "radials" I painted down some aluminum foil strips all the way to the corners of the coach. Laid down the foil in wet paint and immediately painted over it. Coax runs down the ladder and in through the bottom. I do not claim bragging rights for anything other than the fact that it works with my KW-440 tuner, is quick to set up, and is cheap to do. Maybe that will give you some ideas. Will KD3XR

WILL’S a good guy to park WELL AWAY from in a lightening storm… — Gary..KJ6Q..

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Getting ready to live in a fifth wheel and am looking for tips or tricks on installing uhf/vhf antenna and also hf. Any thoughts on the easiest way to go (by that, I mean the fewest holes)? I’m looking at a new King of the Road or Holiday Rambler 73 de Howard W6HQA I mounted my Hustler on the ladder on the back of my motorhome. I put a folding mast on it and forgot to use it, broke it, but it is cheap to repair. My VHF is in the center of the aluminum roof where they put a hole to put the regular radio. I used my stud detector to try to find channels to run coax in, but couldn’t find any, so removed the radio one for the 2 meter. The mistake I made was to put the regular on the right. Even with a spring the trees ate it, I will be looking at a rubber duckie look-alike to put there. The is a CB ant. on the left. Be carefull when routing the coax for the HF. I used RG8, I don’t know why, I had it, it had the connectors and was the right length. I ran it under the rear bumper. I backed onto a curb or something that cut the coax. I will now run RG58 and have it out of sight, not below the bumper. 73 Paul

My Dad had a machine shop build a folding mount to hold a Butternet HF vertical. The mount folded over the top of his travel trailer and was bolted to the rear bumper with large "U" bolts. At that time, he had a TS130 and a antenna tuner. I all worked very well. With the Butternut fully extended, the top of the trailer provided a good ground plane, etc. I’ve thought about a Cushcraft R7000 vert mounted in the same way. Good luck. David WD5BZY (change Ibm.xxx to IBM.net)

Response:

If yours is an aluminum roof, that method should work efficiently – but a fibreglass roof really requires that some form of "groundplane" be provided – such as Will’s large metal plate, or some sort of metalic foil. HF is more of a problem. I tried Hustler verticals, with the ball mount about half-way up the side, but it never worked. A tuner with a long wire thrown in the trees has worked. I’ve given up on HF, but if I were to do it again, I’d try an AEA or MFJ loop antenna.

I would seriously re-think that choice – if anything, those antennas are even LESS efficient than your verticals! The SGC 230 autotuner I use out on the road isn’t cheap – but if you REALLY want to use HF on the road, it’s hard to beat for versatility and simplicity. It can be used with virtually ANY reasonable radiator from a simple whip, to long end-fed wires, loops, etc.. AND, it requires absolutely NO operator interaction, is completely weatherproof, and improves the received signal as well as the transmitted one. They are remotely tuned, and should be easy to mount on a mast attached to the side or back. Needless to say, this is not viable for use while moving…

I leave my Smartuner mounted and connected while we are traveling, and only have to connect the chosen antenna when we stop, and begin operating! Pete K2OAW.

– Gary..KJ6Q.. 2nd AMENDMENT: THE ONLY ONE WITH TEETH!

Response:

: Getting ready to live in a fifth wheel and am looking for tips or tricks : on installing uhf/vhf antenna and also hf. Any thoughts on the easiest : way to go (by that, I mean the fewest holes)? I’m looking at a new King : of the Road or Holiday Rambler My 2-meter antenna is a 1/4-wave magmount, duct-taped to the middle of the roof. The one I used has a wide base, so there’s plenty of room for taping it down. Has been up there for 20 years, and still good as new. HF is more of a problem. I tried Hustler verticals, with the ball mount about half-way up the side, but it never worked. A tuner with a long wire thrown in the trees has worked. I’ve given up on HF, but if I were to do it again, I’d try an AEA or MFJ loop antenna. They are remotely tuned, and should be easy to mount on a mast attached to the side or back. Needless to say, this is not viable for use while moving… Pete K2OAW.

Response:

For HF the best way to go is a screwdriver antenna. Covers 10-80m, adjusts bands remotely, pretty efficient. Hamsticks are easy but inefficient and cover one band per stick. A bug catcher is a good compromise, while being the most efficient of any HF mobile antenna. Its tall and requires one to manually move a jumper to switch bands. They do break down quickly for storage. If you are going to be stationary for a long time, a dipole thrown up in a tree beats any mobile in efficiency. For UHF/VHF any 1/4 wave would do fine. Others would say 5/8 is the way to go since it has more gain (but much taller). I’ve never had a problem hitting a repeater with a 1/4 wave and 5watts. Heck, I worked mir with this rig at 285 miles away in space. Charles..KB0WOB

Response:

I have 2 antennae for HF which I carry with me when we trailer — one is a Webster Bandspanner, which is an infitiely tuneable vertical and the other is the slinky dipole (it folds up into a real small box). As usual, the key trick is to have a groundplane for the vertical (mounting it on the top corner of the TT is a compromise, but you could use a home-made mag mount on the top of your tow vehicle for a better pattern. The slinky requires the usual dipole stuff — namely high enough off the ground at the center. I’ve made a 2-section pole with a pulley at the top to do this — but it is really a compromise. Howard Krakower — VE3JDZ – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Getting ready to live in a fifth wheel and am looking for tips or tricks on installing uhf/vhf antenna and also hf. Any thoughts on the easiest way to go (by that, I mean the fewest holes)? Howard, as Gary said, we have worked this topic a little recently, and as always there is no "right answer" for everyone. I guess most of us realize than any vertical antenna radiates and receives with equal mediocrity in all directions, and that beams are pretty impractical!! (Wish I could take my LPDA and 70′ tower on the road) What I do (never claimed it was the best) for VHF is stick a mag base 1/4-wave whip alongside a short CB antenna on a steel shelf mounted to the front of the class C cabover. It is low enough not to get knocked over and of course works best forward. For HF I glued down a 2′ x 3′ piece of painted 18ga HRS near the rear of the coach, on which I plunked down a 3-magnet base with a home-brew tiltover contraption. This will take any of my 5 interchangeable Hamstiks, which can easily be changed from the ladder and folded down when not in use. To provide "radials" I painted down some aluminum foil strips all the way to the corners of the coach. Laid down the foil in wet paint and immediately painted over it. Coax runs down the ladder and in through the bottom. I do not claim bragging rights for anything other than the fact that it works with my KW-440 tuner, is quick to set up, and is cheap to do. Maybe that will give you some ideas. Will KD3XR

Howard Krakower ZedNet Technologies http://www.zed.net (613) 829-3587

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