Thanks again Nick and Mark for your input and help - Mark, I haven't measured an exact distance from the shack to the midpoint of the antenna but I think that it's going to be about 200 feet to the house and then I have to terminate in the second floor shack - the plan is to go up the side of the house, through the soffit and across the attic, and then down into the room I'm using - all told I'd say at least 50 feet for a total of about 250.
I will use the FLG-100 Nick, and will order it today, and will feed it with RG58. I wasn't aware of Maple Leaf, thanks for the link - have you used their RG58? What was the quality like? I'll have to see if they will add the connectors on both ends when I order the cable. Direct burial CAT5 is a lot cheaper but probably the ease of connection with the RG58 will trump the cost issue. Otherwise I would have to construct a 2:1 balun and not have any real guarantee the whole thing would work. The plan is to get it up and running and then start doing some experimenting afterwards. My past experience would indicate that it's best to start off with a system I know is going to/should work, and then modify in increments so that I have a reference point and it's easy to troubleshoot. If I start off with a radical modification to the known system then there are too many variables to effectively compare or isolate a fault. Does this make sense? If Andy is reading these I would certainly be interested in his perspective on the CAT5 question. One thing I will do for sure is make it possible to leave the second antenna (at 195 degrees) unterminated, just to see how the pattern is affected. Thanks again for all your help! Regards, Michael _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Be sure to register now for the Joint DX Convention Kansas City, September 9 to 11. Hotel space is filling up. Registration info: http://www.nrcdxas.org Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
