I have over 200 countries on a similar antenna, though I had to use
another tuner than the KAT500, for 160M. Average height was about 35'.
Just keep the coax short, like under 10' and as much center fed wire as
you can put in the air, it'll play. It won't rock your world, it'll
make you work for some of the DX, but that teaches patience and
operating technique, still win-win.
Rick nhc
On 10/10/2019 1:56 PM, Lyn Norstad wrote:
I'm having great success with a horizontal center-fed "dipole" that has been sized (360
feet long) to be an Extended Double Zepp (4.7 dbi gain) and cut for the low end of 80 meters. I
feed it with 600 ohm "True" Ladder Line from a Balun Designs Hybrid Balun (1:1 Current
and 4:1 Voltage all in one case). A short run of coax from the balun to my KAT500, and I am in
business at any frequency on 160 - 6 meters.
It's oriented to be an effective NVIS radiator in a N-S pattern on 80m, by design, and to
have major lobes on the other bands in other directions - also by design. For me, it's
the most efficient and effective way to utilize our lot space (400 feet clear) and still
be "under the radar" in our HOA.
Birds seem to like it, and I find that it seems to be especially attractive to
Hummingbirds, my XYL's favorites. A win-win, in my book.
73
Lyn, WØLEN
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Al Lorona
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 3:25 PM
To: [email protected]; David Gilbert
Subject: [Elecraft] Center-fed antennas
My experience with single vertical or sloping wires is exactly the same as AB7E's. I
have, over almost twice as many Field Days as Dave, come to a similar conclusion, with
the slight difference being my preference for an "all-band dipole" fed with
balanced line. This obviates the balun and reduces feedline loss to negligible, so
obviously I am maximizing efficiency at the expense of any other possible advantage. (I
can usually hear much better than I can be heard... so thus far this has been a valid
decision.)
To sum up what I and what I think Dave are saying, you can't beat a horizontal,
center-fed wire up as high as you can get it. Its simplicity, the flexibility
it gives you to QSY (with a good tuner), and its high efficiency are almost
unbeatable.
As a side note, the center-fed horizontal wire I have used here at home is
totally non-resonant. I don't even know how long it is. Once you give up the
obsession with resonant antenna length, you gain a huge freedom of choice.
In the bottom of the sunspot cycle, these advantages are somewhat reduced
because an op, especially on Field Day, might opt to forget about any band
higher than 20 meters -- and these days even 20 is questionable. This means you
can probably make do with coaxial cable and a balun for operation on 2 or 3
bands but the general idea still holds.
Al W6LX
Yes, a center fed normal dipole with the middle (high current portion)
higher off the ground (say 50 feet for 40m) and a common mode choke at
the feedpoint would almost assuredly perform better.
73,
Dave AB7E
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