[KYHAM] Advice About HF

[Cecil E Ferguson]

Hi John,

I just returned to my home QTH from a short vacation and noted your
request for info plus a number of responses, all good.  Pls allow me to
add a couple of comments. 

I, too, have some reservations about the G5RV, although many operators
have nothing but praise for them. Having considerable experience in
antenna and systems evaluations for the military and ham bands, and years
of instructing electronics in general before retirement, I think I can
speak with some degree of background knowledge.  My experience has shown
that a dipole cut to frequency for each and every band is hard to beat,
however the built in turner in your Kenwood does allow for a less than
perfect antenna to be utilized.  To my knowledge, there are only two
antennae on the current market that will operate satisfactorily on most
of our ham bands without a tuner and they will do even better with a
tuner.  There may be others, but I have no knowledge of them.  Of course,
I expect to receive of pile of hate mail from these statements.

One of these is the Barker & Williamson BWD90, which will give you a
continuous coverage from 1.8 to 30 MHz with a SWR of 2:1 or less and will
cover up to 54 MHz with less than 3:1 SWR, all WITHOUT a tuner.  With
your tuner, it should perform great on all frequencies within these broad
limits.  It should be noted that this continuous coverage will include
all the MARS, CAP, RACES and other frequencies, not within the ham bands.
 It does take some space to install, being some 90 feet in length and a
bit bulky, but worth it.  I have personally used this type antenna with
excellent results and do not hesitate to recommend it for a general
purpose antenna.   Several wholesalers offer this antenna, including R&L
and AES.  Cost may run from near $200.00 up to $300.00 or more for the
stainless steel version.  B&W offers similar antennae for other frequency
ranges as well. 

A second multi-band antenna, one with which I have had no personal
experience, is being offered by TEN-TEC.  This firm is noted for offering
only the finest in ham equipment.  I believe this antenna will take less
space than the B&W and I believe it to have directional qualities, which
may be favorable to you.  I suggest you review their offering as well. 

I won't kick the trap antennae which someone recommended, but they do
come with limitations and normally will not provide the continuous
coverage of those I mentioned above.  Some, within their limitations,
work well.

If you should feel that I could be of any assistance in this or other
technical area, don't hesitate to contact me directly, off net.

73

Gene, W4FWG



On Sun, 29 May 2005 17:56:57 -0700 (PDT) John Betner <cvfd1615 at yahoo.com>
writes:
> Hello, 
> 
> I have just recently aquired a Kenwood TS-2000 and I
> am learning the morse code ( slowly but surely ). I am
> trying to get suggestions on what would be a good HF
> antenna to use. Some people have told me a G5RV will
> work since I have an internal antenna tuner inside
> that radio. Then some people have told me to not get
> one because their junk and doesn't work for nothing.
> Also if a G5RV is recommended how does it need to
> hang. If you can kinda give me direction and advice
> right now all I'm doing is listening but I know as
> soon as I get the General Ticket I will want to be on
> there so I figured I'd go ahead and get it going. 
> 
> Thank You
> 
> KG 4 LHQ
> 
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