So I think I will go with a G5RV jr.  I previously had a big OCFD which was too low to the ground and never worked correctly.  I'm going simple here and going to buy one.

I have Icom 7200 with a LDG IT-100 tuner so hopefully it will be good.

I have a roughly 40 foot tall pine tree along the side of the yard where my shop is.  I'm carving out a corner for the radio room.  I should have enough altitude and length to get the antenna mostly flat, otherwise it will be an inverted V.

I have RG8X cable to run to it.

I own a AB952 military pushup mast system (note the avatar....military collector here) but am reluctant to use it until I am sure of what my "final" antenna system will be.

I think you would be better off just putting together a simple resonant dipole / fan dipole that would work with minimal fuss without needing a wide-range tuner or dealing with ladder line or whatever. You can build it yourself with parts from any hardware or farm store for not a lot of dollars, coax to the radio and you're on the air. Then again maybe that's just my opinion, man.

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So on a lark I just did a search for that part number...



I have one (or two?) of those in the shed that I was given long ago. Never knew the model number for it to be able to find any information on it, I don't know how to use it. I've tried to put some sections together just loose, but need to clean up some corrosion on the mating mechanisms.

The mil surplus camo netting system poles that were readily available for a while are great for temporary vertical antennas and light duty masts.

First of all, inverted vee dipoles work just about as well as flat top dipoles. Most of the radiation comes from the center part of the antenna and the difference will most likely not be noticable.

The G5RV was designed as a 3/2 wave antenna for 20 meters, but presents a reasonable SWR on most other bands. The SWR does get high on 80, but because it's fed with low-loss ladderline, it doesn't make that much difference if the length of the coax isn't overly long. I work a lot of hams that are using them, some running QRP (<5 Watts). The antenna is a compromise, BUT IT WORKS and that's what counts.

Care and feeding of the G5RV.

(FWIW, the wire, feeedline and insulators to make one are on my workbench as I type this, waiting for the weather to warm up so I won't freeze my ass off in the workshop.)

I went through a buying phase on military radio stuff.  Until I realized that if they didn't already work and use some section of Ham bands, they were just props.  I do plan to find time to get a PRC-10 working.

I bought a bunch of those fiberglass and some of the aluminum pole sections to put up temporary Ham installations at our truck shows.  Then the only other guy who was a Ham got in a situation where he only attended one show a year so I haven't done it.  He's a guru on the military stuff but is too busy with real life to work on any of it.

I thought about using some aluminum poles to put up a 2m vertical, maybe I will.

pull the center of the G5RV as high into the tall pine as you can

run it as a inverted V and have fun

Propagation is a cruel mistress, but these are my totals as of January 2022 for DXCC. I need to get three paper QSL cards checked from Uzbekistan, Sudan, and Mount Athos checked to bring by total to 301 DXCC. All of this was done on a wire antenna. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't work DX with a wire antenna. All it takes is good propagation and persistence.

The ARC-5 Command Sets were our go-to equipment back in the Novice days. Receivers that covered either 80 or 40 Meters could be had for a little over 5 bucks and easily modified. One of those and a defunct broadcast set put one on the air very cheaply. A one tube transmitter could be built on the chassis of the BC set and power "stolen" from it to run the ARC-5.



A BC-348 was more expensive, but sensitive and very stable after a few minutes of warmup.

Yeah, but my dad only brought home $15 a week back then.

I have a PRC-47 that won't transmit but will receive pretty good.  It's fun to listen to who's hip went out this week.  I'm still trying to fix the thing.

My Dad had both of these  when he set up his amateur station after WW II. He served as a Radio Operator for the Navy in The Atlantic and Army Transport Service during  the Korean War. Used to play with them when I was a kid. Wish I could have had them before he sold them off..

My antenna is here, now I need to conjure a way to get it up in the pine tree.  Maybe a cheap bow and arrow.  I have the black cord for the ends.  I've got to measure the distance my coax needs to run, I think I'm going to have to buy some.  The prices I see seem crazy but maybe that is due to all this awesome inflation.

I'll probably get my Tram 2m antenna up first as it's on going on the back of the shop about 25 feet high.  I live on a ridge so I should be able to hit most repeaters in central Alabama.  I have a new Yaesu I bought a few years ago for 2m.

I use the two antennas below and both perform well given the height I dealing with for both.

The HF antenna was a quick install to allow me to receive and check out a new radio until I can get my permanent installation finished. Living in an HOA (yeah I know) means it needs to be stealth but I am in a location with almost no noise on most HF bands and a good distance between homes. Compromises for the wife put us here because she wanted something nice. Finding something like this with no HOA in this market was impossible .

First is the temporary HF antenna.
It is an MFJ 1984 and does 10 -> 40. Height is 12' sloping to 10' across the back yard. I know it is MFJ but it was not intended to be permanent but I will likely keep it as a second antenna once I get the Zero-5 flagpole up.

It really surprised me on the receive quality and I have made quite a few contacts with it across the country and even into Japan. I did not expect it to perform this well at all. This is not a recommendation ... well because MFJ, but it has worked for me ... so far and the 800W rating allows me to use my AMP.

MFJ 1984

Typical morning on 20 Meters, it does equally well on 40 and easily tunes 10, 15 and 12. I can also monitor 80, but it will not tune there (not rated for 80).
I am using an LDG 600 PRO II tuner.

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For UHF / VHF I use a COMET-NCG GP-3 Comet Antenna

It sits atop a short tripod. Total height is about 12'. I am able to hit Tucson repeaters to the south and Crown King to the north (mountain top repeaters like many in AZ) at 50 Watts. That's a little over 100 miles each. I have always used either Diamond or Comet antennas and this one has not disappointed.

Edit: The radio easily tuned the MFJ antenna, I added the LDG 600 (since I had it) for the wattmeter so I could see peak SSB output of the radio.

Thats great stuff.  It just proves that any antenna that works is better than the one you can't afford or the internet told you was trash.  Lots of people use MFJ, I guess when you get on up there in Ham social credits you'll have to disavow their use.  lol

My OCFD was only about 20 feet up and I could hear but not get a response to CQ.  It's wrecked now from being out in the weather.  So it's on to something new at least 35 feet up in a pine tree.  I'll have an inverted V so hopefully I'll have more luck.

Social credits LOL .... I am pretty low on that list for sure. I need a more diversified health portfolio for discussion in order to climb that hill.

I have had hit or miss results with MFJ products, and many do work. The price on this one was less than the rest and last one in stock at the local HRO, so I bought it. I have heard environmental longevity could be in question due to rust, but going to give it a shot. If it stays, I will upgrade the hardware and long wire. My luck if I recommend it, someone would get a dud, but thought the result was interesting given my height limits. I have bought a good bit of their stuff and if you are prepared to tighten a screw, shake for rattles and fix what is needed, most will probably be ok.  

This one or the longer version for 80 meters might work as an partial inverted V or sloper. Problem is I have no trees at all except for the short ones that were just planted to experiment... think about real desert with houses planted for effect and no trees in sight. I'll be long gone before a 30' tree exists here . I had the Comet from the old house and back when I bought it, cost was much less.

BTW, I love vintage equipment and jeep you posted. Equipment like this is what I remember from my uncle's house when I was a kid and why I am a ham today. He is SK now, but I would love to see his reaction to my station. Betting he would laugh at my antennas, want to play with the radios and ask what the hell is a HOA.

I confirmed that an air chisel with an adapter will not drive a ground rod, even in a fairly soft spot.  I started out with a small sledge and it went down fairly easy but after my foot surgeries, etc., I am not supposed to be playing on ladders.  So its off to find a pneumatic hammer or something and a victim to stand on the ladder.

Fun, fun.  Who talked me in to radio again?

Pull out ground rod. Fill hole with water. Wait an hour, then drive in ground rod again, withdraw, drive again, repeat, add water as needed.

Shenanigans.

But I'll try it.

My ground rod driver. Just a bit of 1" 11ga tubing welding to a random chunk of steel. Slip over ground rod and raise it up and let it fall. A couple minutes and the tubing starts to hit the ground. Flip tool over and drive the rod down the last couple feet. Takes 4-5min and you don't break a sweat.


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Before I had the above I'd rent a demo hammer from Home Depot and get the ground rod driver attachment. Much less work but cost $30 or whatever it was.

Another derivative of that for sandy or loams soils,   take an 8’ piece of copper water pipe, sweat on a female hose connector.  Hook to garden hose.  Turn on hose and water jet yourself a clean hole for the rod.   There are a few youtubes of the action.

FWIW I've heard that jetted ground rods aren't as good as ones driven in. I think the wet soil and jiggling works fine vs jetting which displaces more soil.

Another good idea!

While the jetting process would work in some places, this is rocky Alabama clay soil I'm dealing with.  So more brute force is required.  I will try soaking the area with water but hammering will be needed.

These things may work for you, worth a try I guess. Lots of videos out there showing different ways of sinking them.

I ended up renting Home Depot's BIG Makita "demolition hammer" (came with the cup end for rods) for like $75 for the day and it pushed 2 8' ground rods into the ground like the ground was butter. Zero effort on my part.

Don't even need to wait an hour...
I have done it. Crazy, I didn't think it would work. I'm sure it depends on your soil.
Ours has a bunch of clay and it didn't go as fast as the guy is the video below, but it was much easier that I thought it would be.

One of many YouTube videos.

That sounds possible as soil is floated out.

A T-post driver is a real back-saver for installing ground rods.

We used to have horses, so one was always handy.

Have you ever tried to pull a pipe or rod back out of the ground that was jetted in? Mother Nature  is your friend. I would have no concerns whatsoever with a jetted in rod that is the appropriate length into the earth.

I found my Tpost driver.  I spent ten minutes and made about 8 inches of progress.  I then poured a gallon of water in the hole and will try again later.

One of the gurus on QRZ.com, K9STH (SK) mentioned this in a similar thread, in that the effectiveness of the ground rod was reduced, for some time, if water was used to help drive the rod in to the ground. IDK if the thread is still available.
73,
Rob

I agree it will vary with local soil type. I also agree that, the grounding effect will not be instantly as good as a driven rod, but the easier the jet goes, the quicker the soil will recover.

Ground rod installed thanks to a buddy and his demo hammer.  Now to get the cables figured out and the ground copper run along with the grounding bar.