Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Simple ground stake for supporting squid pole

I was very impressed by Peter, VK2AQJ's method for standing up a squid pole for supporting his portable antenna and decided to reproduce it. Some 20mm angle aluminium and angle brackets was purchased at the local hardware. The aluminium I got was 1.5mm thick and 1m long.


Hack-sawed a point to make it easier to push into the dirt.


The right angle bracket is bolted on and can be used to push the stake in with your foot.


Peter had also added a screw terminal so it can be used as a ground connection but as I'm using a dipole decided to skip this.

In use I feel that 1.5mm aluminium and the angle bracket are a bit low in strength but probably OK as this is QRP we're doing here.
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2 comments:

  1. Peter Parker6:31 PM

    Agree about the thickness. Something light is good for those thin 5.4m squid poles (just right for a quarter wavelength on 14 MHz and up) eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy728DjgzM8

    But 9m poles require something hefty, otherwise this will happen to you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFx0a8Prnic

    As for mounting the pole to the angle, I use velcro tie strip.

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  2. Peter Marks6:08 AM

    Thanks Peter (3YE). I noticed that Peter, VK2AQJ, mounted his squid pole by unscrewing the bottom cap and sliding it over the angle aluminium. My 6m squid pole is rather beaten up and the bottom cap fell apart and has been replaced with cloth tape so yes velcro straps would be a good solution.

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