11 meter Dipole Question

[tuner]

Hi guys, I have been thinking of making an 11 meter dipole that is tuned at 27.000. This way I figure I can go up and down the band a little. I have looked at some dipole calculators and I have what I need to build one. Here comes the question , for instance , the calculator says that my dipole should be 17.333 feet long

Roughly 17 feet 4 inches. The sides are 8 feet 8 inches. This is where I have a problem. Should the legs be cut close to that measurement then wrapped through the center and wrapped at the end insulators ? Or after the center is wrapped and the end insulator is wrapped , do I measure from center to end of leg for 8 feet 8 inches ? Any help would be much appreciated thanks

Tuner

 

[KC9Q]

First off - I'd start by making each side about 10% longer or 9.5 feet long. This will allow you to tune the antenna by shorting first in 1 inch increments, then smaller. Realize that a 1/2 wave dipole has a natural impedance of about 73 ohms. So the lowest VSWR that you should expect is 73/50 = 1.46 (round to 1.5:1 VSWR). It is helpful if you have an antenna analyzer or at least and SWR bridge to make this tuning easy. If you would like to have the antenna resonate closer to 50 ohms, then design it as an inverted V. Two additional things will happen: 1) The antenna will become more omni-directional, and also have a more vertical polarization component in it. and 2) the antenna needs to be longer by about 15% over the 17.3333 ft figure, (17.33333 x 1.15).

Regarding where to attach the elements on the center insulator. The elements are measured from where they are attached to the farthest point at the end. You need to figure how to attach the end to an insulator when calculating/building the element length.

73,
Mike

 

[vkrules]

Yes That would be over all length .Remember length will vary a little due to height ,surrounding objects, what gauge wire you are using, and if you are using plastic coated wire or not.What I do is make The length a little longer tie off on the insulator and leave a 18 inch tail that I can cut off as required.

 

[tuner]

Awesome Gents Thank you !!