There is an old W1BB drawing of a 160 L with a series capacitor which is longer than a 1/4 wave to feed it at a higher impedance point to get higher efficiency. Other neat drawing from him has an old car buried as part of the ground.
W3OU Steve -----Original Message----- From: bill.va3ol <bill.va...@gmail.com> To: elecraft list <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>; qrp-l list <qr...@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Tue, Oct 1, 2013 2:35 pm Subject: [Elecraft] Random wires My antennas for the past few years have been Alpha Delta Dipoles (an 80/40 and a 40-10) plus an 88 foot CFZ. When I began looking for a 160 meter antenna I came across the Balun Design website which had a 9:1 unun plus an article on using it with a single wire for all band performance. It sounded to good to be true and you know the old saying ...... it probably is. Remember that I have a 125 foot run of coax to a remote antenna switch up the hill, in my little forest so line losses due to SWR are a major concern. Well, I ordered their 9:1 unun and hung a 124 foot inverted L set up at 25 feet. My experience tells me that it is worth the trouble to get it up higher once the leaves are gone. The original radial system was 8 – 10 foot radials, 2 - 15 foot radials and 1 - 30 foot radial. Here are my initial findings: 160 meters: less than 3:1 across the band 80 meters: less than 4:1 across the band 40 meters: less than 3.5:1 across the band 30 meters: less than 1.5:1 20 meters: between 2.1 and 1.1 17 meters: between 2.5 and 2.1 15 meters: between 1.7 and 1.5 12 meters: 1.7 across the band 10 meters: less than 1.7 across the band The above measurements were made with a Rigexpert AA-54. After tweeking the radials, spreading them out more and adding a few more longer radials I used K3-EZ software to sweep each band and got very similar results. My goal was to get access to 160 which I achieved along with access to all of the WARC bands as a bonus. I should mention that I am using the 5kw version to allow for the added stress of a higher than desired SWR and an amplifier on occasion. The BalunDesigns.com website has the article linked from this page: http://www.balundesigns.com/servlet/the-106/9-cln-1-9-dsh-1-unun/Detail I have no interest in the company, etc. Etc. Bill, VA3OL ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
