[Elecraft] The Truth

[Vic Rosenthal]

"Jerry W. O'Dell" wrote:
> 
> It don't make no never mind whether you have a confounded balun
> in your line. I have used wires, folded dipoles, quads, dipoles, loops,
> even an Isopole or whatever it is. They all worked about the same.

There are situations in which a balun is useful.  For example, a dipole in which
the coax runs through a noisy area (like near a computer).  A balun will tend to
prevent noise currents picked up on the outside of the coax from flowing back
up  to the antenna and thence to the receiver.  If you have a directional
antenna like a yagi, you will get a degraded pattern unless you use a balun. 
Finally, a dipole (e.g.) with some combinations of frequency and feedline length
and no balun will cause your equipment to become 'hot' with RF, causing various
problems.  However, you are right in saying that it's unlikely that adding a
balun will improve your signal reports.

> The principal problem with a balun is that it costs $25 or so, which
> could be better spent on beer, much better on women, etc. etc.

Unlike baluns, I can't imagine a situation in which a $25 woman would be a good
investment.

73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA