Low cost 1/4 ground plane ?

arlojanis · Post by **arlojanis** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:38 pm

Who makes a low price 1/4 wave ground plane base antenna and a side mount small antenna, both for 155 mHz?

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:13 pm

MFJ Enterprises has a pretty cheap one. It is made for 2 meter Amatuer, but it shouldn't be any problem to re-tune it to 155 MHz.

BTW, the company name above takes you to a page showing the antenna in question on their website if you click on it.

Dan562 · Post by **Dan562** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:02 am

If you're considering the MFJ VHF Ground Plane antenna, I hope it's going to be used for monitoring purposes only. MFJ stands for Mighty Fine Junk! I would guess you would not want to be up on the tower servicing the cheap antenna every couple of weeks during the winter months!

Can I suggest reviewing the following web links:

http://www.antenex.com/

http://www.maxrad.com/product_overview_ ... &styleid=8

http://www.new-tronics.com/main/html/ba ... tions.html

http://www.tessco.com/products/displayP ... groupId=30

The 3 manufactures I've supplied to you would required some sort of a tower bracket assembly or if you're creative, take a piece of 1 ~ 1.25" x 8 ~ 10' either thin wall steel or aluminum tube. With a conduit bender, form a 90 degree bend leaving approximately 2 ~ 3' of tube on the end. Measure the distance between the tower legs. Drill holes for U-bolts through the tube to attached to the two tower legs. Mount the vertical ground plane antenna to the short tube that should face upward and securing the hardware. Screw the RF coaxial feedline connector into the antenna base and wrap with Coaxial Seal. Secure the coaxial cable to the metal tube with a good grade of electrical tape or UV treated Ty-Raps. Depending on the type of tower used will determine the antenna distance from the tower leg but I'm guessing it will be between 3 ~ 5 feet away preventing any RF interaction.

Dan

firetech792 · Post by **firetech792** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:13 am

Antenna Specialists made a nice little ground plane for about $25. You simply cut the center radiator and ground radials to the proper dimensions. But I can't recall the model number. It covered like 108-470 mhz and terminated with an SO-239. (ASP-xxx)

Bat2way · Post by **Bat2way** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:50 am

Have never seen low-price and quality together in any antenna combination. Buy the good stuff and forget about it.