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AE5RD

AE5RD

Reformed CB'er
May 4, 2005
136
1
28
62
I'm sitting here thinking that I don't own any powerful CB amps anymore! Goodbye to the 16 pill, Goodbye to the Magna 900, Goodbye to all those alternators, brackets and belt routing problems. I even got rid of my Galaxy 99 monster radio. Now I just need a good HF radio, an Ameritron 800 watt amp, and a multiband antenna. I would like to get a tri-band beam for 80, 40, 20 meters. It's amazing how my outlook has changed since becoming a general class control operator. I can still insult people if I want to. I just use intelligent words so they don't know that they have been insulted. No not really. It's not as stuffy as
I thought, and i've really had to hone my conversational skills. I still have a hard time with some of the international accents, but i'm getting better. I would have never become a Ham if it wasn't for CB. One thing lead to another and here I am. I still have CB buddies. I still talk on my CB but i'm doing it with 4 watts and a good antenna. My interest in CB has probably dwindled because of no skip conditions but I have been able to still get my DX fix with Ham so that is allright with me. Sure I miss some of the old forums only because they were so outrageous, the kind of characters that were posting. It was crazy and never a dull moment. Unfortunetly it was also immature. Well anyway I'm in a better place now. Keep up the good work with the forum.
 

Beetle said:
Good luck on the 80/40/20 tribander.:confused:
Click to expand...
You beat me to it Beetle. :DMan, If I only had the money and a few extra acres............


BTW here is an 80m monobander. Get a look of the size. Beware and keep your speakers turned DOWN when you click on the link.There is some annoying music on the site. Why in God's name do people put music on their sites anyway? :angry::thumbdown: BTW,yes that is a man standing ion the antenna boom just left of the tower at the top.

http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~kan1/engtop.htm
 
160m full wave horizontal loop, fed with ladder line to a manual tuner....that's all you need....

I wish I had the space here for that.

On the other hand, in this month's QST, they aren't using that LPDA and the Eiffel Tower it was on, maybe I'll go get that and put it in my back yard ;-) That's some antenna
 
for an antenna, you can do what I did if room permits. 119.6 ft of copper wire and some ladder line and a manual tuner. Just divide the 119.6 by 2 to get each leg and you will have a 20/40/80 antenna. I have worked many a station with this set up whether in the US or abroad. Shouldn't cost more than 20-30 bux for the materials. Mine is also set like a flat top and the feed point is roughly 50ft off the ground. JMO :D
 
ajm1571 said:
for an antenna, you can do what I did if room permits. 119.6 ft of copper wire and some ladder line and a manual tuner. Just divide the 119.6 by 2 to get each leg and you will have a 20/40/80 antenna. I have worked many a station with this set up whether in the US or abroad. Shouldn't cost more than 20-30 bux for the materials. Mine is also set like a flat top and the feed point is roughly 50ft off the ground. JMO :D
Click to expand...

That's basically what I run, 135' of wire with a manual tuner, ladder line feed, works 80m and up and I can even load it for 160m but it isn't efficient at all on 160m, just gets a signal out.

I'm curious how a full wave loop will compare.
 
mine is actually 120 ft but I have a hell of a time tunin 40m for some damn reason. I can tune 40 but takes a month of sundays...lol Other than that I have NO complaints :D
 
About the full wave loops...

First, they do work, but not exactly like a doublet will, different radiation patterns. Lot depends on how high you can get the thing, higher is better, naturally, sort of.
What band should that loops be for? For the lowest band of interest, if possible. They aren't too 'picky' about some things, very 'picky' about others. I ran one loop with the apartment building in the center of it, worked okay. Was accused of turning on someone's stereo with it, probably did, but it worked. It also worked on any band higher than the design band if that 'higher' band was a harmonic (or close). Didn't do so well on those bands that weren't.
Shape is something that is very 'variable', sort of. Whatever fits in your antenna area, sort of. If it's close to being symmetrical, so will the radiation pattern be, sort of. If it's sort of 'lop-sided', so will the radiation pattern be, sort of 'directional' kind'a. The 'best' shape for a loop is the one that has the most area inside the loop, and will still 'fit' where you can put it.
All of the above is assuming that you are using ladder line and not coax for a feedline. If you have to use coax, then a 2:1 balun comes in very handy (typical input impedance for a full wave loop is something like 100-150 ohms, or close). Don't expect much for 'other' bands than the design for band with coax. A very good tuner is not just nice, it's almost a necessity.
I do like loops, if you couldn't tell...
- 'Doc


Lots of "sort of"s and "kind'a"s in all this. Then again, there's probably the same number of them when you compare where my antennas are and where your antennas are, and all them other variables of installations. If mine works and yours doesn't, then it's superior knowledge at work. If yours works and mine doesn't... you just got lucky. True? No, but it makes me feel better.
 
wow again lots to learn about antennas. Does every antenna have to be a half or full wave? how about a quarter wave 80 meter beam? I have an LDG 1000 tuner. I wanted something better than a wire.
 
Hola 3eye.

HAlf is good for resonance, you lose power tuning.

If you have room, look up a fan dipole.
 
161 said:
wow again lots to learn about antennas. Does every antenna have to be a half or full wave? how about a quarter wave 80 meter beam? I have an LDG 1000 tuner. I wanted something better than a wire.
Click to expand...


Ahhh yes,young Grasshopper,you do have much to learn about antennas. :D First,NO every antenna does NOT have to be a half or full wave. However if you are looking for an antenna that has some gain then it pretty much has to be configured as some form of a half wave such as a half wave dipole with reflectors/directors making it a true beam or made up of a series of quarter wave verticles that are phased as in a four-square. unless you have acres and acres to play with forget the four-square.There are endless ideas of what to do for antennas but keeep in mind that on 80m size does matter.Also never underestimate what a piece of wire can do especially when erected high in the clear. I have an inverted L antenna for 80m which consists of a wire approx. 30 feet high and 75 feet long for a total of about 105 feet. It has no radials under the feedpoint like it should and yet I consistantly get good reports out of Europe.truth be told Europe is an easy shot for me here. However It has also allowed me to work ZS6CCY in South Africa on 80m a couple times and once was even an hour AFTER his local sunrise.Not too bad for 100 watts.Get a good antenna book and experiment.That is the best idea.
 
There's really only one way of being sure that you're using something better than just a plain old wire. That's to try other antennas and see how they compare. I think it'd be safe to say that there will be some that are going to be better than that plain old wire. And then again, there will be some that definitely won't be better. For me it's more fun to make an antenna than to buy one (ain't easy being cheap you know). Most (everyone of the @#$ things) I've bought haven't exactly lived up to my expectations, sort of. (That says as much about my expectations as it does those antennas though.) I've found that one person's 'best' isn't always my 'best' and visa-versa. A huge amount is due to just exactly where that antenna happens to be mounted, no two places are ever the same, so the results are very seldom the same.
The advice about getting an antenna book is a good one. All kinds of things to find out about, and maybe put to use. Not just the 'new' books, but the old ones are pretty revealing too. Making the best of what you have to work with is the only 'trick'. And GEEZE can that be 'tricky'! :)
- 'Doc
 
W5LZ said:
About the full wave loops...

First, they do work, but not exactly like a doublet will, different radiation patterns. Lot depends on how high you can get the thing, higher is better, naturally, sort of.
What band should that loops be for? For the lowest band of interest, if possible.
Click to expand...


For my purposes it will primarily be for 80m/40m so an 80m full wave is in the works. I wanted to do two wavelengths for a 160m full wave, but hanging it will be problematic due to the density of trees here. 80m regional is most important so lower won't hurt me that much. I'll be doing a delta horizontal due to the supports I have.

Trying to avoid the temptation of an amp, so far I've done well. The guys with the loops have a bigger signal on 75m than the dipole users it seems so if I can pick up a bit more from a loop vs my dipole, it would be useful.

All it takes is a spool of wire and a good arm with a fishing pole to get them in the trees ;-)
 

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