[Elecraft] Four Band K1 and antenna

Mon May 27 21:21:01 2002

Ron,
If you are looking for simplicity without the need for a tuner, I would
suggest paralleled dipoles.  They can be strung up as either a horizontal
wire or as an inverted vee when only one support is available.

One caution -- I have had a variety of headaches with parallel dipoles
unless I provided a goodly amount of separation between the dipoles for each
band.  With the dipoles close together, I have found so much interaction
that cutting to the proper length is very difficult to nearly impossible
(the lowest band is no problem).
My favorite installation for parallel dipoles is to use entirely separate
wires for each dipole, and hang them as an inverted vee - and separate them
as best the environment will allow - for 3 dipoles, I would try to separate
each wire by 60 degrees.  Using the dipole wires as guy wires for a central
support pole works FB when there are no natural supports available.

If you are not really concerned about the pattern of radiation, I would
recommend no balun for portable operation, but a 1:1 balun at the feedpoint
of the dipoles works fine too.  I imagine that in a portable situation, your
choices for antenna orientation are dictated by the environment rather than
trying to place the max radiation in a particular place.  At QRP levels with
coax feed, the chances of having an "RF in the shack" problem are slim - I
have never experienced any problems, and I do not use a balun for my
portable antennas - it just makes them heavier.
73,
Don Wilhelm  - Wake Forest, NC   W3FPR home page: http://www.qsl.net/w3fpr/
  QRP-L # 485   K2  SN 0020   mailto: [email protected]

*** Life is what happens when you're making other plans -- Mike Cross  ***

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Polityka" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 27, 2002 3:42 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Four Band K1 and antenna

> Hi,
>
>  I have been working on my antenna for the K1 over this holiday weekend.
>
> Just wondering what kind of portable antenna anyone uses when they are out
> portable in the field.
>
> I have the bands of 40, 30, 20 & 15 meters. Looking at a doublet type
> antenna, no verticals.
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> 72
> Ron Polityka
> WB3AAL
> www.n3epa.org
>
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