RadioBanter - Vertical longwire? Antenna recommendation?

Elden Fenison wrote:
* Brian Kelly [07/17/2005 22:19 UTC]:
Yeah, $140 difference. Question about that though... wouldn't the
AH-4 be a better choice for another reason? That reason being that
the AH-4 is designed to connect to the wire directly at the feed
point, whereas the MFJ is apparently designed for in-shack use.

Yes and no, it's a matter of several tradeoffs Elden. Right now I'm up
to ears in alligators so QRX and I'll get back to you late Monday with
some comments.

Ok Brian. I appreciate the advice you've given. I do understand that
there sometimes is disagreement between hams regarding certain things,
like having a portion of a radiating element in the shack.

Yeah, everybody has different opinions and experiences with this topic.
Personally I've never had a problem in the shack with wires that I
didn't also have when using a coax-fed antenna which is located
anywhere near the shack. Maybe I'll get a dose of it eventually and
have to eat my words.

Personally, I think I'd opt for an outdoor-mounted AH-4 for reasons of
efficency, convenience, and safety. But it is nice to know that other
options exist. So right now, my preferred solution is an ICOM IC-718,
with an AH-4 and a longwire. I think that should work nicely.

You made the tradeoffs and there ya go. Sure it'll work.

After surveying the new apartment location a little more closely, looks
like I could run a horizontal longwire, roughly parallel to the ground
for 100ft into a tree with some sort of insulator on the end. Then I
would do the "in apartment" counterpoise/RF ground. This would probably
be about 20/30ft off the ground... second floor height.

I dunno . . I'd expect a wire strung vertically as far as possible up
into that 100 ft tree to work a *whole* lot better than a low
horizontal wire even if the vertical is shorter.

Keep in mind that trees move around and the wire will be tensioned or
droop when the wind is up. I've had a couple wires break and I've also
had one dipole drop because the rope running from the end of the
antenna to ground level wore thru. Another discussion.

Regarding your explanation for getting various wires from indoor to
outdoor, I've taken the exact same approach. Using a thin 2x2 in the
window with cables running in through an opening in it. Seems to work ok
and no permanent holes in the structure.

You're set. Good luck.

-=Elden=-
http://www.moondog.org

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