Hi.

This sounds like a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  I think that 
running the ladder line horizontally was a bad move.  It would have been 
better to figure out some method of standing the ladder line off from the 
tower, but keeping it vertical as the antenna is only supposed to use a 
vertical piece of ladder line.

Anyway, if it worked before, I'd be pretty tempted to put it back the way 
it was.

73, de Lou K2LKK



At 04:11 PM 12/20/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi, all.
>
>Well, I hope I'm among friends here, because I have what probably is a very
>elementary question about a G5RV HF antenna.
>
>I currently have a 102-foot G5RV antenna here at the home qth.  The center
>of the antenna is at the top of a 35-foot tower which contains my KLM
>tri-bander and a 6-meter vertical that is mounted on a "stand off" from the
>tower.
>
>I originally had the antenna so that the ladder-line vertically came down
>the tower from the centerpoint, and then was connected to a coax feedline
>that went into the shack.
>
>Earlier this Fall, someone suggested that my ladder line shouldn't be so
>close to the tower and vertical like that, and suggested that it be much
>further away from the tower.  So, he took the ladder line and basically made
>it run horizontally from the tower over to an anchor point on the house.
>
>Being that I was so busy with professional stuff this Fall semester, I never
>really tried the antenna, but now I'm noticing that, even though it seems to
>do well on 20 meters (SWR no more than 2.0 to 1 across the entire band), it
>won't tune at all on 40 or 80 meters.  The sWR's are either at least 8 to 1,
>or so high that my Remy Simared talking SWR meter won't even give a reading.
>
>I'll have my XYL do a visual on the antenna as soon as possible, but,
>barring any obvious mechanical problem with the antenna, could someone
>suggest what the problem might be?
>
>Is the horizontal configuration of the ladder line what likely is throwing
>things off so much here?
>
>I know this is probably a very elementary question, but it concerns me since
>my G5RV was always one of my best HF antennas, especially for 40 meters.
>
>73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ
>
>
>
>
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>12/20/2007 2:14 PM

Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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