Doug,

I think what is happening is that the end of feeder impedance is very LOW on
40 M. The center impedance of a full wave dipole is very high, but
transformed over the 1/4 wavelength line you are using as a feeder, it will
present a very low impedance to your tuner. Your losses are due to the high
currents present at a low feed point impedance. Add another 1/8 wave or
about 17 feet of feeder and try it again. The tuning will change on all the
other bands but generally, you can find a feeder length that will work on
all bands.

The other question is what type of tuner are you using and what is its
matching range? QST had an article on tuner efficiency and matching ranges
recently and if yours is one of the ones tested, you will find this article
very interesting. I always recommend the Johnson "Matchbox" as the best
commercially available tuner for open wire line.

73,
Chuck...K1KW

"Doug" wrote in message
...

I recently put up a 135 ft dipole with open wire (ladder line) feed.

It worls fine on all bands except for 40 mters. I'm only using around
35 feet of open wire line and the result is that the antenna presents
a very high impedance on 40 meters. I'm losing much of the power in
my tuner.

I need to lengthen the feed line but what to do with the excess
length?

Can I simply tie it up into a bundle, suspending it in air?
Wind it spirally around the tree that acts as a center support?
Any other suggestions?

tnx,

Doug