bpnjensen wrote:
On May 24, 8:00 am, "Mark S. Holden" wrote:

I have a 65' random wire located about 225 feet from my house with a 9:1
matching transformer at the antenna end, and roughly 300 feet of coax
running underground (in plastic conduit) between the antenna and the
house and then up and over across my attic before coming down the wall
where my radio is. There's a ground at the matching transformer, and
one at the house. I've got ferrites at each end too.

It's a wonderful antenna. My noise floor is incredibly low.

A concern I have with the antenna you're proposing is you're bringing
the antenna back to the house - where all the electrical noise you're
looking to avoid is located.

Your radio really doesn't need a big antenna. Design yours so you keep
the antenna as far from your house (and your neighbors homes) as
possible. 15-20 feet is probably plenty for that radio.

RFI strength goes down by a square of the distance. Put your antenna
twice as far away and you get 1/4 of the noise signal. Three times as
far away and you get 1/9 of the noise signal.

Something to consider is if you're even thinking about getting your ham
ticket some day, it's worth spending the money up front to use low loss
coax or heliax. My antenna is useless for tx, and digging up all that
pipe to replace my coax just isn't an attractive option.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dang! I'd give my right arm for that much space to erect an antenna.

It doesn't suck.

Before I had this one, my signal to noise level was a problem, even when
I did the horizontal loop.

But I really wish I'd used heliax.