[K3PZN-List] 40m Wire

[Curt Milton]

Kyle
don't worry about orientation -- as long as it is low to the ground (less than 60 feet !) -- it will not be directional.  just see what you can do at this height.  

3:1 SWR?  I presume this is before using your tuner?  or did you adjust the antenna length to get 1.5:1 ??  if your antenna is still 3:1 SWR - tell us what it is at each end of the band -- and this will tell us if the antenna is too short or two long.  

if SWR gets lower as you go up in frequency -- the antenna is too short.
if SWR gets higher as you go up in frequency -- the antenna is too long.  if this is the case - you can shorten it by twisting the wire onto itself at each end -- no need to cut or solder.  since you said 33 feet on each end -- my guess is your wire is a bit too long -- try to shorten each end by 6 inches.  it should improve.  

be patient until you get the SWR under 2:1 .... something like 1.5:1 is much better.  also, if your ground half of the antenna (that is, the half connected to outside of the coax) is not connected - this could also give a 3:1 SWR.  

Curt
 

    On Sunday, September 17, 2017 6:19 PM, Kyle Thornton <kyle.3599 at outlook.com> wrote:
 

 Hi all,
With the help of Mike and Curt I now have a 40m dipole up at about 15ft stretched across the yard from a tree to a tripod. Each leg is 33ft long. It's positioned currently at about NW to SE because my yard isn't wide enough to put it up east west and still be able to guy the tripod with out going into the neighbors yard. I'm going to try this configuration out tonight when the band gets going and then will adjust from there. It has an SWR of 3:1 and I was able to get it tuned to 1-1.5:1. I'm happy with the way it's set up. Takes about 5-10 minutes total to completely set up and take down. 
Kyle 
KC3FMP 
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73 de K3PZN Westminster, MD
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