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The top section is 1/2 wave the bottom is 1/4 wave matching section. The antenna is fed near the bottom and the feedpoint impedance is 50 ohms. Ladder line was an excellent choice for these antennas as it presented two well spaced parallel conductors and is virtually indestructable.
You can hang the antenna in many places. The only exception is near metal objects. They will interfere with the tuning and performance of the antenna. Hanging it up against drywall or plaster as many people do will also affect the antenna but if this is your only option it will still perform adequately. Open free space is the best of all options and as with all antennas will yield the best performance.
www.n9tax.com/Slim Jim Info.html 1/8
7/4/13
The secret formula I will leave for the history books. But this design yields excellent results compared to many other dual band antennas. The best I can tell there is no compromise to the performance on 2 meters in fact some claim it works better on 2 than the single band vhf (I have yet to scientifically prove that). Some ask well dont j-poles resonate on the third harmonic of 145mhz anyway? First this antenna is in the j-pole family but is not a true j-pole. Second J-poles will resonate on 440 without traps but realistically for lack of a better term they suck. If anyone tries to sell you an un-modified j-pole and says it is a dual band antenna they are wrong they dont work, I have seen swr of 3:1 on unmodified j-poles on the 70cm band!
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Just a little disclaimer here this plot was taken with N connectors throughout the system. Your mileage will vary a bit with other connectors. Dont get me wrong this antenna will perform fine with pl-259's but they do introduce impedance bumps at higher frequencies.
The Bow
UPDATE 7/2/2012 There have been a few customers lately that have broke their antennas by putting them in bow mounts under too much pressure. There should be very little pressure in the antenna. This can be achieved a number of ways. 1st I always suggest the use of the thin (not sch 40) 3/4" pvc. It is easier to bow and does not keep as much pressure on the antenna. The 2nd method is to pre-bend the bow. This can be
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3/4" pvc. It is easier to bow and does not keep as much pressure on the antenna. The 2nd method is to pre-bend the bow. This can be achieved by overbending the bow with string wire or rope and then putting it in the hot sun for a few days or using a heat gun to permanently shape the plastic. Here is a photo that one of my customers sent me about pre-bending the bow.
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Affix the elbows as on the bottom to bring the short piece parallel with the antenna and you have a rigid mount that will not interfere with the antenna's tuning. Here is a photo of mine on my tower.
I'll tell you what that thing really talks up there I have worked repeaters over 100 miles away.
7/4/13
It is kind of a bad photo but this is an atv flag pole with the antenna attached. This is still not the perfect answer to rigid mounting but it is pretty good. As you can see there is an SAE 1/2" stud with a nut and lockwasher at the bottom. This makes it very easy to come up with a mount for the antenna. You can also use a fishing pole the same way but if you want a permanent roof installation I would stay with the flag mast. I purchased this mast at the local Honda ATV shop for $10.70
By punching hole pairs in the antenna like is done at the bottom to hold the coax in place we can get the fiberglass rod into the middle of the antenna where it can do the least amount of de-tuning to the antenna.
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the antenna where it can do the least amount of de-tuning to the antenna. And now the bad news.....
As you can see we have lost our perfect tune to 146.52. This is not the end of the world as we still have a very good SWR on the entire band. As with everything in life there are tradeoffs. Lets look at 440.
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As you can see we have the same effect on 440. The antenna feels electrically longer as the mast has changed the velocity factor of the ladder line. Still it is not that bad. In conclusion, this is a workable mount for the antenna. Many of my customers want to purchase these antennas and put them into PVC. I can understand as it is an inexpensive alternative to purchasing a $150 fiberglass dual band vertical antenna. Please stay away from the insertion into PVC because if you think the rod has affected the antenna badly pvc has about 20X the affect. The bow remains the only non frequency altering method of roof mounting the antenna.
The antennas are available with an assorted connectors and with or without long coax cable. The VHF only antennas are custom tunable from 136 - 999 mhz at no extra charge. (Tuning from 88-136 are available with slight extra charge for added material and shipping weight.) Antennas from 400-999 are made from 300 ohm ladder wire as they perform better with the thinner wire. Thank you for your interest in my antennas. Joe N9TAX The link below will take you to my webstore where you can buy one.
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