best ultralightweight beach vertical?

[wayne burdick]

I was using a KX1 at the beach yesterday, with a Maldol 4-foot whip,
and found myself wishing I had a longer radiator for beach outings. I'd
like a multi-section or telescoping vertical that's 8 to 10' long, 0.5"
or smaller in diameter, and most important, weighs just a few ounces.
In a perfect world it would also come with a stake to plant in the
sand. It doesn't even have to be resonant, since I can use the KX1's
internal tuner, supplemented if necessary by a small coil interposed
between the rig and the antenna, to tune the antenna on all three
bands. This would make for instant band change without fussing with a
tap or swapping loading coils. A nonresonant whip would also probably
be a lot lighter and less expensive than backpacking-style antennas
that are packaged with per-band coils, etc.

Anyone know of a vertical that meets the above requirements?

Tnx,
Wayne
N6KR

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[n6wg]

Wayne
Pickup one of the 20' Black Widow fishing poles, around $20 last time
I looked.  I have two, and they are great for general purpose antenna
tinkering.

You can suspend a wire vertical on one, or use it as the center support
for an endfed half wave.  There's a whole range of antenna possibilities
with these.  Your imagination is the only limit.

73, Bob N6WG

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[Vic K2VCO]

wayne burdick wrote:

> Anyone know of a vertical that meets the above requirements?

Get a 16-foot Black Widow (etc.) fishing pole and take it apart, using
only the topmost sections.

--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco


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[Mike Harris-9]

G'day,

How about carbon fibre fishing rod blanks.  Ordinary glass fibre would
work with a flex weave conductor threaded up it with about 10-15cm
sticking out of the top so that the sections can be parted and folded into
a bundle.

Could even be used as a fishing pole.

Someone else will have come up with the stake

Regards,

Mike VP8NO

> like a multi-section or telescoping vertical that's 8 to 10' long, 0.5"
> or smaller in diameter, and most important, weighs just a few ounces.
> In a perfect world it would also come with a stake to plant in the
> sand. It doesn't even have to be resonant, since I can use the KX1's
> internal tuner, supplemented if necessary by a small coil interposed
> between the rig and the antenna, to tune the antenna on all three
> bands. This would make for instant band change without fussing with a
> tap or swapping loading coils. A nonresonant whip would also probably
> be a lot lighter and less expensive than backpacking-style antennas
> that are packaged with per-band coils, etc.

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[Joe-aa4nn]

It's old stuff but there's the fiberglass crappie fishing poles by South
Bend at Wal-Mart, one 10' another 15'.  Lash a wire to it and stick the butt
end into the sand.  10' model telescopes to 46.25" and is 5 oz.  15' model
telescopes to 40.5" and is 8 oz.  While these poles will hold up a wire it's
too bad they aren't strong enough for surf fishing during a time when the
bands might be closed.
73, Joe, aa4nn



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[wayne burdick]

Hi Doug,

This sounds like a winner. I called them and found that the 10' version
is just 3.1 oz.

Thanks to everyone else who responded, too.

73,
Wayne
N6KR


> I have a 14' graphite panfish pole from Cabela's that weighs 6 or 7
> ounces that might be of interest for this application.  They sell
> shorter ones that should be even lighter, but you need to add some
> wire.  The 10' one is $15, the 12' one is $22. and the 14' is $25.


> ---

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[brianboschma]

> I was using a KX1 at the beach yesterday, with a Maldol 4-foot whip,
> and found myself wishing I had a longer radiator for beach outings.
> I'd like a multi-section or telescoping vertical that's 8 to 10' long,
> 0.5" or smaller in diameter, and most important, weighs just a few
> ounces. In a perfect world it would also come with a stake to plant in
> the sand. It doesn't even have to be resonant, since I can use the
> KX1's internal tuner, supplemented if necessary by a small coil
> interposed between the rig and the antenna, to tune the antenna on all
> three bands. This would make for instant band change without fussing
> with a tap or swapping loading coils. A nonresonant whip would also
> probably be a lot lighter and less expensive than backpacking-style
> antennas that are packaged with per-band coils, etc.

Wayne,

May I suggest you take a surfboard to the beach and leave the KX1 at
home ? Well, if not here is a link to materials I find useful for
construction of ultra lite antenna's. These are carbon fiber and can be
telescoped, and I am sure you are aware that you will need to parallel
them with copper wire/foil to not let them become part of the radiation
path.  I use these for spreaders and supports for back packing/biking
trips (see spreader at 40m antenna base 40-10_vert
<http://brianboschma.com/boundarypeak/antenna.jpg>), a bit pricey but
the weight is right.   kitebuilder.com <http://www.kitebuilder.com/catalog/>

Brian n6iz

>
> Anyone know of a vertical that meets the above requirements?
>
> Tnx,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
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