I’ve been doing some searches for a 2 meter, 5/8 wave vertical using Buddipole parts, and so far I haven’t come up with one. So, I decided to figure it out on my own! This is pretty easy to build if you have the Versatee and rotating arm kit. I only had 2 whips available, but with 3 and a jumper you could use 2 ground planes.
This antenna is tuned around 146.52 as a center frequency. Adjusting the element lengths and/or the coil taps should allow use over the whole amateur band
Freqency |
SWR |
R |
X |
145.0 |
1.4:1 |
44 |
17 |
146.0 |
1.1:1 |
45 |
4 |
147.0 |
1.3:1 |
63 |
10 |
A closeup of the Versatee. Connect the Red coax wire to the Blue Versatee connection. Connect the Black coax wire to the Black versatee connection. The Coil wander lead connects to the coil 1.5 turns in from the brass screw at the top of the Coil. This should equate to ~ 0.15 uH of inductance.
MFJ-259b at 146.52
Ground plane element length (19.25″):
Vertical element length (48.0″):
Mini coil tap (1.5 turns in from the top, brass screw)