[600MRG] Off topic...sort of...

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

OK, Gang, I finally managed to get my "new" HF antenna installed last week with the help of 
two of the locals.

Here are some details: it is a Vee-Beam, with legs 120 feet long, but "swung" 90 degrees 
with the end of one leg way up in our 110 foot tall pine tree in the back yard, and the end of 
the other leg at ground level below the "upper" leg.

I am feeding it with 600 ohm open-wire-line, and, for obvious reasons, the current in the legs 
is not balanced. I am getting a lot of radiation from the feed-line.

I am going to build Lloyd Butler VK5BR's Transmission Line Balance Test Meter to see just 
how bad the imbalance is, and I hope I can correct this some way. Lloyd's meter is 
essentially two RF ammeters in one box with a way to switch between the two legs.

Have I given you enough information for you to suggest some way to balance the feed?

I am "tuning" this with my Heathkit 2060A antenna coupler with integral balun, and am able 
to achieve a 1:1 SWR on any frequency I care to tune it to, but I do have at least two true 
balanced-couplers, one of which is a Johnson matchbox. From my previous experience with 
my home-made balanced coupler, I think I can offset the connections to the coil so that I can 
achieve true balance, but will value any suggestions you can make to help this situation.

Ken W7EKB

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