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Dipole Feedline Recomendations
- Thread starter 74IN
- Start date
That's what i do except i use a 1:1 balun from DX engineering based on Balun Models for Most Applications from DX Engineering The info provided here helped and i haven't been disappointed. You may not buy one of their baluns (I did) but can help you make you decision.you can go with either 300 ohm twin lead or 450 ohm ladder line. I would recommend the 450 ohm as it is better. If you have the lugs on the back of the tuner for ladder line, I would just run the ladder line right to tuner. That's how my 10-80 inverted V is and have had good reports and the receive is pretty good.
By using ladder line twin lead, you can tune the antenna for different bands. I have a 75 meter inverted V and I can tune it from 160 to 6 meter if I want. I think you will be better off with a manual tuner with a built in balun, much more versital. I have an Ameritron ATR-30, and it is great.
Rich
Rich
basically if it's just a single band just feed it with coax and be done with it. if you want multi band then go with the ladder line , balun and tuner
I'm thinking about doing the same thing with my 40 meter dipole 74IN, I have coax making the entire run from tuner to antenna, however a full run of ladder line wouldn't be the best approach in my situation because of too many obstacles that would cause interference and other headaches.
I'm thinking of making it a split run of ladder line down to the roof edge, mounting a 4:1 balun to the fascia board, and finishing the run to the tuner in coax. This should open up the antenna better than it is now, but I won't have to deal with ladder line coming in contact with a bunch of things that will cause undue interference.
Before I get into that I gotta figure out a way to get the center of it up higher than the 18 to 20 feet it's at now......
I'm thinking of making it a split run of ladder line down to the roof edge, mounting a 4:1 balun to the fascia board, and finishing the run to the tuner in coax. This should open up the antenna better than it is now, but I won't have to deal with ladder line coming in contact with a bunch of things that will cause undue interference.
Before I get into that I gotta figure out a way to get the center of it up higher than the 18 to 20 feet it's at now......
74IN,
No, it's not a bad idea as such. I honestly didn't intend to imply that it was. But, as rfoverlord said, if it's not going to be a multiband antenna, there's not really much point to it. Using ladder line isn't like using coax, there are thing that you will have to do a bit differently. Nothing huge or major, but definitely different than how you normally 'treat' coax. Wanna try it? Why not!
- 'Doc
No, it's not a bad idea as such. I honestly didn't intend to imply that it was. But, as rfoverlord said, if it's not going to be a multiband antenna, there's not really much point to it. Using ladder line isn't like using coax, there are thing that you will have to do a bit differently. Nothing huge or major, but definitely different than how you normally 'treat' coax. Wanna try it? Why not!
- 'Doc
In that case, I would think ladder line would be a pretty good choice as a feed line. It tends to 'shrug-off' impedance mismatches where coax is harmed by them.
There are some 'mechanical' aspects of using any parallel feed line that both handy and a real pain to contend with. The 'cons' include keeping it something like 6" to a foot away from metal things, don't coil it up, or lay it on the ground. A general "Eeuuu, don't touch me!" sort of thingy. It changes impedance a little when it get's wet or covered with snow. Not a real 'biggy', give it a whack with a broom handle when the snow builds up on it, and just touch up the tuning a bit. You hear about waxing it? I think I wouldn't, car wax is conductive, not exactly a great idea, huh?
The hardest part about using ladder-line is getting it into the house, sort of. Really not that hard, but certainly different from coax. The cheap-n-dirty way is to just put a board in a window, drill holes in the board, run the separate wires through the holes, shut window on the board. You can do that as 'fancy' as you want. It helps to put a 'drip-bend/loop' in that line running down to a window, unless you don't mind a puddle of water there. Another option is to use a very good 'quality' of coax to get out of the house. Helps to make that coax as short as possible, and terminate it in a balun outside.
Baluns.
If you know that the resulting impedance is going to be 4 times what your tuner wants to see, a 4:1 balun is reasonable. If you don't know that (and you don't/won't) just use a 1:1, It's easier/simpler, sort of.
A handy 'trick' is to twist that ladder line into a sort of spiral. Nothing to do with impedance, or keeping things 'balanced'. But it sure cuts down on the wind flopping the stuff around! Ever noticed how twisted thingys like that seem to whip around less than 'straight' ones do? How many 'twists' per foot? Beats me, twist till you're satisfied with the 'flop'. Quit twisting before you deform the stuff!
Something that will pay off in the long run is to have the bestest ground system you can manage. May not be necessary, but in case it is, it's certainly something I'd rather 'look back on' than 'look forward to', you know? It will always be handy for a number of reasons!
And lastly, find a very good dictionary of cuss words. You can always look forward to adding 'new' words/phrases to it.
- 'Doc
There are some 'mechanical' aspects of using any parallel feed line that both handy and a real pain to contend with. The 'cons' include keeping it something like 6" to a foot away from metal things, don't coil it up, or lay it on the ground. A general "Eeuuu, don't touch me!" sort of thingy. It changes impedance a little when it get's wet or covered with snow. Not a real 'biggy', give it a whack with a broom handle when the snow builds up on it, and just touch up the tuning a bit. You hear about waxing it? I think I wouldn't, car wax is conductive, not exactly a great idea, huh?
The hardest part about using ladder-line is getting it into the house, sort of. Really not that hard, but certainly different from coax. The cheap-n-dirty way is to just put a board in a window, drill holes in the board, run the separate wires through the holes, shut window on the board. You can do that as 'fancy' as you want. It helps to put a 'drip-bend/loop' in that line running down to a window, unless you don't mind a puddle of water there. Another option is to use a very good 'quality' of coax to get out of the house. Helps to make that coax as short as possible, and terminate it in a balun outside.
Baluns.
If you know that the resulting impedance is going to be 4 times what your tuner wants to see, a 4:1 balun is reasonable. If you don't know that (and you don't/won't) just use a 1:1, It's easier/simpler, sort of.
A handy 'trick' is to twist that ladder line into a sort of spiral. Nothing to do with impedance, or keeping things 'balanced'. But it sure cuts down on the wind flopping the stuff around! Ever noticed how twisted thingys like that seem to whip around less than 'straight' ones do? How many 'twists' per foot? Beats me, twist till you're satisfied with the 'flop'. Quit twisting before you deform the stuff!
Something that will pay off in the long run is to have the bestest ground system you can manage. May not be necessary, but in case it is, it's certainly something I'd rather 'look back on' than 'look forward to', you know? It will always be handy for a number of reasons!
And lastly, find a very good dictionary of cuss words. You can always look forward to adding 'new' words/phrases to it.
- 'Doc
In that case, do so!
- 'Doc
(Tried to post a bunch of hints/qwerks about ladder lines, but something happened to it. I'll try later. I hate when that happens.)
Dam, there it is. Sorry about the double post. It's gonna be one'a them days.
- 'Doc
(Tried to post a bunch of hints/qwerks about ladder lines, but something happened to it. I'll try later. I hate when that happens.)
Dam, there it is. Sorry about the double post. It's gonna be one'a them days.
