[Elecraft] wire antennas

[David Wilburn]

Yea, that is what has been keeping me away from 160m.  I have several on 
going projects, and I can't start one of that magnitude now.  Might have 
room for a dipole, so will just have to try that.  Once I order some 
ladder line.

David Wilburn
dave.wilburn at verizon.net



Don Wilhelm wrote:
> Dave,
> 
> As far as switching your loop to a 160 top loaded vertical, yes you can do
> it remotely with relays and a matching network.  If your goal is efficiency
> on 160 meters, the relay switching os only a small part of the equation -
> you must have a good RF ground for the vertical to work against, and that
> menas lots of wires in the ground, radiating from the base of the antenna.
> Some will tell you tht 120 radials will give optimum performance, but 16 or
> more will give great performance as well.  If the radials are buried, the
> length is not critical, lots of short buried radials will do almost as good
> as a moderate number of long ones - see the 160 meter antenna simulation
> results that are outlined on L B Cebik's website www.cebik.com.  More
> information on low band antennas can be found in ON4UN's Low Band DXing
> book - there are many possibilities.
> 
> For best results, put the 160 meter matching network at the base of the
> antenna and match it to your feedline.
> 
> Since there are many possibilities, make some decision even though it may be
> a compromise and you too can be successful on 'top-band'.
> 
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>> I am very much enjoying reading the discussions on wire antennas.  I
>> have something I have been trying to figure out how to do for some time,
>> and thought this might be a good place to ask.
>>
>> I have an 80m loop, up about 60 or 70 feet.  Currently it is fed with
>> 300 ohm line.  All I could find at the time, as what I had left in 450
>> ohm line (after I helped my elderly neighbor get his antenna back up,
>> and gave him some of the ladder line) was not long enough.
>> Additionally, I went to the local hamfest this weekend and could not
>> find a single vendor selling ladder line, but I digress.  I have
>> approximately 290 feet of wire in the air in a horizontal, triangular
>> configuration, fed with (soon to be) ladder line, a balun (1:1) and then
>> coax to the shack.  Is it possible to switch this (seems possible from
>> what I have read) to a 160m antenna by taking one side to ground at the
>> balun and feeding the other side?  If this is possible, is there a way
>> to do this remotely?
>>
>> David Wilburn
>> dave.wilburn at verizon.net
>> K4DGW
>>
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