If you’ve been active on the ham bands lately, you may have noticed something exciting — the 10-meter amateur radio band (28 MHz) has been absolutely alive with DX contacts. With the recent solar cycle conditions, this band has been wide open to the world, so I decided to join the fun by building a simple, effective, and portable 10-meter antenna: the flowerpot antenna.
This design is perfect for 10m ham radio DXing, quick portable setups, and even as a home station antenna. It’s built using a small amount of coaxial cable, a short length of wire, and basic tools.
I filmed the complete antenna build, SWR testing, and on-air performance over on my YouTube channel — you can watch the full step-by-step guide here:
🎥 Watch the 10-Meter Flowerpot Antenna Build on YouTube
Why Choose the 10-Meter Flowerpot Antenna?
The flowerpot antenna is essentially a vertical half-wave dipole made from coaxial cable and a wire element, with a built-in choke balun to keep RF where it belongs.
Benefits for ham radio operators:
- Low-cost — no expensive traps or commercial kits required
- Portable — easily mounts to a fiberglass mast or fishing pole for field days, SOTA, or POTA
- Broad coverage — works across most of the 28 MHz band and can be tuned with an ATU
- Excellent performance — great for catching 10m DX openings during the solar peak
Materials for a 10-Meter Build
For a center frequency of 28.5 MHz, you’ll need:
- ~2.5 m of insulated copper wire (18–20 AWG / 1–1.5 mm)
- 12–13 m of RG58 coaxial cable
- 150 mm length of 50 mm PVC pipe (for choke winding)
- Heatshrink tubing & electrical tape
- Soldering iron & solder
- PL-259 connector
Step 1: Cutting the Radiating Element
The top quarter-wave element sets your operating frequency.
- Length: 2500 mm (2.5 m) for ~28.5 MHz
- Leave a little extra length if you want to fine-tune later.
- The coax braid at the feedpoint is cut back so only the center conductor connects to the wire.
Step 2: Building the Coax Choke Balun
A choke balun prevents unwanted RF from traveling down the feedline, improving efficiency and reducing noise pickup.
I used:
- 150 mm of 50 mm PVC pipe
- 23–24 turns of RG58 coax (about 4.32 m of coax for the winding)
Drill a 6 mm hole at each end of the PVC to feed the coax through before and after winding.
Step 3: Assembly
- Measure 2450 mm from the top of the choke — this is where the wire element connects.
- Solder the coax center conductor to the wire, insulate with heatshrink.
- Tape the wire vertically to your mast or fishing pole.
- Fit a PL-259 connector to the coax feedline.
Step 4: SWR Testing & Bandwidth
I mounted my flowerpot antenna on a fiberglass fishing pole with the base just 2 m above ground.
Results:
- SWR at 28.48 MHz: ~1.3:1
- 3:1 SWR bandwidth covered from just under 27 MHz to past 30 MHz.
- Easily usable across the FM, SSB, and FT8 portions of the 10m band with a tuner.
Raising the antenna higher will improve both the SWR curve and DX performance.
Step 5: On-Air Performance
Even with the antenna relatively low, I quickly began receiving beacons and FT8 signals from Japan, China, and Sydney.
In side-by-side testing with my ground-mounted DX Commander, the flowerpot antenna was slightly quieter but decoded more distant signals — likely due to its height advantage.
Final Thoughts
The 10-meter flowerpot antenna is an ideal DIY ham radio antenna project — inexpensive, lightweight, and effective. Whether for portable ops like POTA, SOTA, or your home QTH, it’s a proven performer when the 10m band is open.
If you’d like to see the full construction process, choke winding details, SWR sweep, and live on-air results, check out the full video:
👉 Watch the Complete Build on YouTube
73 and good DX!