[Elecraft] Windom Antennas low cost way to make your own as well as IDEZ antenna

[Stuart Rohre]

Roy,
Do you have the full radial package on your Butternut vertical?

Central Tx where I also live, has very poor RF ground generally depending
where you are re IH 35 and the grassland prairie east of it.  West of it,
forget ground for RF helping!

Use elevated radials for best results, see the Force 12 antenna web site for
their DX pedition gull wing radials.

The good sig you heard from that Windom was one occasion, on one nite.  Can
he do that the next nite and the next?  No, probably not, different
propagation and it has been unstable such that signals are enhanced for
short times, then back down to normal the next day.  I would not spend a lot
of money on a commercial Windom, EVER.  If you want to try one, make it of
inexpensive no. 14 house conduit wire from Home Centers, and electric fence
plastic insulators for cheap experiment.  Use some TV twin lead to feed it
to your present tuner balun and see how it does.  If it does not load on all
bands, add 5 or 10 feet to feedline for that band.  Some length will load
every band.

You will have a lot of fun learning about how to mechanically make an
antenna, and it will be something to be proud of.

I make those IDEZ s for club Field Days from empty white vitamin bottles for
insulators, even the center one.   Just roll the ladder line or twin over
the center of bottle and tie it back to itself with nylon tie.  We hook up
to wire with wire nuts. Works great.  Easy to take apart to store the ladder
line on reels until the next year.
73,
Stuart K5kVH