[Antennas] baluns for qrp work.

[George, W5YR]

Depends upon the particular balun, Gary.

Technically, I would expect that they would work poorly if at all, since
they are designed to be used at frequencies from 50+ MHz (Ch. 2). That
means small cores aimed at VHF/UHF frequencies and few turns of small wire.
They are designed for 300 ohm to 75 ohm impedance levels.

A potential problem would be the high SWR that could result from multi-band
operation. This could result in larger currents/voltages than the unit can
stand, and the impedance levels encountered might compromise the operation
of the balun in its purpose of suppressing common-mode current on the outer
braid of the coax.

But, others have reported using them at QRP power levels with apparent
success. And at low power levels, a lot of things "work" that aren't
supposed to!

So, like most things in amateur radio, even when you understand the
limitations, it is often worth a try to see what "rally" happens!   <:}

72/73/oo, George W5YR - the Yellow Rose of Texas         
Fairview, TX 30 mi NE of Dallas in Collin county EM13qe   
Amateur Radio W5YR, in the 56th year and it just keeps getting better!
QRP-L 1373 NETXQRP 6 SOC 262 COG 8 FPQRP 404 TEN-X 11771
Icom IC-756PRO #02121  Kachina #91900556  IC-765 #02437

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Gary Lee wrote:
> 
> Would it be all right to use the 4/1 balun for tv reception to feed dipoles
> used strictly for qrp work?  Right now I have a "pixie II"  (two transistor
> kit about 300 mw).  Am also considering the cub.
> 
> Thinking of feeding the antenna with standard tv twinlead, going to rg58.