Well done, Phil. Experimenting with antennas is half the fun, IMHO. Wayne
On Jun 26, 2012, at 9:38 PM, Phillip Shepard wrote: > As an example, I used a 40m Extended Double Zepp for field day. > This is an > 180' wire center fed with ladder line. My FD installation had about > 60' of > ladder line hanging down to the rig. Ordinarily, I would use a > toroid to > make a balun to the rig, but I didn't have a suitable form in my > junk box, > so I hooked the ladder line to a BNC to dual banana binding post > adapter. > The KX3 ATU did fine in matching from 80 to 10m, except on 40m. On > the > other bands, the match was 1:1 or close, but on 40m, the tuner > struggled to > get down to 3:1 or so. I added a 33' "radial" wire to the ground > side of > the banana adapter and ran it under the antenna, keeping it 2 to 3' > above > the ground. With this addition, the ATU could usually get close to > 1:1 on > 40m. The antenna seemed to play well, so the efficiency must not > have been > too bad. I was impressed with the KX3 for many reasons, including > its ATU. > > 73, > Phil, NS7P > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick > Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 9:09 PM > To: Jeff Herr > Cc: 'Elecraft Reflector' > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] "random wire" and the KX3 ATU > > > Jeff, > > The KXAT3 has a very wide tuning range and is specifically designed > for use with random-length antennas. Typically any wire longer than > 20' or so can be tuned up on 40-6 meters. A 74-foot antenna will > probably be tunable to reasonable SWR on 160-6. > > A random wire antenna can work very well -- comparable to a vertical > or dipole depending on the band, radiation angle, and your ground > system (if the random wire is worked against radials). > > I use random wires almost exclusively. The KXAT3 does an excellent job > with them. It will also do other magic tricks like make an 80-meter > dipole work on all bands, or a 20-meter yagi work on 30-6 meters, etc. > Efficiency will vary, but the transmitter will be happy. > > 73, > Wayne > N6KR > > > On Jun 26, 2012, at 7:55 PM, Jeff Herr wrote: > >> I know folks who have had bad experiences using a "random" wire with >> an ATU. >> >> Although I ordered a buddipole with the kx3 I still am interested in >> getting >> A 74 foot length of wire up in the pine trees (I will have a >> counterpoise) >> while up in the >> Lassen national forest.....we go there a lot. >> >> When I mention this I am met with much skepticism. >> >> Am I way off base? Is this beyond the capabilities of the tuner? >> Is there a descriptive spec for the tuner that describes the range >> of it >> matching capability? >> >> WW6L >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
