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Dipole vs. Double Bazooka

Singularity35

Singularity35

DU7DVE
Jan 16, 2014
425
90
138
Small City, Philippines
I'm looking at my options for an aerial for when I get my HF rig. Most of the guys here just use dipoles and I'm attracted to the dipole's cost effectiveness. One of the people I know uses a double bazooka and reports that she is very satisfied with her double bazooka over the clothesline she used to have. I'm especially interested in the 40 meter band since that's where my club guys mostly operate in.
so my first question is: which one would you recommend?

The specific double bazooka I was looking at is the ultimax 8040. Could I operate on both bands without an antenna tuner using that aerial? I won't be able to get an antenna tuner together with the rig and the aerial. It will have to come later.

Thanks in advance.
 

i have never used a double bazooka, but I have done fantastic with dipoles.

Simple, efficient, balanced antenna, easy to construct and they work excellent id installed high enough
 
All Band Doublet feed with 300 or 450 line is and excellent antenna also!
You can build a small tuner from surplus parts that will handle several hundred watts
Breadboard style...See T match or "L network add a simple 1:1 current balun and your all set...
All the Best
Gary
 
BJ radionut said:
All Band Doublet feed with 300 or 450 line is and excellent antenna also!
You can build a small tuner from surplus parts that will handle several hundred watts
Breadboard style...See T match or "L network add a simple 1:1 current balun and your all set...
All the Best
Gary
Click to expand...


Thank you, that sounds really interesting but it's probably too advanced a project for me right now. I'll keep that on the backburner. I'll probably have to source that twin lead line outside the PI though.
 
Using 300 ohm line can be a problem when it rains, and I know it sometimes rains in the PI. Try this - you can make your own open wire line that's much less susceptible to changes in impedance caused by rain on the insulators because the insulators have much less surface area...
http://www.w1aex.com/owl/owl.html.

Long time ago, before 300-ohm TV line was around, hams made their own parallel line/open line in much this way. The insulators were wood dowels boiled in paraffin wax to waterproof them. The conductors were held in place by cutting notches in the wood, forcing the conductors into them, and cinching them securely by whatever means was available. It works fine - just be careful of the heat when working with paraffin!
 
Beetle said:
Using 300 ohm line can be a problem when it rains, and I know it sometimes rains in the PI. Try this - you can make your own open wire line that's much less susceptible to changes in impedance caused by rain on the insulators because the insulators have much less surface area...
http://www.w1aex.com/owl/owl.html.

Long time ago, before 300-ohm TV line was around, hams made their own parallel line/open line in much this way. The insulators were wood dowels boiled in paraffin wax to waterproof them. The conductors were held in place by cutting notches in the wood, forcing the conductors into them, and cinching them securely by whatever means was available. It works fine - just be careful of the heat when working with paraffin!
Click to expand...

Thanks for that suggestion, that looks pretty interesting and that's another project that'll have to be on the backburner. :)
 
Singularity35 said:
I'm looking at my options for an aerial for when I get my HF rig. Most of the guys here just use dipoles and I'm attracted to the dipole's cost effectiveness. One of the people I know uses a double bazooka and reports that she is very satisfied with her double bazooka over the clothesline she used to have.

I'm especially interested in the 40 meter band since that's where my club guys mostly operate in, so my first question is: which one would you recommend?

The specific double bazooka I was looking at is the ultimax 8040. Could I operate on both bands without an antenna tuner using that aerial? I won't be able to get an antenna tuner together with the rig and the aerial. It will have to come later.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If her antenna was such a good antenna, I wonder how long her arms were, because it wouldn't radiate very good if it is only 6' off the ground.

What you want is a balanced antenna. Most other antenna's such as a G5RV is a unbalanced antenna... G5RVs etc are only resonant on their target frequency and they are not resonant on their first harmonic - 10 or 40 meters...

A double bazooka is ok if all you want to do is talk locally, then again, so is just about anything else. But real hams don't use their radios like a telephone, so real hams don't normally camp out on any one frequency and just talk local.

What you want is a antenna that will get you the maximum amount of contacts, since you are a new ham and you haven't yet talked anywhere and you don't want to limit yourself to just talking locally like the CB radio, because after all, you invested your time and your money into getting both your General Class License and buying a HF radio to get on the air.

Use this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
10m is open to somewhere most everyday, even during solar minimum.
Turn on your radio, turn the knob, make some meaningful contacts and most of all - have fun!
 
If you use a Off Center Fed Dipole antenna, this gives you the ability to communicate on more then one band with the same antenna.
As an example, a 80m off center fed dipole will be resonant somewhere in the band of 75 / 80m, along with 40m and 20m and 10m and 6m and even 2 meters.
Length plays an important part, but the torrid in the balun is even more important.
When you become a ham, you will hear conversations about a balun called Guanella.
Even amongst these baluns there is good ones and there is not so good ones.
The people that makes the HY POWER ANTENNA COMPANY 80m off center fed dipole, pays the Guanella company to test their baluns before they buy them.
This ensures you that you get a antenna with a predictable performance.

Maybe all you are looking for is the 40m version.

http://www.hypowerantenna.com/products/off-center-fed-antenna

Although you might be looking for advice more towards a antenna that you can build yourself out of cast off components. The antenna you connect to your transceiver is just as important as the transceiver itself. You can have the worlds greatest transceiver and a crappy antenna and still have a crappy signal, both transmit and receive. Always invest your money into a good antenna and good coax first, you can always buy a little better radio somewhere down the road. Then again, I wouldn't get into a rush to get on the air by buying a junk HF radio just because you want something right now! Take your time and get some experience by visiting those local hams that belongs to your club, that you wish to talk to. I'm sure that most of them would be glad to have to come over and visit them and see their set up and listen to their equipment while they operate it.
 
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