GMRS DYI Dipole Antenna

The dipole is just under 12 inches long.  I had an old coax with a connector so I separated the core wire from outer ground.  Both parts are 5.5 inches.

I hooked it up to my meter to check the SWR and it was fine.  So now I always have a spare antenna I can hang in a tree or off a post.

SWR of 1.54🤓  Anything here and down is considered very usable.  1 to 1 being perfect, anything above 2.0 is not very good and over 3 is bad.

My Rome Italy Contact

Prior to today my best contact was at 3000 miles from Florida to just off the coast of Washington State.  With average reach between 800 and 1500 miles.  

Note that the solar flux was only at 80 and it can reach 200+ during the eleven year solar cycle.we are in year two of a new solar cycle.

Above is my xiegu on the tailgate along with a battery and the antenna on the roof.

 On 12/8/21 I had my furthest radio contact yet on a mag mount 20 meter ham stick.  Just north of Rome to Orlando Florida just over 5100 miles. 

The bands were just right around 1040 am EST.  I heard his CQ and jumped on it I was only a 5-2 to him and he was a 5-5 to me.  My little 20 watt rig did me proud.  Conditions here within  about 1200 miles were poor for me but worke well for distance😎

My portable antenna farm

 

My traveling antenna farm.  On the front of the RV is my 17 meter hamstick on a mag mount.  The tall one on the orange canopy is my 40 meter hamstick up about 19 feet.  On the back of the canopy is a short 11 foot GMRS antenna.  On the back is the RV you can see my 25 foot dipole 20 meter antenna.  Lastly is my old Saturn 10/12 & 15 meter antenna up 19 feet.

I know the antennas are low but I chatted with Mexico today to a town 1400 miles from me on 17 meters.  Also a town North of Rome Italy last week on 20 meters over 5100 miles away.  All other antennas except the GMRS have reached a thousand miles or more.  I haven’t had the  GMRS antenna above the tree line so it’s current range is very limited.  There are no repeaters in the area.

Line of sight & radio

 For UHF & VHF we are usually talking line of sight for how far away someone can hear me on their receiving radio with no obstructions.  That range with antenna 6 feet off the ground is 3 miles.  At 50 feet above the sourounding  area it would be 20 miles. 

They also say in theory that two similar antennas each have there own line of sight.  So in theory both can go the distance of line of sight so 3 miles is 6 and 20 is 40.

Now remember the interference and other issues, so be excited if you get the full 3 or 30 miles mentioned above.

Radio coax in to a fifth wheel

I lifted the screen and window, inserted a duck tape covered sheet of cardboard  and shut down the window and screen.  I made a small hole in the cardboard inserted the antenna coax to the radio so I can stay inside on occasion and work the bands. 

For this post I am using the lower UHF antenna and a GMRS radio.

Here is my 15 watt radio hooked up to one of my 7 amp batteries inside our RV.  Everything is quickly removable for travel time or just more room.
 

Moon Set

 Always a nice view on my morning walks.🤓

SWR with vertical antenna

 

Getting ready for Christmas

 

With the start of Hanacka it is time to get set for Christmas as well.  Day one of digging out the holiday stuff😎

Happy Holidays!

Settling in to central Florida

 

Our first Gail

 Our first time living along the shore of the Atlantic in Florida.  During a Gail with Winds 35 and gusts to 50 knots 11/5/21 we definitely will not be around any shore for A Hurricane.

GMRS radio tests

 In the typical campground I usually have a noise floor of S-3 on my radios. S-0 would be no noise like I am in a desert or forest with no power line’s or other people or things using electricity.  As we know campers and homes today are full of electrical items such as monitors, chargers, lights, TV’s etc.  Other things that inter fear with radio waves are vehicles, buildings, trees, hills, weather and more.  For this reason most hand held (HT) radios in VHF and UHF often only have a useful range at 6 feet above the ground of around one mile.

You can increase this range with more height above ground, a better antenna , more power or a combination of these.  Often a combination such as a HT to a mobile unit mounted in a vehicle or to a repeater say fifty feet or more above the HT can extend the usable range a lot.

Remember for VHF and UHF range is line of site.  Police departments that are not digital use repeaters all around your town and county to stay connected.  If they went digital then they also use the local internet and fewer repeaters.

First test 

Two BTech V1’s in a RV park in woods on flat ground passing some high power lines.  Usable range 1/2 to 1 mile at best.

Second test

For the handheld I used a BTech V1 HT at 3.5 watts.  For the mobile I used a Radioddity DG 20 at 15 watts the antenna was at 9 feet.  Took the HT with me and got just over 1.5 miles with the same environment as test one. Useable range .75 to 1.5 miles depending on terrain.

Third test

Same set up as second test but with antenna 14 feet up. Good reception at .5 miles then on a small hill at 1.7 miles, then at 3 miles with a gradual increase of elevation.  So, I at least doubled the range to 3 miles usable.  I stopped at three it might reach 3.5 or 4 miles I will try 3.5 to 5+ soon🤓

Fourth test

Two Radioddity DG 20’s one on truck roof a mag mount.  The second antenna on a 16 foot poll.  Still in the trees and campground, antenna would need to be 100 feet to clear most trees. Clear on elevation at .5, 1, 2, 3 and 3.5 miles.  Garbled out to 4.7 at times some were usable.  More usable reviving along the way with test four.  Please note that increased elevation helped reception.  Trees, household electrical systems and buildings reduced receiving.  

Elevation of at least one antenna fifty to over one hundred feet should increase range greatly. Clear line of site would also help.

Update

On test 1-4 I went south, I just did a west direction with trees but also some open interstate and I reached 4.5 miles clear and 5.5 with high static and some garble.

Higher antennas is the key to more range more power could help some but antenna height is the key for range.

Sr John’s River

 Some small River Barge Tugs and a Rib Boat.

Mayport 2

Back in Mayport for several days before heading to our winter camp in central Florida.

A shrimp boat heading in for the day.  It is always amazing to watch the sea gulls hovering over them in port looking for a free meal😎

A freighter heading to port and the Coast Guard heading out to sea.  This has been a great spot to work my radios.

 My mini hamstick 20 meters is working great so far you can just see it above the back of our rig, it’s up just over 20 feet.

My 20 Meter Dipole

My 20 meter mini hamsticks are light weight compared to full size sticks.

 I made a mini hamstick dipole it’s working great.  I will try regular hamsticks to compare soon.

Sunset Over Alabama

 Sunset Over Alabama From Our Campsite In Florida. Time 6pm CST October 22, 2021 at Blue Angle Camp Ground.

Evening Radio

 In the panhandle of Florida on 40 meters looking toward Alabama.

Ending with a marshmallow roast👍

Looking at Alabama

 Playing on my radio and looking from Florida to Alabama from our camp site at blue angel 😎👍

Took five hour sailing class and only flipped twice in the bay.  The first was part of training the second was not but I passed so all was god😎. You can see some one person trainers below lined up by the building without their sails. 

I did not train on this boat below, but I can dream😎

Pensacola Light

 One is the light house overlooking the mouth of the bay.  One is a barge in the bay and a sign to on of the camp grounds on base.

Pencacola

 I walk from the campground to the light nearly every morning.

Costa Rica on 10 meters

 My first ever contact on 10 meters using my 40 meter hamstick mag mount stuck on my fifth wheel king pin.

On 9/30/21 this country ran a special event for their bicentennial.  This was a 1400 mile contact over the Gulf of Mexico from Florida.

Update on Radioddity 20 GMRS

 Need to be careful when putting the mic down.  In my truck I often drop it on the seat next to me.  When I drop it it sometimes lands on the up or down key.  This can change channels and disrupt my radio calls.

Participated in my first GMRS repeater net it was short but good.  The owner/net control did a great job along with all participants.

Radios plus some ships. Top photo is of my HF and my GRMS HT. The second is my 20 watt GMRS along with one of my 7 amp 12volt batteries in a small ammo case about 15 feet up.