Pirate Nation Radio
Rollin' Your Own FM Antenna

The half wave dipole cutting formula is: Length in feet = 468 divided by the Frequency in Mhz. Our example is for 90 MHz, values are 468/90 = 5.2 feet or 62.5 inches total side to side. The elements are made from 1" wide tape measure steel from a $1.99 bargain 12 foot tape. Each side of the dipole 31.25 inches long with a 3/4 inch gap at the center feed point. Use a wire brush to completely remove the paint from the steel tape ends and pre tin before you solder to the split out coax. Use black electrical tape to insulate the center feed point from shorting out between the 2 sides. The PVC pipe is standard 1 inch schedule 40 "sprinkler pipe" with a tee and 3 end caps. Cut each pvc pipe 1 inch longer then an their element side and make the stand off pipe 16-24 inches long for mounting. Drill a hole in the stand off pipe's end cap and run the coax out to your station. Do not glue it together until the it is tuned and tested for the chosen frequency. - DJ Pirate Joe