[Elecraft] Checking antenna with dip meter

Wed May 8 00:48:01 2002

Ron     I am not sure about the dip meter but I use an swr meter to find the
proper tap on the coil.  A  20 foot vertical will be far short of a quarter
wave on 160 meters so the ground becomes very important.  I think you will
do much better using your 40 meter dipole as a vertical.  The twin lead is
the verticle element and the dipole is the top loading.  Top loading is more
efficient than base loading in most cases.  Just short both conductors of
the station end of the twin lead together and attach to tuner as a verticle.
You may not need a tuner if the electrical length of the antenna is less
than a quarter wave.  In that case, a coil should work.  This is the way I
started out on top band.  You will still need a good ground system.  I only
have room for 4 radials about 35 feet long.  Thats only a fair ground on
this band  but I make contacts all over US and Canada in the contest at 100
watts.  My dipole is about 50 feet high.  I think that my ground resistance
and my radition resistance are both about 20 ohms, therefor, my radiated
power is about half of my output power.     73    Rick   K7MW
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 2:11 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Checking antenna with dip meter


> I have been thinking of installing the 160 Meter option but my antenna is
a
> 40 meter doublet fed with twin lead matched with a ZM-2 balanced ATU.  In
Ed
> Noll's book "Easy-Up Antennas"  he outlines a 20 ft vertical quarter wave
> with a very large multi tapped inductor as a loading coil. Question: can I
> build a dip meter to measure which tap to pick on the large inductor.  The
> dip meter would be connected at the antenna feed point with a couple of
loops
> of wire.  I have seen plans for the dip meter at Farr circuits and the
ARRL
> handbook (old one) and by searching the net.  What do you think, will it
work?
>
> Thanks a lot for your comments,
> Ron Mariutto
> N8SZY
> [email protected]
>
>
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