[Elecraft] RE: "G5RV" antennas

[Sandy, W5TVW]

    Have been looking at some of the discussion on the "G5RV", whether or
not
to use a "balun", whether or not to use ladder-line to the rig etc.
    If you can find a copy of Walt Maxwell's "Reflections", it debunks the
old
"SWR Myth" and sheds a lot of light on feeding antennas, especially dipoles.
Whether the "driven element" is resonant or not.
    Having played with many different antennas over my 50+ years in radio,
One of the most effective, for its simplicity, has to be the horizontal
dipole, fed with some form of high impedance balanced line.  (Open wire,
ladder line, 300 ohm "TV twin lead", etc.)  The only big minus is that it
requires some form of L/C matching device ("L" or "T" network or
link coupled fed tuned circuit) AND the "tuner" settings will go
bonkers in wet weather.
    I do frown upon the toroid "current balun" when used on high power
(100w. to 1000 watts) situations.  Some VERY strange things can happen and
if feeder length is a "critical" one, lots of power can be lost in the
toroidal
balun!  QRP is usually no problem as it's pretty hard to arc/flash over or
overheat
a balun at 5-10 watts max!
    Getting the balanced feeder into the shack can be, at times, a difficult
task,
where a simple drilled hold suffices for coax cable.  The loss in coax
feeders
can be enormous, especially with high VSWR.  For all practical purposes,
balanced lines generally "don't care" what the VSWR is on them, and
matching networks between the feeder and the transmitter can keep
that item happy!
    73,
Sandy W5TVW