Ed Fong J Pole roll-up in PVC?

[OscarWillow76]

Im thinking of making my Ed Fong J-Pole roll up dual-band antenna permanent outdoors, by putting it outside sealed in a narrow PVC pipe clamped to the house. Is this a good idea?  Is there a better similar idea I should consider?  Different roll up antenna?

 

Gracias amigos.

[WRUE951]

6 minutes ago, OscarWillow76 said:

Im thinking of making my Ed Fong J-Pole roll up dual-band antenna permanent outdoors, by putting it outside sealed in a narrow PVC pipe clamped to the house. Is this a good idea?  Is there a better similar idea I should consider?  Different roll up antenna?

 

Gracias amigos.

 Yea, go for it.  I know someone that placed their Twin lead j-pole hanging in a tree without the pvc cover..  

[UncleYoda]

N9TAX does not recommend putting his roll-up ladder-line Slim-Jims inside of PVC pipe or even against anything.  If you do it, do some before and after testing.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, OscarWillow76 said:

Im thinking of making my Ed Fong J-Pole roll up dual-band antenna permanent outdoors, by putting it outside sealed in a narrow PVC pipe clamped to the house. Is this a good idea?  Is there a better similar idea I should consider?  Different roll up antenna?

 

Gracias amigos.

If you put a roll-up twinlead antenna into a pvc pipe the velocity factor of the twinlead may change (according to Ed Fong’s videos and I don’t know nearly as much as he does), which would shift the tuning of the antenna. I would do as @UncleYoda suggests and put an antenna analyzer on it before and after. You might need to shorten the twinlead some. 

[gortex2]

Or just buy a base station antenna

[WRCR724]

Do it. See how it works. The worst that could happen is that you're not happy with the results. Experimenting with antenna installations is part of the fun. 

[WRYZ926]

I have to agree with what others have said. The only way to know is to try. I would definitely check the antenna with an analyzer before and after to see what the differences are.

[OscarWillow76]

Part of the reason why I am doing this is because I don't think the neighbors would want anything like an antenna on the side of the house, but a random small white PVC pipe that matches the paint probably would not draw any attention.   On the back of the house even better!

[tweiss3]

Why would you buy the roll up version if you are going to stick it in PVC like the standard version? His instructions are very specific on the type of PVC pipe to buy that it is designed to work with, anything different changes it's effectiveness and match. I'd suggest buy the other one for next to nothing and put it in PVC.

[Flameout]

I made a PVC type "hanger" for my slim jim. Was supposed to be temporary, but it's been there for over a year now. It's the arrow in the photo (sorry, it's the only photo I had available, but you can see what I mean)

 

[Haroldo]

Wow!! That's a nice tower!

[WSFL951]

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=266b1bbe5c3f6893&rlz=1CAAUXW_enUS1123&q=Ed+Fong+J+Pole+roll-up+in+PVC%3F&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWd8nbOJfsBGGB5IQQO6L3J03RPjGV0MznOJ6Likin94o1r5LfEXWFkRDyPajU30-jeRNtfXivtrn0HJW3O7kvgI-lHSudxpbNHbSsIRvUP_2WismCJcykTxgj22XPvKjjxArAYI45dqUtbdGjUVi9RZh_7MQCiY9JPcpRiGKzK73U0q5CTo-L_4ZOeZpB6SkJFgc3Pw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjY-eiQ44eLAxUAJNAFHbmfK8oQtKgLegQIERAB&biw=1517&bih=717&dpr=0.9&surl=1&safe=active&ssui=on

 

 

[WSDE760]

The N9TAX site suggests what they describe as a bow mount for their similar ladder line antenna, similar to Flameout's hanger.

[OscarWillow76]

Ok, yeah, I see that a PVC pipe will mess with the antenna, so if I really want this I'll just buy the Ed Fong version.

 

 

[SteveShannon]

1 minute ago, OscarWillow76 said:

Ok, yeah, I see that a PVC pipe will mess with the antenna, so if I really want this I'll just buy the Ed Fong version.

 

 

Just build it. Dr. Fong documented building his j-pole antennas in QST magazine articles. 

[gortex2]

Or just spend a bit more on a real antenna.