A Pictorial Thread of My HF Antenna Project for my Camper Travel Trailer

[WA3MOJ]

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How Can I Get A Decent Antenna on a Camper?

The following is a pictorial of my antenna construction project for my travel trailer that I will use in portable operation
while camping. This is a pictorial thread that will show the step-by-step design and installation process of how I installed
a new HF antenna on my travel trailer camper. This can also serve to give other camper-hams an idea of another type
of HF antenna to use on a Travel Trailer, Camper, Motor Home or RV.

I invite the smarter heads on this forum to offer suggestions and advice during this installation process as it goes along.
(thanks)





BTW, the antenna shown on the roof of the travel trailer is the OEM Terrestrial TV antenna.

So, subscribe to this thread, stay tuned and feel free to chime in !

There will be more pictures to follow.

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[WA3MOJ]

Antenna for Camping:

For simplicity sake, I wanted an HF antenna that I wouldn't have to spend time deploying, like the dipole I did last year.
Preferably, it should already be mounted to the travel trailer, so it's just about ready to go with not much fuss.

Last year I used a shortened 40M - 10M dipole with mixed results. . . I had a lot of RFI in the shack. So I wanted to
see if I could improve on my skyhook for this years' camping season. As many would agree, dipoles are not always the
best solution for use while camping. Sometimes there are no trees to tie up a wire antenna or the wire just can't be
hung high enough.

Trying to hang a dipole by throwing a fishing line or nylon string through trees with a lead weight is particularly tricky
with the tiny campsites we have here in the northeast. The proximity of neighboring campsites makes this a rather risky
proposition . . .

If you "missed" with your lead weight and hit your neighbor's Camper or RV on the campsite next door, this would no doubt
invite him to come over to introduce himself and have a discussion with you about what just happened.




(. . . a little OP humor )

[WA3MOJ]

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Antenna Choices:

So, what are my choices for an HF antenna for a travel trailer? Some of the designs that immediately come to mind are:

- Tuned Mobile Whip
- Ham Sticks
- Swinging a dipole into the trees, or into the camper next door. . . Not !
- Portable Antenna
- Compact Free-Standing style antenna
- Screwdriver Antenna





Lots of choices above... among others. But for many reasons, none of the above suited my needs.

So, I made the decision to use some type of a vertical antenna for the HF bands and something that was already
mounted to the camper somehow. That would be especially convenient, because there would be no antenna to
deploy or setup needed.

There's already a lot to do when you pull-in to a campsite and unhook.
I'd rather not have to fuss with the ham radio antenna, too.

So what type of vertical style antenna would I use ???


. . . . Hmmmm.

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[AF6LJ]

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Antenna Choices:

So, what are my choices for an HF antenna for a travel trailer? Some of the designs that immediately come to mind are:

- Tuned Mobile Whip
- Ham Sticks
- Swinging a dipole into the trees, or into the camper next door. . . Not !
- Portable Antenna
- Compact Free-Standing style antenna
- Screwdriver Antenna





Lots of choices above... among others. But for many reasons, none of the above suited my needs.

So, I made the decision to use some type of a vertical antenna for the HF bands and something that was already
mounted to the camper somehow. That would be especially convenient, because there would be no antenna to
deploy or setup needed.

There's already a lot to do when you pull-in to a campsite and unhook.
I'd rather not have to fuss with the ham radio antenna, too.

So what type of vertical style antenna would I use ???


. . . . Hmmmm.

.

How is that screwdriver antenna working for Y'alls??

[WA3MOJ]

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My Antenna Selection:

After a lot of research and for reasons personal to me, I chose a vertical monopole style of antenna as definitely the
more practical antenna for my situation. And rather than going with a telescoping fiberglass pole with a wire inside,
I decided on a vertical monopole as the clear choice… more particularly the Shakespeare Model 393 SSB Marine Antenna.

This is not a base loaded antenna design and it has no traps or loading coils. It would act as a monopole and although
it is not collapsible like the telescoping fiberglass pole option, it has 3 sections which screw together. And, it would work
nicely together with my Icom 706MKII radio and Icom AH-4 antenna tuner.





The Shakespeare antenna stands 23' tall and breaks down into three (3) sections, each approximately 8' long and each of the
sections screw together. It made sense for me to permanently mount the base section of the 393 Shakespeare antenna to the
rear bumper of the travel trailer on a swivel type of ratchet mount. That would allow me to tilt down the antenna to screw-in
the top two (2) antenna sections. Then tilt it back up and lock it in place in the vertical position.

However, tilting up a 23' tall HF Vertical Antenna in a wooded campsite can have its challenges if there are low hanging tree
branches that don't allow enough clearance to swing the antenna upright. That's why I like this antenna design. . With the base
section permanently mounted on the rear bumper, I can also get up on a ladder and screw-in the top two sections without the
need to tilt the entire antenna down.

Pictures to follow.

[K7JEM]

Seems legit.

[WB2WIK]

I have it on pretty good authority the ones with a red handle are 3 dB better. Maybe try it?

[WA3MOJ]

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Here are some pictures of the base section of the Shakespeare antenna mounted on the rear bumper of my travel trailer. . .



Base Ratchet Mount *
















Upper Bracket Mount *





I placed a 1" white rubber leg tip that I purchased at the home center onto the thread of the top of the of the base section
to protect the threads when not attached to the other antenna sections.


* Mounts, brackets and parts are all Shakespeare accessories.


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[KF5FEI]

Quick and dirty drive-on mast mount. Add a 20' or 30' push-up pole and a pulley and you can string up something in no time.
drive_on_mount.jpg

[WA3MOJ]

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Next, For The Logistics of the Installation.


To begin on the antenna tuner installation, I temporarily removed the spare tire from the rear bumper to make
installation easier. Also, I prepared all my tools ready for the installation. You can never prepare for everything,
so getting up and going back and forth to the garage gave me a "lot" of exercise (!) .








As mentioned earlier, I'll be using this vertical monopole antenna along with an Icom AH-4 Antenna Tuner.
The tuner is already designed within a weatherproof enclosure, however, I decided to mount the AH-4 tuner
inside a metal cash box that I bought from a discount department store. The tuner fits perfectly. The bumper
mounted location puts the feedpoint of the antenna approximately 3' off the ground.










Inside View of the Enclosure





Notice I installed cable outlets with built-in rubber grommets to protect the tuner's control cable and hot side
of the antenna. Because the metal enclosure is grounded to the system, I further protected the hot side of the
antenna input by slipping a nylon ferrule over the #12 wire coming from the base of the antenna and through
the cable outlet.


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