A V-dipole for NOAA weather satellites on 137 MHz has been published by 9A4QV and it seems to get very good results. I decided to build one for UHF 436 MHz satellite band and also add reflectors to get the antenna pattern higher up.
I followed the instructions by 9A4QV but adjusted to 436 MHz. All SWR measurements are done with a NanoVNA. Please see the pictures below for some ideas how to build one of you own. You can also see test results below.
I have used the following materials:
- PVC pipe 32 mm diameter
- TIG Aluminium elements (Tigrod ESAB OK 4043 (3.2 mm/1000 mm)
In Sweden you can buy these at https://www.svetsmaskinservice.se/ - Coax cable direct connection to the element
- All elements are aprox 16 cm long. Make the two elements for the dipole a little longer and cut for best SWR
- Distance to radioators are aprox 10 cm
- As you can see I use a lot of glue to make it water proof… 🙂
Some pictures from building
Test results
When listening to local repeaters a got good readings, but when trying to receive satellites I did not get the result I think this type of antenna should deliver. I think it is a better antenna for the high power NOAA satellites on 137 MHz. But, it´s very simple to build!
Some results:
4 replies on “V-dipole for UHF – build a simple satellite antenna”
Cool! I might try this myself – my nanoVNA says my V-dipole SWR is ~ 1.2 for 137 MHz, ~ 1.6 for 144 MHz, but ~ 2.1 for 436 MHz.
Are you combining the VHF and UHF antenna feeds, or do you have separate receivers for VHF and UHF?
This antenna (long time since I built it) was for UHF only, I did not try it for VHF.
Instead of a choc block terminal, try a cobra-head terminal. most hams already have one floating around, you can simply crimp ring terminals to rods of various lengths for various frequencies. It doesn’t even ruin the cobra-head, so you can still use it for wire dipoles or whatever.
seventy threes, BA358DFN348A out.
Yes good idea, thanks!