10 Meter Vertical Dipole

I recently built some coaxial vertical dipoles for the 6 meter band to use with my converted Maxtrac radio on FM. I designed a 50mm coil form with holes in the ends to capture the coax. 2 inch (~50mm) diameter PVC pipe would work also. I learned about this easy to build coaxial dipole from watching Hayden, VK7HH’s YouTube video that describes the antenna.

This month’s QST magazine featured a Portable 10-Meter Vertical Antenna that is a variation of the “Flower Pot” antenna that I had made before. The QST design makes it easier to build by using a pre-made 50 foot length of RG58 coax that already has connectors on it. I lengthened my original 3D printed coil form design for the additional turns needed for 28MHz. I used BNC connectors to attach the choke to the radiating section using a BNC barrel connector. I could have left the BNC connectors out but I thought it might make it easier to store for portable use. I wasn’t planning on adding radials, so I did not use the SO-239/PL-259 connectors mentioned in the QST article and instead, soldered the connection to the center conductor of the coax.

Here’s a close-up of the coaxial choke:

There are lots of examples of building this antenna for 10 meters and other bands in addition to the QST article. One is here

I was able to talk to the guys on the SOARA 10 Meter net on Sunday morning using the new antenna, minutes after building and installing it on a 16′ fiberglass mast in the back yard.