Portable Hex Beam Antenna Using Fishing Rods

This is a design for a hex beam antenna for 6-20M bands. My build uses a Hastings telescoping lineman stick which you likely won't use, in which case this is better used as inspiration for your build (and not a direct-print package)

Material Used:

• 1.75mm Paracord (Type 95 - 180lbs strength)
  • Used for all support and guy cords.
• 5.4m Carp Fishing Rods with last two (2) tip sections removed.
  • Note: These are sometimes listed as “carbon fiber”, but I meggered an unglazed section, and it it was >2.2GΩ across 1mm, so they're clearly non-conductive. I believe they're just regular fiberglass. I tested actual carbon fiber tube and it was basically a dead short across any length.
• Tie down hooks for guy-ropes
• Carabiners and tent pegs for guy cords
• ~22AWG wire for radiators.
• Balun assembly:
  • FT140-43 Ferrite (aka: Fairrite # 5943002701)
  • RG-174 Coax
  • BNC Connector
  • Banana jack binding posts
  • M3 screws for securing toroid + heat set inserts for thumbscrew to secure cover
• Telescoping Mast
  • I used a hastings telescoping linestick for the base, and the uppermost section for the mast to secure guy ropes and the balun.
  • I lash the mast to a tripod and secure the tripod to the earth with screw anchors.

Assembly Instructions:

I strongly recommend you modify this design to suit your specific telescoping mast assembly. The other parts would be interchangeable.

1. Build the balun. It will be installed on the top mast and slid to whatever height it needs to be for the antenna band you intend to use.
2. Build the fishing rod hub and the corresponding mast hub to insert or attach to your mast. You may need to sand down the inside based on your fishing rod fitment (consider printing a test piece). I wrapped sandpaper around a drill bit and sanded for a perfect fit. Screw together the two hubs using #10 screws with tie-down hooks around three (3) screws to attach your guy wires.
3. If you're using a line stick, print the spline adapter and top part to hold guy cords. They're attached with M3 screws.
4. Remove the last 2 tip pieces from each rod and insert the collet holders over the rod.
   1. Note: I have antenna holding collets sized for the part of the rod where the 20M antenna will fall. If you want to use bands from 6-17M, you'll need to redesign this collet to accept a larger diameter (lower down on the rod).
5. Cut all cords and install toggles and tension holders so that you can adjust the cords.
   1. You can also use the “Cord Hook” attached to hang across the two (2) spreaders adjacent to the balun to keep those spreads taut (otherwise the antenna pulls unevenly and causes those two spreaders to spread out further than others)
6. Assemble and cut the antenna length to tune!

Additional Info:

• Antenna lengths
• Example build

Other Options

• My design uses a collet assembly to hold the antenna wire, this allows you to slide it up and down and tighten to the perfect part of the rod for a given antenna length. This is great for tuning and the first few setups, but once you've got the exact position on the rod figured out, I do recommend printing a solid piece that slides over the rod and stops over the same spot on the rod every time, as it's much quicker to set up that way (although excruciating to tune).