.. damn mac the wire i have was dirt cheap. now if my mac would let me edit what i typed whaps it so it behaves
73 kb7lawell if it were up to me and you do not care if it looks nice to non hams I'd build my own. I used an antenna at jota andfield day that was awesome. it consided of a roll of chicken wire folded in half and alumanium angle stock and some wire basically you make one side a quarter wave n 160 and the ther side a quarter wave on 80 and feed it with open wire. it will handle more than you can leally transmit and has gain n any hf band above 160. when i used that antenna I recieed 20 over reports on 80 ssb in the middle of the day up in new york state and other places. they couldn't believe i was in Raleigh talking to them, a bunch of locals. the antenna is very broadbanded and works easily with even a built in tuner on a rig. I would definately not buy a wire antenna you can build a regular wire dipole or off center fed, which is basically what a carolina windom is, for almost nothing. the "bat catcher" i described earlier osts more,but if I had room I'd have it in my yard. here I have a siple 135 ft off center fed dipole fed 25 ft from one end with 450 ohm ladder line and am very pleased if I can hear a station I can work them on 80 and up, it works 160 butnt well, oviously too short for that band to be truly effective, but i do about as well as most compromise antennas on that band, and the wire I
On Jul 18, 2010, at 3:27 PM, tom behler wrote:
> Hi, all.
>
> Well, I have been bending the ear of Kevin (K7RX) off list on this topic,
> and thought I'd seek input from others here on the list about an antenna
> dilemma I'm having when considering the best HF antenna arrangements for the
> Michigan house.
>
> Here's what I'm thinking, in general, but I need some help with specifics.
>
> When I moved to Colorado last July, I donated my tower, triband, beam, etc.,
> to an EOC one county to my north, so I will be without a tower. In
> considering various options, I feel that my best arrangement for HF would be
> wire antennas of some sort. Keep in mind that I need antennas that will
> accommodate 600 or 700 watts, due to my recently-purchased Ameritron AL811H
> amplifier.
>
> I do not necessarily have a problem with room on the Michigan property,
> although coming up with adequate antenna supports might be a slight issue,
> though ultimately solvable.
>
> What I'm thinking is this: I'd like to have two dipoles, arranged
> perpendicular to each other, so as to cover as many directions as possible.
> My TS480, and my Tentec 238A manual tuner both have antenna switching
> capability, so switching between antennas will not be a problem.
>
> One of the dipoles that I'll use, of course, will be my trusty Alpha Delta
> DXCC, which I had up here in Colorado, and used regularly for the
> Cross-country blind ops net.
>
> I am trying to decide what to do for the other wire antenna. I thought I
> had a line on a Carolina Windom, but that seems like it will not work now,
> since the ham who was going to work a deal with me has gone to Florida for
> an indefinite period of time. I could get another Alpha Delta DXCC, but
> would like to try something that might get me on 160 meters if possible.
>
> Some folks on this list have discussed the Cobra lite series of antennas,
> and I might consider that as a possibility. Do those antennas cover 160,
> and can they handle 600 or 700 watts?
>
> Also, I have a question about coax.
>
> In Colorado, I fed my Alpha Delta DXCC with RG8X coax, and didn't seem to
> have any adverse effects when running more power with the Ameritron amp.
> Some have told me that this is not a wise thing to do, and that I should
> consider bigger coax, like RG213.
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts on this question as well?
>
> I know this is a lot for one e-mail, so I appreciate everyone's patience in
> wading through it.
>
> I'd like to place an order soon for what I need, so the stuff will be
> available in Michigan, once we are back there for good next week at this
> time.
>
> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ, still in Colorado, but only for a few more days
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