[Elecraft] KX1: requesting recommended wire antenna lengths advice

[Sandy]

Don:

I have done almost the same thing here on portable outings.  I use a 33' 
MFJ telescopic fibreglass pole.  (What holds your up?
  I use a 4 prong hand cultivator with a 3' shaft.  Hold pole on shaft 
with a couple of bungee cords.  I'd like to scrounge the
arrangement you use for the homebrewed 4:1/1:1 balun.)  Otherwise I opt 
for the Buddipole at 9 feet as a dipole or a vertical
with two drooping radial wires.   I have also used very frequently the 
33' single wire vertical and a Electraft T1 tuner.  (The T1
is sometimes cranky to get to tune.)  Never thought about using the dual 
22 guage teflon wire as a twisted pair balanced line!
Just using a vertical wire I frequently use a single radial, the length 
varying depending on the band.

ALWAYS a problem is 80-30 meters.  Usually done with a pair of drooping 
radials and a vertical radiator consisting of 4 "Antenna arms"
(88" total) and a single 9.5 foot telescopic whip above the antenna 
arms.  One Buddipole loading coil at base of vertical /antenna arms
combination tuned for resonance.  In many instances the trees, etc. for 
Inverted V dipoles 2' fibreglass "driveway marker rods" 2 feet long.
I will try the teflon twisted pair feeder.  Never thought of that. I 
have some old 75 ohm receiving twin lead, good for that sort of thing,
but it is too oxidized to consider it reliable in the field!

I try to avoid the loading coils in the dipoles except for the higher 
bands.  Although the Buddipole works well as a dipole at 9 feet up
sometimes the vertical whip is better on 20 meters.  As I said, ALWAYS a 
problem at 80-30 meters to play with verticals with whips.

Good tips.  All of that can be a big guess without the trusty MFJ analyzer!

73,

Sandy Blaize W5TVW


On 4/19/2015 6:58 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> My best field antenna consists of a 32 ft. heavy duty push-up 
> telescoping fiberglass pole which supports an inverted vee with 
> radiator legs 22 feet long (of #22 teflon insulated wire).  The feeder 
> is twisted pair #22 teflon insulated wire (parallel feedline) 25 feet 
> long.
> That feedline terminates into a balun which is switchable between a 
> 1:1 and a 4:1 ratio (a smaller homebrew version of the Elecraft BL2).  
> I carry a 25 foot length of coax to connect from the balun to the 
> transceiver.
> That antenna loads and works well for 40 through 10 meters - I switch 
> the balun from the 1:1 to the 4:1 position depending on the band in 
> use and the best match.
>
> I also carry two additional lengths of #22 teflon insulated wire which 
> I clip onto the ends of the radiator to extend the length if I want to 
> operate on 80 meters.
>
> That is my portable antenna, and it works well for me.  I prefer 
> balanced antennas when I can use them.  It is not 'backpack' eligible 
> because of the 32 foot pole, but then I am not doing any backpacking 
> these days.
>
> I can put my antenna up in several configurations.  If I have a 
> support for one end, I can set the antenna up as a dipole.  If I only 
> have the fiberglass pole, I support the center of the dipole at the 
> top of the pole and use it as an inverted VEE (the most desirable and 
> common configuration).  In cases where I do not have much horizontal 
> real estate to work with, I set it up as a vertical - the end of one 
> radiator wire is tied to the pole and the other radiator wire is used 
> as a 'radial' - 10 feet of it comes down the pole (the feedline is 10 
> feet above the ground), and the remainder of the 'radial' is hung on 
> nearby shrubs and bushes in the best manner possible.
> So, three antennas in one - depending on the terrain and other 
> available supports.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
>
> On 4/19/2015 7:31 PM, J wrote:
>> I'd also like to try a doublet of 60 to 88 feet; fed with a parallel
>> feedline of made the same "stealth" wire as the antenna (no heavy ladder
>> lines).  The doublet would be more cumbersome (requiring one central 
>> support
>> or else supports at each end).  The antenna plus feeder length would be
>> chosen to provide a relatively tame feedpoint impedance and reactance 
>> on the
>> three bands; 40/30/20M.
>>
>> More research is needed on end- and center-fed (no coax) wire antenna
>> lengths for the KX1   (and the KX3)
>>
>>
>
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