HF Antenna

[1 ADAM 12]

I need help with my HF antenna. I have installed a copper HF wire antenna for 80-10 meters. The antenna is positioned as an inverted V. The copper wire is approximately 102 feet long. I am not currently using any antenna tuner or balun. My swr is not below a 2.0 from 80 meters to 10 meters. Which would be a better choice to solve the swr; a balun or an antenna tuner? If I need a balun, which do I get; 4:1 or something else? If an antenna tuner is needed, what brand/type do you guys recommend?

[MDYoungblood]

So each length is 51ft. How high up is the center feedpoint? You could try running ladder line from the feedpoint to the ground and then use a balun to match the unbalanced "ladder line" feed to a balanced "50 ohm coax" feed. That length should be close for 40m, might even get 20m but way too long for the higher bands. I am planning a loop this spring, four sided square at 48ft each, ladder line from the feedpoint to the ground and add a balun with coax to the radios.
Right now I have a LDG AT 600 ProII as my tuner, I like it a lot but if I want to run any power I want to get a Palstar HF 1.5Kw Automatic Antenna Tuner.

3's

Greg

[1 ADAM 12]

The center feedpoint is approximately 33 feet high. I will give the ladder line a try. I am not planning on running over 100 watts (maximum radio output) through the antenna. Thanks

[Deleted User 14541]

When you said 102 ft the first thought that came to mind was that you built a G5RV antenna. Which is a great 20 meter antenna but doesn't perform well on all bands 10 through 80. Just because you can get a match with a tuner doesn't mean it will transmit very well.

If you're after a simple multi band dipole look into ZS6BKW. If will cover more bands more efficiently than a g5rv but still isn't going to do well on all bands. The open feedline (ladder line, twin lead or whatever) acts as a matching device with these antennas and the length is critical.

I made mine a little long and trimmed it for lowest swr on the bands I wanted to use. I did this with an mfj before I connected the coax. Every installation is different. The legs end up at different angles and sometimes make other turns if you have limited space. If you buy a premade antenna and just hang it up it may not work as well as it could. My wire antenna can be used on 40, 20 and 12 without a tuner. With a tuner it works on 75 and 15.

The idea is to have a reasonable swr where the coax meets the open feedline so coax loss is kept to a minimum. Even with a tuner there will be high swr on the feedline. Under high swr conditions coax is extremely lossy and open feedline is not. For the above antennas you will want a 1:1 current balun where the coax meets the open feedline to keep RF off the coax shield and out of the shack.

If you don't want to use open feedline and operate on more than 1 band you can build a fan dipole to cover a few bands. You can also use an auto tuner at the antenna or use an antenna with traps. If you want to run open feedline all the way into the shack you can have an all band doublet. The issue with that is there aren't many good balanced tuners on the market. You'd be better off to build your own. This is on my to do list, I understand it works very well but can be a pain to get set up.

[Punkin Head]

Another option is to build a fan dipole. It uses a single feedpoint and you attach legs for the bands you want to work. When you transmit the RF will take the path of least resistance and use the legs that are resonant. I have used these with success in the past.

[Russ]

another great Dipole antenna that I have used with great success is the 11 meter RADIO WAVZ DOUBLE BAZOOKA ANTENNA...very low swr and can handle power...quiet receive as well.

[Deleted User 14541]

Building a balanced tuner was the best thing I ever did. Make the doublet as long as your space allows and enjoy. Sell the cheesy balun for beer money.

-- Sunday, 20 November 2016, 20:47 PM --

The g5rv/zs6bkw will get you on the air but chopping off the coax and using a true balanced tuner will make it work so much better