But yeah, the E/W orientation will work well for stations
that are north or south of you (like tropical band stuff),
but not so good for hearing things east or west of you
(like from Europe or Africa or -depending on where
you're at- relays like Sackville).

Unless the antenna is a approx. 1/2 wavelength up or higher ( at
tropical
band= 150' or so) the end nulls fill in making even horizontal
antennas
near
omni.

Guess my question is, how are you connecting the twin lead- if
simply
connecting it to the balun, you have little more than a 300 Ohm
transmission
line, not an antenna.
In fact, if the baluns were perfectly balanced, and the twin lead
clear of
metallic objects ( which would unbalance it) you would
theoretically
get
zero signal.
Dale W4OP



Hey Dale, thanks for jumping in.

Well, get the calculator out. The two freqs of interest to me are
9335
KHz
and 11710 KHz, so I am going to work with something between those
two
numbers (10 MHz). If I am correct, 10 Mhz has a wavelength of 30
meters,
which works out to about 98 feet. And I am working with 200 feet.
(Maybe I
should call this a long-wire antenna?) Question for you: what is an
end
null?

And yes, I simply connected the 300-ohm to the baluns to the coax,
to
another balun, and then a third that plugs into my external antenna
socket.
And I a definetly getting a signal. Whatcha think?

300 ohm to the baluns?, then to the coax, to another balun? then to a
third
balun?

I'm going hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

dxAce
Michigan
USA


And what are you thinking, while going hmmmmmmm... I don't have
your
experience.

Just wondering about the two other baluns. I can understand one, but not
the
other two.

I'm gonna let Dale handle this one!

Take it away, Dale!

dxAce
Michigan
USA

As above, If the baluns were perfect and the twin lead a fair distance
from unbalancing metal etc. you would get NO signal. The fact you are
getting some signal is due to the imperfect baluns. Get rid of the twin
lead- it's acting as a transmission line not an antenna. Or at the very
least connect both sides of the twin lead to one side of the balun and run a
ground wire (as short as possible) to the other side of the balun- instead
of the classic 9:1 balun, you'll have a 4:1 but it will work.

Dale W4OP

"Dale Parfitt" wrote in message
news:A1Rrd.17054$%C6.6646@trnddc02...

But yeah, the E/W orientation will work well for stations
that are north or south of you (like tropical band stuff),
but not so good for hearing things east or west of you
(like from Europe or Africa or -depending on where
you're at- relays like Sackville).

Unless the antenna is a approx. 1/2 wavelength up or higher (
at
tropical
band= 150' or so) the end nulls fill in making even horizontal
antennas
near
omni.

Guess my question is, how are you connecting the twin lead- if
simply
connecting it to the balun, you have little more than a 300 Ohm
transmission
line, not an antenna.
In fact, if the baluns were perfectly balanced, and the twin
lead
clear of
metallic objects ( which would unbalance it) you would
theoretically
get
zero signal.
Dale W4OP



Hey Dale, thanks for jumping in.

Well, get the calculator out. The two freqs of interest to me are
9335
KHz
and 11710 KHz, so I am going to work with something between those
two
numbers (10 MHz). If I am correct, 10 Mhz has a wavelength of 30
meters,
which works out to about 98 feet. And I am working with 200 feet.
(Maybe I
should call this a long-wire antenna?) Question for you: what is
an
end
null?

And yes, I simply connected the 300-ohm to the baluns to the coax,
to
another balun, and then a third that plugs into my external
antenna
socket.
And I a definetly getting a signal. Whatcha think?

300 ohm to the baluns?, then to the coax, to another balun? then to
a
third
balun?

I'm going hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

dxAce
Michigan
USA


And what are you thinking, while going hmmmmmmm... I don't have
your
experience.

Just wondering about the two other baluns. I can understand one, but not
the
other two.

I'm gonna let Dale handle this one!

Take it away, Dale!

dxAce
Michigan
USA

As above, If the baluns were perfect and the twin lead a fair distance
from unbalancing metal etc. you would get NO signal. The fact you are
getting some signal is due to the imperfect baluns. Get rid of the twin
lead- it's acting as a transmission line not an antenna. Or at the very
least connect both sides of the twin lead to one side of the balun and run
a
ground wire (as short as possible) to the other side of the balun- instead
of the classic 9:1 balun, you'll have a 4:1 but it will work.

Dale W4OP



Hey Dale, thanks for coming back. Sorry it took me so long to pick up
again.

I hate to be dense, but *what* is a transmission line, and how does it
differ from an antenna when hooked up to an antenna input of a portable
radio? And why would I get NO signal? I don't mean to be disbelieving, I
just don't understand. Where could I find more on these subjects? (ARRL
Antenna Handbook maybe? I've been wanting one of those, but it seems to
cover in exhaustive detail everything I don't seem to need.)

Thanks in advance.

Dave