j-pole antenna thread

[ptschram]

How about a thread on YAGI's so you can use it's directionality to pull in that one station?

Bill

I like the way you think!

 

[dave*99]

I have a fm broadcast Yagi with a 12’ boom in the attic mounted on a rotor. I installed it to get just one station. I don’t think anyone makes one this large for fm only anymore. And now my favorite station streams over iHeartRadio

 

[driftpin]

You can make one from TV twin lead antenna wire. I don't remember the details, but the insulation on the wire is cut off at one end and the 2 wired soldered together. On one side the wire is cut leaving a short gap. I don't remember how far down from the top. At the bottom the 2 wires are joined to a coax connector. The whole thing can be put inside plastic pipe to protect against the weather. It's cheap and thieves aren't tempted to steal it. Plastic pipe can be u clamped to a post,

KEH

I just read thru the thread on antennas nuttsgt posted, interesting about the different styles. The one KEH posted about is a 'folded dipole' I believe. Every new receiver or tuner used to contain one of those. I made a few from scratch at various times. I was just going thru some old wires, and I found some UHF/VHF antennas in there, from different manufacturers. I forget the names, but they were popular back when I bought them. That was probably in the 1980's. Before that, I used the folded dipole design.

 

[dave*99]

I just read thru the thread on antennas nuttsgt posted, interesting about the different styles. The one KEH posted about is a 'folded dipole' I believe. Every new receiver or tuner used to contain one of those. I made a few from scratch at various times. I was just going thru some old wires, and I found some UHF/VHF antennas in there, from different manufacturers. I forget the names, but they were popular back when I bought them. That was probably in the 1980's. Before that, I used the folded dipole design.

Um... no. The antenna KEH talked about is in fact a J-pole and made from 300 ohm twin lead as described in this article.

The Twinlead J-Pole Antenna

A short article describing the construction of an emergency j-pole antenna made from 300 ohm TV twin lead.

www.qsl.net

And yes, you received a folded dipole with your FM receivers. Same wire was used to make that, but the principles of operation are different.

 

[duneslider]

If you are just needing a receive only antenna then I don't see the point in making a J-pole. Especially if you are trying to pick up a single station. A directional antenna is going to serve much more effective at picking up a distant station. The reason most people see an improvement with a J-pole is because they put it up high.

A tape measure Yagi would work better for that distant station.

In the end, the copper J-poles are just okay ham radio antennas and there are a lot of simpler and more effective fm receiving antennas that are still super easy and fun to build.

If you want better reception go for a bigger antenna up higher and your results will improve.