[Elecraft] KX3 with a random wire for 80 meters

[Don Wilhelm]

Don,

If your 135 foot radiator is center fed with either coax or parallel 
transmission line, it will work well on 80 meters.  If you use parallel 
transmission line, it can easily be tuned for other bands as well.

If you are thinking of feeding that 135 foot radiator from the end, in a 
word *don't*.  It will have a very high feed impedance and you are not 
likely to be able to match it with the KX3 tuner, and the Kenwood AT200 
tuner is not likely to match it either - the highest impedance that 
tuner will match is 500 ohms and an end fed halfwave antenna will have a 
feed impedance of about 4000 ohms.

The 84 foot radiator with a 17 foot counterpoise would be a better 
choice, but other lengths will work well too.

If you can manage it, use a balanced, center fed antenna, it is the 
easiest to deal with and will result in less RF-in-the-shack.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 8/24/2016 9:04 AM, k4ynd at comcast.net wrote:
> I am going to work the Ohio QSO party with QRP(I'm in VA)and would like to get on 80. I will be operating from the dining room table by the sliding glass door to the back yard. I'm thinking of either directly hooking a 84 ft and 17 ft counterpoise to the KX3 and running them outside, or using an AT200 Kenwood tuner with a 135 foot wire out into the back yard and a counterpoise hooked to ground of the AT200. What will work best for the KX3. ( I have the built in tuner)
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