2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU
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Legal Stuff I have been wanting a " Ham ticket " for a long, long time !!
I met Don (N4UJW ) about a year ago, and he persuaded me to
get very, very interested in HAM RADIO, as a result, I received
my Technician ticket and call sign, KE5FXU, in September of
2005!!!!. WOW!
1 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
Ads by Goooooogle Meter Slim Jim antenna project from the antenna project page
and wanted to build it from copper tubing. I wanted to have it
Active Antennas finished to use as a base antenna by the time I got my ticket !!
Vertical or Dipole
Models 300kHz to
30Mhz, 102" Whip The bottom line is that the antenna works GREAT, except for one
www.dxengineering.com
thing......
I have too many trees !! They seem to attenuate the distant
repeater signals a bit. My antenna " farm" is totally (including
SWR Antenna
Analyzer overhead) surrounded in all directions by a dense cover of tree
Palstar ZM30 trunks, limbs and leaves in assorted sizes and a couple of curious
Made in USA Top
Quality with raccoons and a cat or two that helped in supervising the
Automatic installation of the antenna! (See picture below)
Scanning
www.palstar.com
The trees were in full foliage when the antenna went up attached
Antenna to the upper end of a 20 foot section of PVC pipe.
Calibration
Calibration
Now that the leaves are starting to fall with cooler weather setting
services for in, I expect that the distant 2 meter repeaters will be stronger on
measuring antenna
gain, pattern, and
my brand new Icom IC-V8000. I had a lot of trouble programming
VSWR. it but that is another story!
www.liberty-labs.com
2 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
3 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
1 3/4 " sections -2 each ( these two pieces determine the width
of the antenna, 2" center to center, one at the top and one at the
bottom of the slimjim )
End caps - 2 each (Install on the tubing ends at the air gap to
keep out water)
4 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
5 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
If you take a good look at the picture of the adjuster, you can see
the marks on the copper tubing where the coax could be soldered
directly to the tubing.
I decided to leave the adjuster on as a permanent fixture of the
copper slim jim but you don't have to if you solder the coax
connections directly to the antenna . This adjuster really helps in
tuning this antenna and could be used on other antenna projects
such as J poles or similar antennas. The final, installed swr
measurements using 50 feet of Rg8 coax feed line (taken with an
MFJ 259b) were as follows:
6 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
144mhz 1.6
145mhz 1.4
146mhz 1.2
147mhz 1.1
148mhz 1.1
These measurements indicate that the overall length is a bit short
with swr lower at the higher end of the band but the length was
not changed. The antenna length could be altered a bit (longer)
for a bit better performance in the mid band region by closing the
air gap slightly.. GOOD LUCK !!
Update - - Further testing and design with an aluminum version
with a 1 inch gap works well. Your results may differ depending
on your construction.
7 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
8 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
9 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
10 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
11 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM
2 Meter Slim Jim Copper Tubing Antenna by KE5FXU http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metercopperslimjim.html
12 of 12 23/12/06 6:04 PM