Building a 20M Portable Vertical Whip from AliExpress Parts

If you have been eyeing all the portable vertical whips popping up in parks and on social media, you are not alone. Vertical whips are compact, quick to deploy and work well on busy bands like 20 meters. So I went hunting on AliExpress to see how cheaply I could put one together and ended up with a full 20 meter vertical kit for under 25 dollars. The big question is simple: does this bargain whip actually hang with a proper HF antenna, or is it money wasted?

The heart of the build is a budget telescoping vertical whip I found on AliExpress for about 13 dollars. Add a simple SO239 base adapter for 6 dollars and a ground stake mount for 4 dollars and you are right at 23 bucks for the hardware. If you keep an eye on daily deals you can knock that down even further. I actually bought two of everything for under 40 dollars so I can play with phasing and array games later.

There is no magic here though. The old saying "you get what you pay for" still applies. This is not built like an Alpha Antenna or any of the nicer brand name whips. The tubing is a little thinner and I would not trust it in a full on windstorm. But for portable use in normal weather it is absolutely good enough, especially if you are more worried about your budget than cosmetics.

Parts, threads and the not so obvious details

Let’s talk about the pieces you actually get and some details that do not show up in the product photos. The telescopic whip uses M10 threads, which is not the standard many of us are used to in ham radio land. The good news is that the SO239 base and the ground stake on AliExpress are also tapped for M10, so everything screws together cleanly and feels solid once it is in the ground.

The SO239 base itself is sturdier than I expected at this price point. The only real annoyance is that it is not marked for which side is the feed and which side is ground. You will want to grab a multimeter and ring it out the first time so you know which lug to bond your radials to. The ground stake threads in firmly and does what a stake is supposed to do: it keeps the whip upright without drama.

Building the radial system and putting it together

AliExpress does sell a little ribbon cable radial kit for around 5 dollars, but I had plenty of wire in the junk bin and decided to roll my own. For a portable antenna like this you want a balance between efficiency and packability. I settled on three roughly 16 and a half foot radials for 20 meters, soldered to a ring terminal and sandwiched between the SO239 base and the ground stake.

• Step 1: Cut three radial wires to about 16.5 feet each for 20 meters, crimp or solder them into a single ring terminal and slip a bit of strain relief over the bundle if you have it.
• Step 2: Assemble the ground stake and SO239 base, trapping the ring terminal between them so the radials make solid contact with the ground side of the connector.
• Step 3: Thread the telescopic whip into the top of the base, fan the radials out roughly 120 degrees apart on the ground, hook up your coax and then adjust the whip length to dial in SWR on your favorite part of 20 meters.

AliExpress whip vs higher end commercial verticals

If you already own a nicer commercial whip, like the stuff from Alpha Antennas or similar brands, you are probably wondering how this bargain setup compares. The easy answer is that the AliExpress whip gets you maybe 80 to 90 percent of the performance for a fraction of the price, but with obvious compromises in fit, finish and long term durability.

• The tubing on the AliExpress whip is noticeably thinner, so I would be cautious using it on exposed summits or in high wind where a beefier whip would shrug things off.
• Threading is all M10, which is fine once you commit to that ecosystem, but it will not directly match most of your existing HF mounts and hardware.
• On the flip side, the whole kit is so cheap that you are not scared to experiment, throw it in a backpack or loan it to a new ham who is still figuring out antennas.

On air performance: WSPR, FT8 and real contacts

To get a feel for how this little vertical really performs, I ran it for several days ahead of Winter Field Day, right on the heels of a solar storm. Band conditions were in that "not great, not terrible" zone, which actually makes a pretty fair test. I put it on WSPR and FT8 on 20 meters with about 50 watts and had no trouble getting spots and contacts at the distances you would expect from a healthy 20 meter station.

My permanent HF antenna at home is a 20 meter capable end fed halfwave, so that is my mental baseline. Comparing logs and behavior, I would put the AliExpress whip right in line with that antenna on transmit as long as the vertical is tuned and the radials are laid out cleanly. It will not magically overcome bad band conditions, but when the band is open it absolutely holds its own. Given how small and cheap the kit is, I would not hesitate to run 100 watts SSB on it in the field.

Living with the whip: portability and real world tips

Where this little 20 meter stick really shines is portability. The whole kit breaks down into a compact bundle that can ride along with your other field gear without taking up much room. Setup is brain dead simple: stake in the ground, whip up, radials out, coax on and you are on the air in a couple of minutes. That makes it a nice backup antenna or a primary radiator for quick POTA runs.

1. Use a marker or a bit of tape to mark the telescopic whip at the length that gives you a good match on your favorite part of 20 meters so you can extend it to the right spot every time.
2. Carry an extra set of radial wires in case one gets yanked or broken, and consider trying a few more radials if you do not mind trading a little portability for better ground efficiency.
3. When the whip arrives, inspect it carefully. One of mine showed up with a dent from shipping, but AliExpress refunded that piece quickly after I sent photos, which honestly went smoother than some returns I have had with Amazon.