On Aug 12, 12:46*pm, Jim Lux wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
On Aug 9, 9:41 pm, professorpaul wrote:
Buddy of mine got something like that. Put a 2 meter whip/ground plane
on the top, and rigged a bracket to go under his tire -- for ARES,
field day, etc. Works great!

/paul W3FIS

I think this one is going to become a portable HF antenna. When fully
extended the electrical connection between sections is not very
reliable so jumpers may be required.\

Jimmie

You are right.. there's no electrical connection between segments, and
no way to simply jumper it (if you put some sort of connector, it
doesn't telescope nicely).

However, what you CAN do is support a piece of wire from the top of the
pole down to the ground next to the pole, and that works pretty well.

Another convenient and inexpensive support is a collapsible crappie or
panfish pole. Cabela's has 20 ft collapsible rods for under $20 (or did
a year or two ago).

The challenge with all these sorts of schemes is holding the pole
upright. *For a "no wind" situation, an orange traffic cone works fairly
well. You shove the pole into the hole in the top.

If you need to tolerate even a small breeze, you need something more.

You can also use multiple painter or swimming pool poles (which are
sturdier) to make a giant tripod. *The handles from inexpensive paint
rollers make the appropriate threaded socket for the male thread on the
paint poles.

http://home.earthlink.net/~w6rmk/antenna/tripod.htm

I have used adhesive foil for years on fishing poles.
Ideal for a back pack, un assembled and with foil at the ready!
Last time I saw them on Ebay was $10