On 6/16/2012 3:21 PM, W5DXP wrote:
On Saturday, June 16, 2012 2:48:21 PM UTC-5, NM5K wrote:
I guess that's why I'm such a coax fan... May not be good for multi-
band use with a single dipole, but for single or limited band use, very
hard to beat.

Here's one that will beat most RG-8x fed dipoles.

http://www.w5dxp.com/notuner.htm
--
73, Cecil, w5dxp

I use 213 though... Your method is about the only other one
I can think of that should be as good. On paper, slightly less
loss than the coax, but being I've never compared them side by
side, I couldn't say if your method is actually superior enough
to see a difference on a meter.. I've never tried your method of
feeding. The physical aspects are not too convenient for me most
of the time.
In the case of the ladder line/tuner vs coax, the difference was
small, but enough to notice a bit of difference on an S meter.
Of course, I'm using received signals to judge. Things should be
reciprocal, so I usually don't bother trying to do transmit tests
as I consider it less reliable than quick A/B comparisons and my
eyes on a meter.
Good ladder line is generally less loss than good coax, but on the
low bands, the loss per foot of good coax is pretty low.
I would think the advantage to your system would increase as you
rise in frequency. IE: at 50 Mhz, might be quite worthwhile.. Or if
long runs are involved. When I ran ATV on 70 cm, I preferred TV twin
lead over coax for the UHF TV antenna I used for receive.
It had less loss than coax to a 4:1 TV balun. As long as it was dry..
Wet? Nearly useless...