Not to turn this into a G5RV "it's wonderful" session but I had one 
45 feet up at the center, configured as an inverted "V" and it was a 
wonderful antennna.  France and Australia on 40 with 100 watts.  My 
next location it was a bum installation and the antenna never did 
particularly well.  And now I have the W5GI Mystery Antenna, a 
modified G5RV at 35 or so feet and I am very well pleased with its performance.
So Tom, you could do a whole lot worse if you can get up in the air a bit.
Good luck.
Pat, K9JAUAt 05:58 AM 7/2/2012, you wrote:
>     Colin:
>
>This is very encouraging, and I appreciate what you have shared here.
>
>I need to leave on an obligatory family visitation trip to the east coast
>next Tuesday, the tenth, but between now and then, I may try to get some
>visual help to see if we could get my G5RV up out at the camp site.  It's a
>matter of where the trees are, in relation to where our RV is, and I'm just
>not sure of the details.  Perhaps I can work something out with the camp
>site manager to put one or both of the ends in trees located on adjacent
>camp sites.
>
>I really have liked the screw-driver antenna, but it's just not very
>workable for me now, especially since I don't have the Turbo-tuner to
>accurately tune it with.
>
>I'll keep everyone posted, and welcome any thoughts others may have.  My
>goal is  to get back on HF out at the camp site as soon as possible.
>
>73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "colin McDonald" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 6:05 AM
>Subject: Re: End Fed Zep Antenna
>
>
> > tom:
> > I have limited experience with the G5RV, but I'll offer what I have
> > observed
> > and experienced.
> > A few weekends ago, we went for an anual ham picnic south of here.
> > One of the guys there set up a G5RV, one of the original ones built by the
> > holder of the callsign G5RV from the UK.  It was old, but he strung it up
> > about 10 feet off the ground, and layed the latter line down and hooked up
> > a
> > piece of coax directly to the latter line.
> > He worked 40 meters out to 800 miles without any kind of difficulty using
> > 100 watts.  Conditions weren't anything special, barely average if
> > anything.
> > It also performed on 80 as well as could be expected with 100 watts and 10
> > feet off the ground.
> > My point here is that from my fairly limited experience, I think the G5RV
> > can be deployed in very limited situations and will perform fairly well.
> > It appears to be a very forgiving antenna.  Obviously not the best antenna
> > you could possibly throw up, but a great performer and able to get you on
> > most bands with a regular auto tuner.
> > My group just built a G5RV style antenna from information gleened from the
> > net.  30.6 feet of 450 ohm latter line, hooked to two pieces of wire 51 FT
> > long, and fed directly with 50 ohm coax.
> > Using an LDG z100 pro (I think perhaps z11?), it tuned up on all ham bands
> > from 80 through 10 and worked reasonably well.
> > We had ours at 30FT at the center, and down to 20Ft and 15FT on the ends.
> > I'm not all that sure it worked any better than the guy next to us using
> > the
> > original G5RV 10 feet off the ground.
> > Of course, having that 102 feet of linear space is going to be the
> > difficult
> > bit.
> > But, with an end fed zep, your still goign to need at least 66 feet of
> > linear space if you want to work 40M and up.
> > Not to mention the 33 feet of latter line which should be in free space
> > for
> > the best results.
> >
> > 73
> > Colin, V A6BKx
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 8:23 PM
> > Subject: Re: End Fed Zep Antenna
> >
> >
> >>        Mike:
> >>
> >> I actually have a 102-foot G5RV, just sitting here doing nothing, but my
> >> concerns in using it are as follows:
> >>
> >> 1.  I don't have 102 feet of space to work with, and
> >>
> >> 2.  I don't think I could get it high enough to work well, especially on
> >> 40
> >> meters.
> >>
> >> If you have other suggestions for easy-to-deploy wire antennas, feel free
> >> to
> >> send them my way.
> >>
> >> I'm looking for something to cover 40 through 10, and 80 through 10 if at
> >> all possible, although I realize that is a very tall order.
> >>
> >> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Mike Duke, K5XU" <[log in to unmask]>
> >> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >> Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 10:16 PM
> >> Subject: Re: End Fed Zep Antenna
> >>
> >>
> >>> Tom,
> >>>
> >>> I ran one on 80 meters for several years.
> >>>
> >>> They work, but the internal automatic tuners are not likely to be able
> >>> to handle them.
> >>> For those who do not know what this antenna is, it is a half wave
> >>> length of wire at the lowest frequency you wish to work. As the name
> >>> implies, it is fed at one end by connecting one side of a piece of
> >>> open wire line or more likely now days, 450 ohm window line to the end
> >>> of the half wave length of wire. The other wire in the window line is
> >>> left un-terminated at the antenna end, but connected to the ground
> >>> terminal, or to the other side of the balun of the antenna tuner. This
> >>> un-used conductor basically works much like a counterpoise, and thus
> >>> becomes more or less the second half of the antenna.
> >>>
> >>> The advantages of the end fed Zep are that it will tune on several
> >>> bands above the design frequency. Also because it is end fed, it is
> >>> often much easier to keep all or most of it hidden from the antenna
> >>> police.
> >>>
> >>> One disadvantage is that it tends to be a little less efficient than a
> >>> center fed, although it certainly works well enough if you can get it
> >>> tuned.
> >>>
> >>> The biggest disadvantage, however, is that matching the end fed zep is
> >>> very tricky.
> >>>
> >>> The matching problem occurs because the antenna is fed at the end of a
> >>> half wave. This means the impedance is extremely high. Also, because
> >>> it is fed at a high rf voltage point, rather than at the high current
> >>> point in the center, not all tuners will handle the high voltage, even
> >>> at the 100 watt power level.
> >>>
> >>> The one I ran was cut for 80 meters. It would tune fine on 40, 20, and
> >>> parts of 10 meters, but not well anywhere else.
> >>>
> >>> There are some end fed zeps on the market that have a matching network
> >>> for one specific band, and that match the antenna directly to coax.
> >>> There is also at least one out there that claims to work on 40, 20,
> >>> and 10 meters.
> >>>
> >>> We were trying to use that multi band model for our GOTA station at
> >>> field day last weekend. However, when we changed to a G5RV Junior, it
> >>> blew the end fed right off the planet on both 40 and 20 meters.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
> >>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >>> Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 4:18 PM
> >>> Subject: End Fed Zep Antenna
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Hi, all.
> >>>
> >>> As many of you know, I have been struggling with the Predator
> >>> screw-driver
> >>> antenna on my 31-foot Holiday Rambler RV, ever since my N2VZ
> >>> Turbo-tuner
> >>> became non-functional back about a year ago.
> >>>
> >>> The Turbo-tuner issue is another story for another day, but suffice it
> >>> to
> >>> say that, due to the fact that N2VZ won't honor is "Lifetime
> >>> Warranty", it
> >>> is now not a viable option for me.
> >>>
> >>> Anyway, in the interest of moving on, and pursuing other
> >>> possibilities, I am
> >>> wondering if something like an end-fed zep antenna might be an
> >>> easily-deployable HF antenna for the RV.  There is not much room in
> >>> our RV
> >>> spot for a traditional half-wave dipole, or even an antenna like the
> >>> Alpha
> >>> Delta DXCC, but I thought an end-fed zep might be fun to try.
> >>>
> >>> Does anyone have experience with these?
> >>>
> >>> How much wire  would I need to get up and running, say on 40 through
> >>> 10
> >>> meters?
> >>>
> >>> How easy or dificult would it be to make one?
> >>>
> >>> I think I could run the antenna from the RV to a tree on the other end
> >>> of
> >>> our RV lot, if that would help.
> >>>
> >>> Just exploring options here.
> >>>
> >>> With the North American QSO Party CW contest coming up in early
> >>> August, I'd
> >>> like to have something up and running from the RV by that time, even
> >>> if it
> >>> is temporary.
> >>>
> >>> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
> >>>
> >