"Howard" wrote
"Reg Edwards" wrote:
The supposed 600-ohm Zo of a random length of wire has very little to
do with it.
===============================
Depending on length, height and wire diameter, Zo can vary between 450
and
650 ohms or thereabouts. What's yours?
Then what balun ratio would the guru's and old wives recommend? And to
confuse even further, receivers can have an input impedance anywhere
between
50 and 1000 ohms.
Some tuned receivers have an indeterminate input impedance. Who needs a
balun?
----
Reg , G4FGQ
Well Reg need and want are two different things. Perhaps my inverted
L didn't 'need' a balun, however after installing an ICE-182A
DC-Isolated matching transformer (balun if you will) I had a
noticeable reduction in noise. The difference is real and as a result
I have a better S/N ratio that makes listening less fatiguing. Now
here's the $64,000 question ........"Was the difference due to
impedance matching, the DC isolation or did a previously un-noticed
loose ground get fixed when I put the ICE unit in-line?"
Howard
You know Howard, it's mostly amateur radio operators who have read too much
and worked too little that make statements like "a balun for receiving is
just for the balun makers benefit". These hams have little idea how
hobbyists who have special interest in DX, especially utility, and have
tried and tested numerous receiver antenna systems over the years. As I said
earlier I too use ICE equipment on one receive-only antenna. I could care
less what a stuffed-shirt thinks that does for my receive ability, as I used
it first as a hobbyist and then professionally. It certainly does improves
my digital and analog signal reception. I have that Ice box impedance set to
favor the lower bands on the wire and it at times outperforms a matched
dipole in reception. The compromise is that I lose usefulness of that wire
much above 6 mhz,which is ok as it does it required job superfluously. Now
the 4:1 current-type balun use on another wire-set antenna provides quiet
listening as well as excellent transmit abilities from 2182 Khz through
11000 Khz. And of course I use a 1:1 current-balun on a long dipole. Would I
"have" to? Of course not. Does it improve the antennas abilities in
listening as well as transmit? You bet it does. Do what works for you and
God help anyone who argues with that.
Jack Painter
Virginia Beach VA
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