[GCARC] Club site 80-160M trap dipole

[Agustin Neron Properties LLC]

Vinnie,
Back in the early 2000s, there used to be a 160m ladder line dipole, over 200ft long strung from the fixed club tower out to a tree on the incoming access road to the site.
That was a real killer antenna and with a tuner gave superior results on 160, 80, and 40. I used to work all the 160 tests in those years. In theory, it was probably too low for 160, but it did work well.
A dipole is tough for dx on 160, even at 125 ft it is less than a quarter-wave. Another great antenna would be an inverted L.... only 1/4wave of insulated THHN copper wire (about 132ft on 160), feedpoint 5ft or more off the ground, go up the fixed tower with a standoff, then out horizontal the balance of the 132ft. Run 4 insulated #12 THHN wire radials (use the same wire to make the L element), out at the bottom. These could be rolled up when not in use, or in the summer when the grass needs cutting. I have 115 countries confirmed on 160 with my inverted L.

I think adding traps and some wire to the 80 dipole will work OK for close in skywave stuff less than 500 miles out, but not very well for DX.

Another easy idea, shunt feed the fixed tower as a vertical, the shunt wire runs up the side about 12-18inches out (the distance is adjusted for lowest SWR). It's been over 20 yrs since I had one at my old QTH, but as I recall, you have to bond the wire to the tower at the base and the point near the top of the tower. You use whatever height is available. You should have a 10kw variable capacitor in a weather proof box at the feedpoint of the wire, and you could use the same 4 radials for the inverted-L. The huge capacitor makes for a perfect SWR match. These often show up at hamfests real cheap. 

So adding to the dipole sounds great. HyPower Antennas up in Bethlehem makes the high power traps very reasonable,and helps design them based on the length of your existing dipole.
73 and all the best,
Darrell AB2E




 ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW - 2020

Call: AB2E
Operator(s): AB2E
Station: AB2E

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: SNJ
Operating Time (hrs): 8

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  377
   40:   81
   20:   37
   15:   10
   10:    0
------------
Total:  505  Sections = 83  Total Score = 83,830

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

Rig: FTDX-9000D/Acom 2000A
Antennas: all wires
160m Interted L @95ft
80m dipole @ 90ft
40m dipole @ 90ft
20m delta loop @ 65ft
15m10m homebrew fan dipole @ 60ft

Wow, wish I had time to put in a full effort this weekend!
Only wound up with 8 hours, but they were very productive.
80m was king, where I feel very loud. Constant 100/hr rate there Sat night and
again last hour on Sunday. Missed NT for the sweep (VY1JA Jay thanks for being
there all those years for YU !) It's going to be difficult for the sweep from
now on, especially on CW !


73 & CU in SS SSB, and CQWW CW in a couple week!
Darrell AB2E


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/

73 and all the best,
Darrell AB2E

73 Darrell AB2E

> On 11/08/2020 8:53 PM Vinnie Sallustio <yankees_1996 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>  
> Is there any way the current 80M dipole can be turned into a 80-160M trap dipole? 160M is that elusive band for many people because of space constraints. I don't use the clubhouse, but would bring my rig over there to get on 160M. It's the only band I cannot get on at home. We seem to have the space for one. Why don't we utilize it?
> 
> Vinnie N4NYY
> ______________________________________________________________
> GCARC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/gcarc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GCARC at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html