Venkata, The ARRL On the Air magazine Sept 2021 edition page 22 has a project to create a portable vertical antenna using the MFJ-1979. If you are an ARRL member, you can use the ARRL mags app to find it. It has a mount and everything else needed.
I’ve made this project and tried it out and it works quite well. The article has you mark the antenna for the right spot for each frequency, but if you have a tuner in your setup, you can extend it all the way, tune it, and it will work well without the manual adjusting. I have a backpack and a PVC tube I use to make it all portable. I made some tweaks to the project including a round plate to attach the radials. We have some coax experts in the group and so I am sure they can give you more information, but keep in mind for HF, you don’t need as high of quality coax as for VHF/UHF. Happy to give you more details – send me an email. Thanks, Shannon Tassin K4SCT From: BVARC <[email protected]> on behalf of Venkata Appala via BVARC <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 8:21 PM To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <[email protected]> Cc: Venkata Appala <[email protected]> Subject: [BVARC] HF antenna and coax Hello all, I am working on setting up a temporary HF antenna that I can setup or take down when not in use. For this, I am exploring MFJ 1979 telescope antenna. I am not sure if this is the right choice yet. My idea was to use some mount(yet to figure this out) in the backyard, run the cable inside the home when I want to use HF. In addition, when I am visiting some park, planning to mount if using some mag mount. I don’t have much of a backyard and wanted to see if this antenna can be used at home and when I am visiting places. With this info, I have few questions. Please bear with me as I am absolutely new to Ham and might ask dumb questions. While reading, one thing I realized is that, the antenna depends on the bands I wish to use. Well, at the moment, I want to start with something that can get me on air for commonly used frequencies where I can listen in and learn how to use the radio. At the moment, all I have is a HF transceiver with builtin tuner. 1) Is 1979 a good antenna? It appears it is around $70 and I am assuming this can get me started without breaking any bank. 2) Coax…looking at the options, this seems like a candy store and I can’t figure out which one. I am guessing something around 50 ft in length might work and my limited research shows LMR 240 might be good option. Is this true or should I find a better alternative? 3) Any suggestions on mounts for the antenna that I can use in the backyard? Ps: Thank you to Ed and Richard for pointing me in the right direction at Fulshear farmer’s market. I am also researching on end fed antenna but this will be a build/diy project. Thank you for all the guidance and suggestions. 73 Venkata Appala KJ5BVS [email protected]
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