Merlin-7 KI4ILB ha escrito:

I have 2 wire antennas that I am thinking about putting up..

#1 A long wire with the shield of the coax grounded to the tower at the feed
point with the center of the coax connected to a long wire cut for mid band
on 160.

#2 a normal dipole cut for mid band 160.

What are the pros and cons of each?

Max output is 100 watts
MFJ deluxe versa tuner II
Coax fed
Air wound choke ...possible or if needed..
I do have an antenna analyzer for tuneing.

Joe
KI4ILB
solar powered ham radio 24/7

About "end fed" or "center fed" 160m halve wave antenna.

I assume that you will have a halve wave for both options and it is a
single band antenna.

The halve wave dipole will probably work well. I would insert a current
mode balun (based on low frequency ferrite), to reduce common mode
current. The VSWR will be that low, that after tuning in the shack the
cable loss will be negligible.

I have doubts about the end fed option. The halve wave end fed wire
will show a VSWR of about 30..40 to your coaxial cable (impedance in
the kOhms range). Of course you can correct this with the tuner in
shack, but I believe, depending on the cable length, most power will be
lost as heat in the cable.

If you still prefer this option, you may do part of the tuning at the
mast. You could build, for example a 50 Ohms to 1 kOhm transformer.
This will not give perfect match, but the VSWR will be in a range that
it can be tuned inside the shack without significant cable loss.

I would not reduce the length of the end fed wire to a quarter wave
(gives better match), because of high ground current (with associated
loss).

I hope this will help you making the best choice.

Wim
PA3DJS