Gutter Antenna Counterpoise

This gutter antenna is connected via an upper roof level downspout where no personal contact is possible.

Gutter antenna counterpoise.

So i just ran an appropriate length of 18 awg speaker wire inside the plastic downspout and horizontal section sealing the ends with waterproof silicone caulk and attached the antenna segment to the main wire of some rg 8 coax while i connected the. Unlike gregg s gutter antenna the spout and long horizontal section were made from plastic. It was a half eaten slice of pizza. While i was cleaning up i noticed something sitting on top of the antenna coupler.

Counterpoise will improve your receive its the other side of the antenna. I went over to see what it was. One each for 40 30 20 and 15 meters. Very simple and the system worked for me.

The counterpoise wires are made from garden variety stranded hookup wire cut to a quarter wavelength. If your longwire is close you might want to try the gutter as a counterpoise ground. That article found its way into several ham radio publications and newsletters. A ham friend of mine recently asked me for the details of how i use my rain gutter and downspout as an antenna.

Apparently a bird had scavenged it from someone s trash and had put it up on the antenna coupler for safe. I originally did a write up on it in 1994. Counterpoise will improve your receive its the other side of the antenna. First you have to use a tuner.

For good measure i attached counterpoise wires to the ground stud of the transmatch. I went back up to the roof to work out a more orderly arrangement for the counterpoise. Pic courtesy of n6cc website. This all aluminum gutter is fed with coax with an unterminated shield at this end shield connected to radio ground at the other to reduce nearby computer hash from inside the house.