On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 14:55:25 -0400, "Fred W4JLE"
wrote:

Of Course you are, all horror stories aside.

Don't confuse the angels dancing on the pinheads around here with practical
world experiences. The best solution is to increase the length of your
dipole to 130 feet and feed it with 100 foot of 450 Ohm ladderline. Connect
a piece of coax with a ferrite bead choke to the 450 Ohm line. Your tuner
will love you and you can use all bands from 80 on up.

The electrical plug on your rig has losses that are about as meaningful real
world..


Thanks for the encouragement and antenna.

I have two dipoles up right now. One is a 20 meter mono-bander that
was setup specifically for 20 meters and to test a test design for a
PVC 'cobra head' (whatever the generic name).

The other is a piece made of junk that I put up using parts I already
had available. (#14 electrical wire, PVC insulators and TV Coax). It
started as a 20 meter dipole, I added 40 and then 80 meters. It
wasn't supposed to be anything but a temporary antenna until I made a
new one, but weather, timing and money won't cooperate with me. I
have patched and patched it. Ice tore down one leg this winter and
destroyed half the PVC insulators I was using for spacers. Yesterday I
rewired the PL-259, cut the connection to the wires and re-wired it
and cut off the 40 and 20 meter elements. It tunes and hears much
better now.


I have always wanted antennas that would cover all bands without a
tuner. This was practical as a novice when all I could work was 80,
40, 15, and 10 meters. Three parallel dipoles hanging from one
antenna feed worked well. When I advanced to General, I used two
parallel dipoles and an antenna switch. (CW: 80, 40-15, 20, &10; and
SSB: 75, 40, & 10).

Today, my idea isn't as practical as it was. I now have a rig that
covers 160-6 meters on one HF connector. That's eleven bands!!
That's a lot of parallel dipoles on a feed even with the bands split
up into two antennas.

I acquired an antenna tuner recently and it tunes very quickly. I
still don't like it, but I can operate anywhere from 160-6 meters on
it (not that I have heard anyone on 6 yet.)

I would like to build a portable antenna using 300 ohm TV- twin lead
for the feed for the tuner. Is there a recommended length and feed
point for all bands?

Thanks

Buck
N4PGW

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW