{"id":14569,"date":"2015-09-05T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=14569"},"modified":"2015-09-04T22:00:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T02:00:09","slug":"kens-low-profile-low-cost-vertical-antenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/kens-low-profile-low-cost-vertical-antenna\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken’s low-profile, low-cost vertical antenna"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vertical1\"<\/a>

Ken’s antenna “deployed” in his back yard.<\/p><\/div>\n

SWLing Post<\/em> reader, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), writes:<\/p>\n

A few months ago I purchased a couple S9V18 18′ vertical antennas for $65 at cheapham.com<\/a>, with the intention of deploying a quick HF aerial at my HOA-laden home for ham radio use. I found they work great for SWL.<\/p>\n

The S9V18 antenna is made to slip over a 1″ o.d. pipe driven into the ground at least a foot, with 12″ of the pipe rising off the ground. You can pound a two foot pipe half-way into the ground, or do as I did and fill a bucket with cement and stick the pipe in that half-way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"This<\/a>

This is a ‘close-up’ of the bucket. Note the plate the ground radials are attached to–it’s from Home Depot, it’s a bus bar designed to bond the ground wire for each circuit in a breaker box.<\/p><\/div>\n

After adding a reasonable ground plane of 8x 14 ga wire cut about 15′ long I hooked up a 4:1 balun and ran it to my Kenwood TS-570D.<\/p>\n

What I found was the aerial not only worked well on 20 meters, it also made a great shortwave\u00a0aerial! Stations were booming in here in Texas at night.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Vertical4\"<\/a>

The antenna slides over the pipe sticking out of the concrete in the bucket. Here is a picture of the bucket before the antenna base is slipped over it.<\/p><\/div>\n

My ‘discovery’ was that a nice, modest vertical antenna can really improve reception on SW bands…<\/p>\n

Cheapham.com sells the S9V18 antenna on close out for $35\/each<\/a>, the 2′ pipe is a few dollars more, add in a bit of coax and a modest ground plane and you can really up your SWL ‘game’.<\/p>\n

Antenna on closeout:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cheapham.com\/s9-v18-18-vertical-antenna-closeout\/<\/a><\/p>\n

I suggest anyone buying this antenna seriously consider buying additional clamps at the same time, they are just a few dollars and will help extend the life of the antenna:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cheapham.com\/products\/S9V18-Replacement-Clamps.html<\/a><\/p>\n

For shortwave broadcast listening\u00a0a direct connection without\u00a0balun would probably suffice, but I used an LDG 4:1 balun to support multi-band ham transmitting:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cheapham.com\/rba-4-1-voltage-balun\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Just thought I’d share my ‘discovery’…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And we thank you for sharing your discovery, Ken!<\/strong> <\/em>This is a great, simple solution for those who cannot erect a permanent “high-profile” antenna. I’m especially impressed with how budget-friendly your solution is, Ken.<\/p>\n

Post<\/em> Readers<\/strong>: If you have other suggestions for inexpensive low-profile antennas, please contact me<\/a> or comment below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SWLing Post reader, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), writes: A few months ago I purchased a couple S9V18 18′ vertical antennas for $65 at cheapham.com, with the intention of deploying a quick HF aerial at my HOA-laden home for ham radio use. I found they work great for SWL. The S9V18 antenna is made to slip over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3607,4138,3194,545,3,43],"tags":[4171,4172,4174,4175,4173,4170],"class_list":["post-14569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antennas","category-deals","category-guest-posts","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-ken-hansen-n2vip","tag-low-profile-antennas","tag-low-profile-ham-radio-antenna","tag-low-profile-swl-antenna","tag-low-profile-vertical-antenna","tag-n2vip"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-3MZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23806,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/sdrplay-rsp2-pro-now-shipping-from-hro\/","url_meta":{"origin":14569,"position":0},"title":"SDRplay RSP2 Pro now shipping from HRO","author":"Thomas","date":"January 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), who notes: Ham Radio Outlet has the SDRplay RSP2pro in-stock for $192.95. As a reminder, the SDRplay RSP2pro is the version enclosed in a full-metal case for maximum RF shielding. Like the SDRplay RSP2 it has three software selectable antenna connections\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SDRplay-RSP2-Pro.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SDRplay-RSP2-Pro.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SDRplay-RSP2-Pro.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SDRplay-RSP2-Pro.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49295,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/jock-designs-a-horizontal-room-loop-to-cope-with-reception-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":14569,"position":1},"title":"Jock designs a Horizontal Room Loop to cope with reception issues","author":"Thomas","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: Got reception issues? An idea worth considering: the \u201cHorizontal Room Loop.\u201d by Jock Elliott (KB2GOM) When my radio room was in the front of the house (on the east side), it was easy to run a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Jock-Elliott-Horizontal-Room-Loop-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Jock-Elliott-Horizontal-Room-Loop-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Jock-Elliott-Horizontal-Room-Loop-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Jock-Elliott-Horizontal-Room-Loop-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Jock-Elliott-Horizontal-Room-Loop-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29665,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/off-the-shelf-affordable-swl-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":14569,"position":2},"title":"Off-the-shelf affordable SWL antennas","author":"Thomas","date":"December 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"One of our SWLing Post contributors recently sent the following message with a request: I have a suggestion\/challenge for a post: what's out there for low cost, off-the-shelf HF antennas? I simply can't drop $500 on a Wellbrook. The AirSpy HF+ and the new $100 RSP1A SDR are super enticing,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Par-EF-SWL.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Par-EF-SWL.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Par-EF-SWL.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17926,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/guest-post-building-a-magnetic-loop-antenna-broadband-amplifier-for-your-sdr\/","url_meta":{"origin":14569,"position":3},"title":"Guest Post: Building a magnetic loop antenna & broadband amplifier for your SDR","author":"Thomas","date":"March 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Dave Gahimer (K9ZCE) for the following guest post: Small Magnetic Loop Antenna with Broadband Amplifier for SDR Reception by Dave Gahimer (K9ZCE) Those with limited space, or antenna restrictions, might find a small 1 meter loop antenna a solution. 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