- Feb 4, 2013
- 28,175
My new wire will not be here until late this week, early next.
And then I have to get it up.
And then I have to get it up.
Comms - HF
- Thread starter Antarctica
- Start date
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Winged Pig
Active Member
So what antenna are you getting?
- Feb 4, 2013
- 28,175
When testing resumes: if you test through the Laurel VEC, there is no charge for testing. I passed both Tech and Gen on the same day.
Winged Pig
Active Member
That is the exact antenna I have. I was very impressed with it's construction and operation. I was able to talk to the owner/builder, NI4L, and he was very helpful. I did have to put a choke (just wrapped about 15 turns of the coax around a tube) to make it work properly.
I initially had mine up at about 55 feet in the trees, but after installing my tower I had to lower it to about 35 feet. Still works great and the reduction in height didn't seem to adversely affect like I thought it would.
Good luck with it!
- Feb 4, 2013
- 28,175
Thanks. Glad it worked well for you.
What size tube for the choke? And where did you place it in the feedline?
For mine, the center will be about 25 feet. With the ends about 8 - 12 feet.
The long leg will be lower, since the backyard is a story lower.
Winged Pig
Active Member
I used an eight inch piece of corrugated plastic drain pipe. Made wrapping the coax very easy, then used some tie wraps to hold it all together. I placed it about fifteen or twenty feet off the ground which put it about thirty feet below the balun.
It did seam to weigh it down a little more and I seemed to have some sag in the line with the balun being the low part of the antenna. I have since replaced that choke with a Balun Designs 1:1 common mode (current?) balun just because I'm anal. I secured that to the house so there is now less weight on the coax/antenna. That also works great. I think I got the balun for about $65 direct from Balun Designs. Maybe overkill though.
Initially I did not have the center supported, just had it pulled tight between the trees with cinder blocks on the line connected to the ends of the antenna. When I re-hung it, the trees I used were much further apart and it did sag some in the middle, so I tied the balun top eyelet to a line and pulled that up a bit from another tree.
It works great for me and I wish you good luck with it.
Last edited:
Laurel VE is working on online testing.
- Feb 4, 2013
- 28,175
Thanks. I will see about ordering a balun.
My center will be supported from the arm off my mast.
I have a rotator, right now with phased pairs of 11 element beams for 2m and 440. I probably should put a 3 band yagi on it
Winged Pig
Active Member
Sounds like you have a nice set up.
You can see my antennas on my QRZ page at K3MSP
If you call Balun Designs they will help you out, even if you don't buy their stuff. They stopped me from detuning my Cushcraft A4S when setting up my balun.
Good luck.
You can see my antennas on my QRZ page at K3MSP
If you call Balun Designs they will help you out, even if you don't buy their stuff. They stopped me from detuning my Cushcraft A4S when setting up my balun.
Good luck.
Winged Pig
Active Member
Here is the Balun I used
https://www.balundesigns.com/model-1115i-1-1-single-core-isolation-balun-1-5-54-mhz-5kw/
https://www.balundesigns.com/model-1115i-1-1-single-core-isolation-balun-1-5-54-mhz-5kw/
gamer_jim
Podcaster
I'm sorry for the ignorant question, but what is a Balun?
I know it means Balance-Unbalanced but I'm not exactly sure how it works on an antenna. My limited understanding is if you have an antenna which presents a different resistance than 50 ohms, you use a Balun to equalize that to the standard 50 ohms for the feedline.
Is that a correct understanding?
Thoughts on this T/R with a stealth dipole? I haven't done morse since Boy Scouts... a long time ago, time to brush up
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Xiegu-G1M-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Xiegu-G1M-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
E.Shell
Ultimate Member
Yes, a balun is a form of transformer, with windings that are a ratio to each other. The primary winding is the input from your transmitter and will be close to 50 ohms impedance. The secondary will be wound in the correct ratio to correct the antenna impedance.
If your antenna is 200 ohms, you would ideally use a balun that has a 1:4 winding, with a 50 ohm primary and a 200 ohm secondary. There will be minor losses in the balun, but not as bad as the feedline losses from an antenna that badly mismatched.
The balanced/unbalanced conversion is that the coax feedline, used by most hams, is 'unbalanced', in that one side (the 'shield') is tied to ground reference (transmitter chassis) and will always be at 0 volts at the grounded transmitter. Most antennas are typically floating (not grounded) and are roughly symmetrical electronically, thus the 'balanced' term, and we are matching that aspect to the one-sided, unbalanced radio. There are more precise technical ways to describe the way this works, but this the general overview.
One exception to this is that many tuners offer an output connection for a balanced feedline, like ladder line. This allows one to directly connect a balanced antenna to the tuner/transmitter.
Winged Pig
Active Member
Here is a brief, but good article that expands on what Ed Shell was saying.
https://www.dxengineering.com/techa...balun-basics-common-mode-vs-differential-mode
The reason I first used an air choke (if that's the correct term - coax wrapped around a cylinder on the feed line prior to entering the house/shack) on my OCF wire was to remove common mode current from the coax. This keeps RF outside and away from my equipment. The owner/builder of my antenna (NI4L) informed me from my first contact with him that the antenna would not work properly, or at all, without using some type of choke or balun to remove it. I have not had any issues with my set up at all.
https://www.dxengineering.com/techa...balun-basics-common-mode-vs-differential-mode
The reason I first used an air choke (if that's the correct term - coax wrapped around a cylinder on the feed line prior to entering the house/shack) on my OCF wire was to remove common mode current from the coax. This keeps RF outside and away from my equipment. The owner/builder of my antenna (NI4L) informed me from my first contact with him that the antenna would not work properly, or at all, without using some type of choke or balun to remove it. I have not had any issues with my set up at all.
- Sep 16, 2008
- 1,006
Yes/No/Yes
Start warming up your tubes ladies....
NY Transplant
Wabbit Season/Duck Season
Still 3867 KHz?
