Baluns..
 

I've been reading up on baluns, boy is there a lot of conflicting
information.

OK, so I read there's a voltage balun and a current balun, and
supposedly what I want for a quad antenna is a current balun.. anyone
have a favorite site that'll give me the clues to making one?

I saw one page, they showed a ring with a piece of coax wrapped in
different directions on each side of the ring.. is this ideal, or close
to it? I assume I want a ferrite ring big enough to get the coax
through, or can I use a plain iron or steel ring? This is going to be
for a sideband CB, I'll probably never run more power than the stock base..

What about the coax wrapped around a piece of PVC? is this worth the 20
or so feet of coax or just a waste?

The beginner has too much information with no clues as to what is good
and what isn't..

Thanks all,

John

John, Here is a really great site with plenty of info on quads. Good
luck. http://www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/

Kirk




JohnM wrote:
I've been reading up on baluns, boy is there a lot of conflicting
information.

OK, so I read there's a voltage balun and a current balun, and
supposedly what I want for a quad antenna is a current balun.. anyone
have a favorite site that'll give me the clues to making one?

I saw one page, they showed a ring with a piece of coax wrapped in
different directions on each side of the ring.. is this ideal, or close
to it? I assume I want a ferrite ring big enough to get the coax
through, or can I use a plain iron or steel ring? This is going to be
for a sideband CB, I'll probably never run more power than the stock base..

What about the coax wrapped around a piece of PVC? is this worth the 20
or so feet of coax or just a waste?

The beginner has too much information with no clues as to what is good
and what isn't..

Thanks all,

John

Kirk Hochburger wrote:
John, Here is a really great site with plenty of info on quads. Good
luck. http://www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/

Kirk


Great, thank you. I've got that site bookmarked, I don't remember much
if anything on baluns there though.

John

John:

This page gives a reasonable explanation of the differences between
voltage and current baluns--you will generally wish to use the current
balun. Voltage baluns count on the antenna being perfectly balanced to
function well--a situation not generally encountered in CB.

For example, a voltage balun could be used on a simple 1/2 wave dipole to
prevent transmission line currents from flowing--however, if one end of
the dipole is nearer a tree, drainpipe, ground, etc--it would serve to
unbalance the antenna (more or less depending on proximity to the object...

So, generally stick to using the current balun when using one in an
attempt to prevent transmission line currents, you will have much better
results over the voltage balun--generally...

John

On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:25:19 -0400, JohnM wrote:

I've been reading up on baluns, boy is there a lot of conflicting
information.

OK, so I read there's a voltage balun and a current balun, and
supposedly what I want for a quad antenna is a current balun.. anyone
have a favorite site that'll give me the clues to making one?

I saw one page, they showed a ring with a piece of coax wrapped in
different directions on each side of the ring.. is this ideal, or close
to it? I assume I want a ferrite ring big enough to get the coax
through, or can I use a plain iron or steel ring? This is going to be
for a sideband CB, I'll probably never run more power than the stock base..

What about the coax wrapped around a piece of PVC? is this worth the 20
or so feet of coax or just a waste?

The beginner has too much information with no clues as to what is good
and what isn't..

Thanks all,

John

John:

Sorry, forgot to include the URL explaining the differences:

http://home.tiscali.ch/hb9abx/currentbalun.htm

John

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 20:50:10 -0700, John Smith wrote:

John:

This page gives a reasonable explanation of the differences between
voltage and current baluns--you will generally wish to use the current
balun. Voltage baluns count on the antenna being perfectly balanced to
function well--a situation not generally encountered in CB.

For example, a voltage balun could be used on a simple 1/2 wave dipole to
prevent transmission line currents from flowing--however, if one end of
the dipole is nearer a tree, drainpipe, ground, etc--it would serve to
unbalance the antenna (more or less depending on proximity to the object...

So, generally stick to using the current balun when using one in an
attempt to prevent transmission line currents, you will have much better
results over the voltage balun--generally...

John

On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:25:19 -0400, JohnM wrote:

I've been reading up on baluns, boy is there a lot of conflicting
information.

OK, so I read there's a voltage balun and a current balun, and
supposedly what I want for a quad antenna is a current balun.. anyone
have a favorite site that'll give me the clues to making one?

I saw one page, they showed a ring with a piece of coax wrapped in
different directions on each side of the ring.. is this ideal, or close
to it? I assume I want a ferrite ring big enough to get the coax
through, or can I use a plain iron or steel ring? This is going to be
for a sideband CB, I'll probably never run more power than the stock base..

What about the coax wrapped around a piece of PVC? is this worth the 20
or so feet of coax or just a waste?

The beginner has too much information with no clues as to what is good
and what isn't..

Thanks all,

John