Homebrew multiband HF vertical

I’ve had a vertical up for a while now but it was just a quick and messy install to test the results.

I have been pleased with them so have decided to have a go at installing the vertical in a better position with a more permanent solution…

Here is what I have:

10M fibreglass fishing pole
1.5M 2″ steel pole
Water drill made from an old peice of 15mm copper pipe.

Find a good location for the vertical and start drilling a hole in the soil with the water drill. The drill makes it easy to bore a hole just big enough for the 1.5M steel pipe to fit down. I made my hole about 0.5M deep. The hole makes it easy to get the support pole in the ground and vertical.

Put the steel pipe in the hole and tap it down a little with a large hammer. Then check that it is vertical using a spirit level. Once it is vertical, knock it into the ground so that 0.5M is left above the ground.

That’s the mounting pole done. Now take the 10M pole, thread 10M of wire through it and extend. I don’t intend on collapsing mine so I taped the joints together with some electrical tape. If I need to lower it, I can just lift it off of the mounting pole.

Because me mounting pole is 50cm above the ground, I drilled a small hole about 60cm up from the bottom of the fibreglass pole. I then passed some small gardening wire through the hole and out of the bottom of the fibreglass pole.

I wrapped the antenna wire to the gardening wire.

And pulled the gardening wire back through the hole in the fibreglass pole with the antenna wire.

The whole antenna was then lifted and slid over the moulting pole.

Here is the vertical up and swaying around in the wind. Its gusting 20mph.

I connected my SGC-211 ATU to the base of the vertical and laid out about 6 short radials on the grass. I done this just to test the antenna and I will be making a better ground system next week.