Raising a 40m dipole
My current antenna is a modified Van Gordon "All Bander".
For reference, the stock antenna is 134' of 14g stranded
bare copper fed with 100' of 450 ohm ladder line. I cut off
half of the ladder line and replaced it with a 12 turn, 5-1/4"
rg58 coil. 20 feet of rg58 goes from the coil into the shack.
I then trimmed the antenna to 7.175 mhz.
The antenna is a flat dipole up 20'. Seems to work OK but
I've got the itch to improve it. The feed point is 12" above
the peak of my roof. I was thinking about installing a 5' tripod
and 2 ten foot masts to elevate the antenna's feed point and
convert it into an inverted V. There will be no need to add to
the feedline.
Ok - now you know the facts - here are the questions:
1) A friend recommended I elevate the feedpoint only to 32'
because (he says) it'll work better at a multiple of a 1/4
wavelength. Is this true?
2) What can I expect in performance improvement at either
32' or 40' off the ground? The house is all wood construction
with an asphalt shingle roof.
Thanks for the help, guys!
--
Just my 2¢... 73 es gd dx de Ken KGØWX
Grid EM17ip, Flying Pigs #-1055
Proud builder & owner of Elecraft K2 #4913
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