[QCWA] Slightly off topic, antenna sharing.

[William Pasternak]

Jeff,

Folded dipoles are a lost art.  Back in NYC I used one cut for 6 
meters in a short term rental (circa 1961) made of el cheepo 300 ohm 
TV twinlead -- including the feedline.  Balun was RG-58 right at the 
radio (Clegg 99er) and I worked 19 states with it on 50.4 MHz AM 
during that e-season.  A similar standard open dipole fed with RG-58 
could not hear half the stations the folded would.

And then of coarse there was the famed Hi-Par 5 element 6 meter beam 
that used a 300 ohm driven element with either a 4:1 (for 75 ohm) or 
6:1 (for 50 ohm) coax feed.  As 75 ohm coax was mass produced as TV 
lead in, back then 100' of Belden RG-59 cost about $5 while 100' of 
RG-58 cost $15 or so.  And the 59 offered less loss.  So it was not 
uncommon to see a Hi-Par 5 el fed by RG-59 shoved into the SO-239 on 
a Gonset Communicator or G-50 and the like.  Tubes and Pi-Network 
output did not mind 75 ohm coax.

As an aside:  Last year on a trip back to Brooklyn I passed the place 
where one ham I knew from back in the 1950's and 1960's  lived while 
a teen and young adult.  He and his family had moved away some 4 
decades ago, but that old 5 element Hi-Par and CDR AR-22 rotor was 
still mounted on the roof where it had been for the better part of 
half a century.  Says a lot for the way things were constructed back then.

Its to bad W1NEV never licensed anyone to continue producing his 
designs and the only story I ever heard -- going back maybe 2 decades 
that his family has refused to sell his designs and patents for his 
Yagi's and famed multi-ring 6 meter loop for reasons 
unknown.  Whether the latter is true or not is however mainly hearsay.

One of my NYC friends now living in Florida says he has a like new 3 
element version he used for hilltopping back in the 1960's but will 
never let it go.  He says its a gem thats impossible to replace.

de
WA6ITF



At 07:02 PM 6/20/2013, you wrote:
>Well, I got the "shop" station up and running with the 125'
>terminated folded dipole.
>
>The results are encouraging. On 20 meter PSK31 I've worked
>a guy in Owensboro KY and Gray TN.
>
>Now admittedly, some might not think that this is all that
>special, but having dealt with HF antennas that were as
>effective as having a rock tied to the end of the coax and
>buried 6' in the ground, to me this is VERY special.
>
>Jeff-1.0
>wa6fwi
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