SOTA – Lightweight Portable 2m – 70cm Dipole Antenna #2

2m 146 MHz dipole antenna construction project

At SOTA – Lightweight Portable 2m – 70cm Dipole Antenna I described the construction of a compact lightweight dipole antenna using commonly available parts, a perfect addition to the emergency 2m Go-box. In that article I used a small section of kitchen cutting board as the mounting block and insulator. At a summit the center insulator can be mounted over a telescopic pole or hung from a convenient tree branch or whatever captures your imagination. In that design I failed to consider adapting the mount to a camera tripod. 😦

In this article I have changed the mounting block dimensions by increasing the length of the insulator block. The dimensions are now 35 mm x 80 mm x 7 mm (1.37 x 3.14 x 1/4 inches). You can decide your insulator plate dimensions, mine are shown as a guide. Camera tripod mounts vary in size and function.

Left revised mounting block #2 compared with mounting block #1 right.

left revised mounting block

Choke: Toroid T37-0 mix (100 to 300 MHz)

Quick release plate

Top view – Center insulator mounted to a tripod quick release plate using a M4 screw and wing nut

Bottom view

Two versions – VK1AD 2m lightweight portable dipole antenna

Smith Chart

VSWR Plot – center frequency 146 MHz

You can rotate the antenna at the tripod mount for vertical or horizontal polarisation. A simple low cost compact antenna for the 2m Go-box.

See version #3 with a T37-13 mix toroid here

Go back to version #1 here

Last Update: 12 April 2019