= = = (Steve) wrote in message
= = = . com...
(RHF) wrote in message om...
= = = "Pierre Vachon" wrote in message
= = = ...

Hi there, I am trying to build a longwire antenna for use in the 20 meter
band to 70 meter band area. I was looking for advice on what materials to
use for the antenna and the lead in lines. I will hook it up to a Drake r8B
radio. What is the minimum height it has to be? Where to ground it?.
Actually, does it have to be grounded if the radio is grounded at the
outlet?


A year or so ago I had to come up with a replacement for an ageing
vertical antenna for my amateur radio station...After researching, I
decided to put up a full wave loop cut for 80 meters..Im going to
quote some sentences from this article, which you should check out:

http://www.bloomington.in.us/~wh2t/loop.html

"To determine the approximate length in feet of a Full Wave Loop
antenna use the formula 1005/Freq in Mhz = length in feet. For 160
meters a full wave loop antenna resonant at 1.9 Mhz would be about 529
feet long.

For the 75 meter band a full wave loop antenna resonant at 3.85 would
be about 261 feet long. A full wave for 3.9 Mhz = 257 Feet 8 inches. "

I happened to design mine for the 75/80 meter band.

"This type of antenna doesn't depend on an efficient ground system for
efficient performance. The impedance of a Full Wave Loop antenna is
theoretically in the vicinity of 100 ohms.

Connect one end of the wire to the coax center and Connect the coax
shield to the other end of the wire. Be sure and seal the end of the
coax against water. Form the wire in a loop and run it horizontally to
trees or whatever supports are handy. Be sure to insulate the wire
from the supports. "

Now, this antenna works great on receive and transmit on everything
from 75/80 meters and up (10-80) for transmit, the meager automatic
antenna tunner in me bloody kenwood ts450sat tunes it..amazing..and
the one band that sometimes gives me a bit of trouble is 15 meters,
where I have to use the external tuner..

And it hears really good everywhere my radio will go (general
coverage)...mine is only up an average of about 20 ft..

So, if you have the room I'd seriously consider a full wave loop..good
luck..

Steve
kb8viv

STEVE,

Check-Out the "SkyWire Loop Antennas" eGroup on YAHOO !
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SkyWires/

Dr. Ace [WH2T] is one of the Moderators of the eGroup.
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~wh2t/loop.html

A Critical requirement for a SkyWire Loop Antenna is "LAND" & Space.

SkyWire Loop Antenna Size per Square Side:
160 Meter Band = 529 Feet Loop = 132 Feet Side = "SPACE"
80 Meter Band = 268 Feet Loop = 67 Feet Side = 'Space'
40 Meter Band = 141 Feet Loop = 35 Feet Side = space
20 Meter Band = 71 Feet Loop = 18 Feet Side
10 Meter Band = 35 Feet Loop = 9 Feet Side

give me land lots of land to build antennas on, don't CCR me in ~ RHF
..