N8KDV wrote:

-=jd=- wrote:

On 02 Jul 2003, N8KDV sneezed on the
keyboard, resulting in:

-=jd=- wrote:

...snip...
So I'm wondering if a balun is a waste of time on a random
wire for SWL only. At least, in the case of Joe Listener
just sticking a length of wire up - not in the case of big
beverages or some other "formal" (lack of a better word)
antenna rig...

Are you sure you have the balun/matching transformer wired
and connected properly?

I'm fairly confident that I do, but I can't say it is exact. I'd
like to examine a known good one before I would hazard claiming
I got it 100% right.

I know I have the leads absolutely correct, as per the design in
(http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/feed/9_
1balun.html).

The only question is in the wraps. They are done neatly and do
not overlap. It took me a few tries to get the wraps on like I
wanted - evenly spaced, no overlap, snug against the choke...
However, depending on how you count the wraps, I have either
(30)10) wraps -or- (30-1/2)10-1/2) wraps. I have no idea if
that would make a difference and would defer to the groups
advice.

Err... I also don't know if this makes any difference either,
but I used the square ferrite choke from Radio Shack, as I could
not find a round one anywhere locally.

Ah... therein may lie the problem... as much as people have argued with
me in the past about this, I can only say that all ferrite cores are not
created equal...

Not sure whether you've read this article or not:

http://members.aol.com/DXerCapeCod/z_transformers.pdf






I do appreciate the feedback!

Thanks,
JD