"dxAce" wrote in message
...


Michael Lawson wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
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HankG wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
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Michael Lawson wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
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-=jd=- wrote:

On Mon 29 Nov 2004 11:29:49a, dxAce

wrote in message :



Michael Lawson wrote:

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking of trying to use
the
top of my split rail fence to hold a 80' wire, so I
was
curious about your setup. Do you have a buried
coax leading to your shack??

Yes, both runs of coax are buried, leading into
Transi-trap
lightning protectors, then up to a two way anrenna
switch,
then to the Stridsburg multi-coupler, then to the
receivers.

dxAce
Michigan
USA




When you disconnect the coax (say, when a thunder
storm is
moving in), do you just disconnect from the switch or
do
you
disconnect outside?

The reason I ask is that when I had the 300' of wire,
it
seemed to be a fairly decent static-charge collector.
The
neon
in the static-bleeder would get a pretty decent
workout
from
time to time. It got to the point I kept the coax
disconnected
outside as the norm - connecting it only when I wanted
to
listen.

I can imagine with both of your wires, your
transi-traps
are
worth several times their weight in gold...

I just disconnect from the switch. Never had any
problems as
the
antennas
themselves are directly grounded at the feedpoint
through
the
transformers.

You're using your 10:1 transformer for the grounding?

Well, yes. There is no direct connection between the antenna
and
coaxial
cable.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Ace:

Are you using a tuner on that 200 footer?

No, no tuner. On that or the 70'.

I'm using an untuned, uncoupled,
directly connected 200 ft piece of wire which I'm thinking of
upgrading. I
currently use it mostly for LW and MW up to about 2Mhz. What
frequency
range do you use it for mostly?

I use them both for everything, however my system( including the
Stridsberg
multicoupler, which was modified by Stridsberg for me), and the
transformers
themselves are optimized for SW. I can bypass the Stridsberg and
go
direct to
the receiver(s), but still the transformers are wound for SW.

Other than orientation (your pic suggests 2 ants at right
angles)
is there
any advantage using two longwires of different lengths?

Yes, many times I can get better reception by switching between
the
two as
signals arrive from different directions. Additionally, the 200'
wire works well
on many SW frequencies arriving from a W or E direction.

BTW, how tall are your supports?

9'. They are, as I recall 4x4x12 treated wood, sunk 3' into the
ground.

I would second the need for a matching transformer,
it really does made a huge difference. I'd recommend
reading the articles by John Bryant at
http://www.dxing.info/equipment/ for more info.

Thanks for pointing out the dx'ing.info site again, I don't go there
very often
and I see that there is a more recent article there entitled "A
Second Look at
Fabricating Impedance Transformers for Receiving Antennas" An
interesting read
as I still use the FT-50-43 toroids and they seem to recommend
either the FT-82
or FT-114 in a type 75 mix.

They were testing primarily the low bands for the "second
look" paper, so I'd imagine that influenced their decision
to go with the J/75.

--Mike L.