[TAC] Home brew open wire feedline

[mzedan at juno.com]

Hi Ian:
Here are a few takes from the Eham.net archives.  It's not totally detailed, but the gist is there:
I am running homebrew balanced line made of 14 AWG stranded copper wire using 7 in long pieces of pvc electrical conduit drilled one inch from each end for 6 inch spacing. I have the spacers roughly 3 ft apart to ensure the spacing is maintainted to the antenna. The feedline goes into a 176 ft dipole up 30 ft which I use primally on 20, 50, 80, and 160 meters . I use a Palstar AT1KM tuner which tunes flat on all bands and run 400 watts from a AL-811 amp on everything except 160. No problems with the mic line picking up any RF . I have wood windows in my house and simply drilled two holes thru the window frame to feed the wire into the shack. After the good results I have had running open line on this all band dipole , I am out of the coax business for good except for connecting rigs and amps in the shack. I am sold on balanced line and its benefits far out weigh the problem of getting it inot the shack 


AA4FH 
Homebrew ladder line is superior to 'window line' because the velocity factor is higher (~.99 depending on the number of turns you make and their radius)and much lower SWR when wet. 
Here's how I made my 450 line, about 128' long: 

1. 130' of 14 gauge insulated wire from Lowes. Get some 22 gauge sold wire...RS? One round tube: coax cable spool etc. I used a 5 gallon paint barrel. 

2. Wire spacing needs to be 1.5" and spacers >10x wire separation or in this case, 15". So now you can calculate the spacers you need, plus 

3.Allow 1/8" for a saw cut in the middle of the ends for inserting the wire. Cut all the spacers you need. 
Good: Hardwood dowel boiled in beeswax, Better: Small PVC pieces, Best: Lexan 1/4" dia. rod, black. Much more expensive than the first two, but consider it an investment, not an expense. It's worth looking for and can be found on the net. 

4. Now, strip the insulation from the wire being careful not to nick it or put kinks in it. 

5. Find a place where you can tie the ends to a fence, tree, etc. and stretch it out full length. If you have to go to a park, strip the wire there or you will end up with a nightmare of kinks. 

6. Starting at the tied end, place a wire in the end cut of the spacer and tie it fast with a piece of 22 gauge wire. Now do the other side then twist tight with a pair of pliers. 

7. Measure off not more than 15" and do the same. 

8. Once your done, carefully wrap the finished line around your "barrel" so it doesn't slip off. 

9. String it up slowly unwinding from the barrel. You want to come straight down from your feed point as close to one quarter wave length if you can without getting closer than 2' from the gnd. Make the radius of your turns >12". On some of the turns if it looks like the wires are coming closer together than 1.5", just add another spacer or two. 

10. Now if you can only find a link tuner like a Matchbox, you will not find a better wire antenna. 

73's, Dave, KW4N 

MikeZ

-- "Ian Hill K8MM" <k8mm at arrl.net> wrote:
Hey gang,

Does anyone know where I can find plan for homebrewing my own open wire line?

Ian K8MM
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