Soldering a J-pole antenna for edm fm transmitter

[salongaopm]

Can I use a soldering station like CSI Station 2A to solder a j-pole antenna made from 1/2" copper?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[holland lights]

Hmm i don't know if it would be hot enough for cooper tubing. Might try one of those miniature blow torches. I made ours out of a old cb antenna, the kind of cb antenna with the long wire and a magnet to mount it to the top of the car. I had to modify it to work.

[salongaopm]

something like this?

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[holland lights]

Yea that would work, or just one of those single tank units, the kind with the nozzle on top of the tank. It just needs to get hot enough to bond, like it would need to be to solder pipe together in plumbing.

[holland lights]

Or you may choose to use ground clamps found in the electrical section to clamp onto the pipe and screw the wire down tight. I dunno just an idea, the radio people may say that's a bad idea i dunno.

[salongaopm]

I will try to find a cheap blow torch and will probably use a clamp to hold the wire until I get the proper calibration. This jpole antenna is getting more expensive to make. 

thanks!

[trekster]

J-pole antennas are great.  I have a 500mw transmitter and it came with a small about 10 inch antenna and it went about 1 block.  I built a j pole and and now I get about 2 miles.

Ron

Oh... I used one of the to solder it together

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[salongaopm]

The edm fm transmitter I bought won't even give a clear signal from my second floor house to my driveway (15ft?) using the supplied antenna. Hopefully, this jpole is worth it. It will cost me more than $80 to build this jpole. <fp.

[holland lights]

Yea thats the type of single tank blow torch i was talking about.

J-pole antennas are great.  I have a 500mw transmitter and it came with a small about 10 inch antenna and it went about 1 block.  I built a j pole and and now I get about 2 miles.

Ron

Oh... I used one of the to solder it together

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[mms]

Please be sure to read the wiki on FM transmitters!  The FCC has no sense of holiday spirit or sense of humor when it comes to their regulations!

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[holland lights]

Get the project figured out yet?

[paul58]

check your connections of the wire antenna carefully. i had some poor solder joints on the connector. i can get almost two blocks with a wire. all the fcc will allow.

[Pete]

If your edm cannot transmit 15 feet to your driveway there may be a problem with your transmitter.  I use the included antenna and I transmit just about 1/4 mile in the city.  I would check your connections and if good contact edm for a replacement; other than slow turn-around they stand behind their product.


Pete

[rm357]

The edm fm transmitter I bought won't even give a clear signal from my second floor house to my driveway (15ft?) using the supplied antenna. Hopefully, this jpole is worth it. It will cost me more than $80 to build this jpole. <fp.

Did you unroll the wire? With the wire and the transmitter turned almost all the way down I get better than a block. I bought a simple strait antenna that is only about 4 ft long and it covers more than a block with the power set at 2mw... (jumper at 10mw and pot turned almost all the way down). You do need to have the antenna verticle and it is better if you have it a few feet above the ground.

BTW - the instructions say to never power it up without an antenna attached...
RM

[salongaopm]

I found out the reason why it won't transmit far...the edm is set at 99.6 and my car stereo is set at 99.7  <fp. . Somehow, I can't set the edm at my desired frequency which is 99.7 and my car stereo won't set at 99.6. After I changed the frequency, it was able to transmit about one block using the provided test antenna. My $80 jpole and 30ft rg-213 coax cable won't be needed afterall .