J-pole antenna Question

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Wed Mar 13, 2002 6:31 pm

I have a dual band (155/460) J pole antenna.
The antenna includes three elements of the following lengths, one- 18 inch, one- 6 inch,
one 54 inch. I am only going to be using the antenna on the GMRS bands. Can the 54 inch element be omitted if the VHF bands are never going to be used for transmitting? Will the 54 inch element mess up the SWR on the UHF band?
Any suggestions or comments welcomed.
Thanks, Allan

Tom in D.C. · Post by **Tom in D.C.** » Wed Mar 13, 2002 7:31 pm

Allan: A dualband J-pole has to have been designed for both band elements to be present when one of the bands is actually in use, so if you take away one of the driven elements you will certainly screw up the tuning of the remaining antenna element. If I wanted to save money I'd run the J-pole "as is" on 460. OTOH, if I wanted the most efficient operation I'd opt for another, single-band, UHF antenna.

Tom, W2NJS
...in D.C.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Wed Mar 13, 2002 7:43 pm

Thanks for the info, Tom. That helped
clear things up for me.
Allan