A Home Brew HF Vertical From Copper Pipe
by John Reisenauer Jr., KL7JR/KL7USI

Use it portable or for fixed station operation!
Interchange lengths for 5 band HF fun in the Wild!

BILL OF MATERIALS 1- 10' length 1/2" copper pipe (top section)

1- 10' length 3/4 inch copper pipe (base)

1- 3/4" male sweat fitting threaded

1- 3/4" female sweat fitting threaded

1- 3/4" by 1/2" reducing coupling threaded

1- 1/2" male sweat fitting threaded

1- 1/2" female sweat fitting threaded

70' #14 or #16 wire (ground radials) and various nuts, bolts and clamps from the junk box

Below is a simple drawing of the 20 meter version:

CONSTRUCTION:

Now cut both pipe sections in half and solder the appropriate fittings on. (5 foot sections makes for easy portability)

Total cost around $25.00 and two hours to build.

If you've never soldered copper tubing before, perhaps a little help from someone who has; would be nice.

Pipe lengths plus appropriate tip = band of your choice:

PIPE LENGTHS         TIP LENGTH      BAND

3 @ 5 feet*                  18 inches             14 MHz
See note

2 @ 5 feet                    36 inches             18 MHz

2 @ 5 feet                    12 inches             21 MHz

2 @ 5 feet                    none                     24 MHz

2 @ 5 feet                    none                     28 MHz

NOTE: * 2 @ 3/4" and 1 @ 1/2". Use the two 3/4" sections of pipe for the other bands. )

The same ground radials were used on all bands.

I used 5 foot lengths only because it packed well in my truck and canoe. You may want to use shorter or longer lengths depending on your situation (ie- instead of one 5 foot length, perhaps you want to go to a more transportable length of 2 at 30 inches long)

To secure the antenna I built an "H frame" structure from 2" PVC pipe and used 1" PVC for the riser. The H frame breaks down to two pieces for transporting.
 
You'll need to isolate the antenna from ground. A piece of PVC pipe stuck in the ground would work too but many islands that I want to activate back home are mostly giant rocks.
I used a 3" long piece of scrap 1/2" PVC glued inside the T fitting of the riser.
The antenna sits on this piece to maintain the 3" distance from ground.

Cut a 1 inch square hole in the riser and on the bottom section of the copper pipe (the one without a fitting on one end) to accept the coax connection.

For a great photo of the H frame base, see the most interesting ham website of N0LX www.n0lx.com- click in "antennas" category for "Mini Antenna Mast and PVC base" and in "Portable" category "Islands of Colorado" for a heavier duty version photo).

I used heavy duty alligator clamps for both the center coax and braid connection. Since I operate mainly on 20meters, I cut four lengths of wire at 16.5 feet long (1/4 wavelength formula 234 divided by Freq. in MHz) out of #14 insulated wire.
Then bare one end and tie all four together. I used a 1/4" bolt with a couple nuts and washers as the connector.
The alligator clamp on the coax braid clips easily on the 1/4" nut as does the clamp on the center conductor of the coax to the pipe.

I keep the ground radials permanently attached to the PVC H frame with ty-raps and when transporting, I simply coil the wires and stuff in each PVC leg.
When I'm set up, I simply throw out the radials in each direction. I put as many in the water as I can. I'm sure it helps cut down on the "noise" verticals are known for.

Additional tips and notes:
I highly recommend using a tuner with this antenna since background and ground conditions affect SWR and will differ from set up locations and the 24 and 28 MHz lengths are a bit long "electrically speaking".
You may want to cut tips of the correct lengths for 10 and 12 meters.
Also, very important, do not use a wrench to tighten the pipe sections as it's easy to strip the pipe threads! (I only had to do that once!). Hand tighten the copper pipe sections only.

I can honestly admit this antenna is easy to tune on many bands, is not noisy and works DX! 73 and happy hunting! John Reisenauer Jr., KL7JR/KL7USI