[GCARC] Where should KC2IEB put HF wire antennas?

[Tony Starr]

Chris,

An end fed wire is good for backpacking and other light portable operation,
but the best wire antennas for fixed station use are the center-fed dipole
types, and there are many variations of those. Some of these will work on
all or most of the HF bands, such as the G5RV or ZS6BKW style of doublets.
With a good tuner, any doublet style antenna that is cut for the longest
band that you plan to operate will likely tune up on all or most of the
bands that are higher than that. In your case, a 90 foot wire (45 each side
of center) will tune up well on 60 meters, and should work well enough on
the bands above that in frequency. The two keys to this approach are
feeding the antenna with ladder line and using a tuner with a balun and
enough matching range to get you close to 50 ohms. I wrote a comprehensive
article on antenna tuners some time back that was published in Crosstalk,
but you can find it easily on our club website under The Elmer's Shack
section, along with lots of other useful articles of interest to the newer
operator.

As far as how to fit a wire antenna to your lot, I will share with you how
I fit a full size 80 meter dipole on my 80 x 115 foot lot. We are talking
about an antenna that is 130 feet long. It runs diagonally from from to
back, which is the only way it would fit. One high support in the center is
all that is needed. Mine happens to be a tower, but a telescopic pole, roof
tripod, or tree branch will work just as well. The rear support is a 2x4
that is lashed to a fencepost in the far corner of the back yard, and the
front support is a utility pole located near the curb on the opposite
corner of the property. A length of 1/8 dacron line tied to the pole
supports that end. It is tied high enough to be out of reach, but well
below any electric wires. The center feed line, which happens to be RG-8x
coax in my case, comes straight down and goes through the wall into the
shack.  I actually have a second dipole, cut for 40 meters, attached to the
same feed point. With the wires arranged at right angles, there is no
interaction between bands. This antenna also works well on 15 meters, as a
bonus. A few years ago, I made a 40/20 meter version of this antenna for
Field Day, when I was operating a solo effort. It also worked well on 15m.

Always remember this, there is no one antenna that does it all, and does it
well. With a little luck, and some research, you should be able to put up
an antenna that works better than the last one, but not quite as well as
the next one. As you learn more about antennas, you should be able to
figure out what that "next one" might be. In the meantime, if you have a
question, just ask. There are a number of us in the club who will likely
know the answer from prior experience.

Tony K3TS


On Thu, Nov 5, 2020 at 1:10 PM w2mmdgcarc <w2mmdgcarc at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Christopher Wawak [mailto:chris at wawak.org]
> Sent: November 05, 2020 11:49
> To: w2mmdgcarc
> Subject: Where should KC2IEB put HF wire antennas?
>
>
>
> Hi all! I'm beginning to wonder if my end fed wire antenna is not the best
> use of the space in my backyard .
>
>
>
> I'm unable to make most SSB QSOs, and in general I just think I can do
> better. I've got a good ground near the entry to the shack, and I've got 5
> or 6 counterpoises laid down sort of randomly around the area connected to
> the ground lug on the 9:1 unun. Weak FT8 connections are great, but SSB
> phone is just downright difficult. Unless I'm doing something really wrong,
> I'm open to changing this entirely.
>
>
>
> Unfortunately, I'm really, really overwhelmed with the options I have. I'd
> like to find one wire antenna that would fit in the confines of my yard,
> and allow me to operate on 60/40/20/17/15/10, with a tuner is fine. Not
> super excited about 75/80, at least for now.
>
>
>
> Location:
> https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9167718,-75.0496759,70m/data=!3m1!1e3
>
> (you can right click on the map and get distances if you like)
>
>
>
> The lot is 70' wide. There's a couple trees, all spaced around 50ish feet
> apart. Don't worry, I've got drawings below.
>
>
>
> Right now, the unun is about 6' high, and the wire runs from there to
> probably about 20-25' high. The wire itself is 84' long. I might be able to
> get it a few feet higher on both ends. I'm a little shy with the antenna
> launcher.
>
>
>
>
> I've thrown some pictures up on a link in case anyone is willing to take a
> few minutes to review.
>
> https://imgur.com/a/VHmPKOn
>
>
>
> I'll probably be on the club 2m or 70cm repeaters after 8:30 or 8:45 and
> would love to discuss this further, but appreciate any help on email or
> radio at all. Thank you!
>
>
>
> -- Chris
>
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