Part 15 AM antenna construction Base Loaded 3 Meter Vertical Antenna


HOW TO CONSTRUCT AN ANTENNA FOR 1700kHz AM

Designed by electronics wizard Dr. Jack Gittings, built by MLR

A simple animated gif file video showing the construction process for the Manteca Magnum Antenna is located HERE.

Shopping List: (1) 4" Diameter 12" Length Schedule 40 Black PVC pipe (1) Pound of #18 (18AWG) stranded and insulated copper wire (1) PVC Pipe Cement (The blue stuff) (2) Flat 4" PVC End caps (not the rounded ones) (2) 7/16" threaded pipe mounts (2) 8" 7/16" heavy copper pipe threaded at each end (1) Brass bolt long enough to go through the 7/16" heavy copper pipe (1) brass nut for the brass bolt (1) Hose clamp big enough to go around the antenna mast (1) 9' ½" blue copper pipe (you can use red, but it might bend in the wind) (1) Set of 2" mast mounts from Radio Shack CONSTRUCTION: Starting about 2 ½" from the top of the PVC pipe, wind the insulated wire 62 times tightly. Make sure to leave about a foot of wire loose from the top. Drill a hole close to the starting point, and pass the foot of wire through. Drill a hole near where you ended the winding, and pass about a foot of wire through. (With both of these, the closer to the beginning point you drill the better as close as you can get without damaging the insulation) Apply the PVC glue/cement to the wound wire sealing it in. This should be completely weather proofed. While the cement is drying, mount the threaded pipe mounts to the flat PVC end caps. Apply the PVC cement to the inside and outside of the bolts holding the pipe mounts to the end caps. Once the body of the coil is dry, cut any excess length off of the bottom so that there is about 2 ½" past the last turn of wire. Drill one hole in each end cap for the coil wire to come through. Apply a liberal amount of PVC cement to the inside of the end caps so that they will stay nice and snug on the coil. Pull the wire through the hole in the end caps and push the end caps down onto the coil as far as they will go without squishing the coil wire. Place one of the 8" 7/16" threaded copper pipes in the top pipe mount and screw in until its as tight as it will go. Insert the 9' copper pipe into the 8" 7/16" threaded copper pipe you just mounted. Drill a hole about halfway down the 8" threaded pipe big enough for your brass bolt to fit through. Use whatever method you like to affix the wire to the brass bolt so that it makes contact – cut off any excess length from the wire. Insert the brass bolt and tighten the nut. Insert the 8" 7/16" threaded pipe you have left into the bottom of the coil – this is your mount. Slide the hose clamp onto the mast File off any paint that may be at the top of the mast 19) Mount the antenna to the mast using the 2" mast mounts. Make contact with the mast using the wires sticking out of the bottom. Use the hose clamp to keep it in place. Don't forget to ground that mast to something like a cold water spigot or a nice grounding plane.