Hope it helps and wasn't TMI. Don't know what you're using now so a v may not do much more for you, but they're easy to put up and tune, work very well and fun to play with.
73
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My inverted V
- Thread starter Pman62
- Start date
73
It’s really something I would just like to play with. I think it will go a long way in helping me to understand antennas better. I just put up a Maco V58 but right now it’s only 10’ off the ground. I’m waiting on a few parts for the tilt mast that I’m building that will put the base of the antenna at about 42’. What I’m wondering is if a large inverted V would give me any more directional gain. I live in the country on 2 acres and have some big trees I could set the V between if I can figure out a pulley system of some kind. I’m also going to be setting up a base station at my parents , about 15 miles away, for communication in case of emergencies and cell phones are down. I realize a beam would be a much better solution for directional but they are out of reach for me financially right now. It wasn’t TMI at all! I appreciate the reply and info.
Not sure what you mean by "large inverted v", but the total wire length for 27MHz will only be in the 17' range. Also, v's are mostly omni-directional. A horizontal (flat-top) dipole will be a little more directional than a v, with nulls off the end of the wires. If you can get the feedpoint of either antenna up a wavelength or so (36') that would help making the 15 mi trip. When you get your Maco up 42' you should have no trouble getting 15 mi, especially on SSB.
While you're searching for info you might check out a Moxon Rectangle. It's a not too hard to build/mount beam with decent gain and large rejection off the back side. Googling "MoxGen" will link you to a good calculator.
Have fun
73
I had the feed point of my inverted V at 31' and got decent Rx and Tx in excess of 18 miles on AM. I first put it up without a BALUN and it worked just fine. However, I was getting a lot of radiation from the shielding of my coax. It made taking SWR measurements kind of difficult because my meter is an old Radio Shaft cheapie that doubles as a FS meter. Anytime my hand got close to the port for the FS antenna, it would cause the meter deflection to go up! I home brewed my BALUN with a toroid core and bifilar wound 20 turns of 16 AWG wire. That got rid of the stray radiation quite well. I did notice my SWR went up a hair though. It wasn't anything concerning because it is still less than 1.3
Good deal Pman62, sounds like you have it figured out. How much trimming/tuning did you have to do initially?
73
I did the calculation for the midpoint of the frequency range, (27.165mHz) and added 2". the ends of my wires terminate in a loop help by a small screw, nut and two washers. Adjusting it consisted of simply loosening the nut and moving it up or down the wire. After 2 adjustments that totaled shortening everything about 1-3/4" I called it done with a SWR of 1.2 pretty much across the band
I will just add that most of the people you are speaking to are likely to be vertically polarized on TX and RX. The inverted V being mainly horizontally polarized will have considerable cross polarization (coupling) losses for line of site local contacts.
@CherokeeSoccer
I would expect the Maco mounted at 20 foot feed point to toast the V's signal reports.
Cross polarization losses can be up to 20dB (about 3 S points), that is not to say it will be the case with the V as it is not 100pct horizontal.
In addition a very well installed Maco at 20 feet will likely put out a lower lobe of radiation which might suit very long 2,300 miles+ DX purposes better.Then again try it yourself and find out and report back. Things don't always work out quite like the books say they should.
The current centre (point of greatest radiation) of a inverted V is at feed point and on a 5/8 vertical 1/4 wave down from the top of the antenna. So an inverted V @ 20feet has the current centre at 20 feet a 5/8 wave vertical will have the current centre at roughly 35 feet and be the same polarization as your locals.
For DX it will be less critical as signals tend to become "random" polarization once refracted from an atmospheric layer and could come back down vertical, horizontal or a mix of both.
@CherokeeSoccer
I would expect the Maco mounted at 20 foot feed point to toast the V's signal reports.
Cross polarization losses can be up to 20dB (about 3 S points), that is not to say it will be the case with the V as it is not 100pct horizontal.
In addition a very well installed Maco at 20 feet will likely put out a lower lobe of radiation which might suit very long 2,300 miles+ DX purposes better.Then again try it yourself and find out and report back. Things don't always work out quite like the books say they should.
The current centre (point of greatest radiation) of a inverted V is at feed point and on a 5/8 vertical 1/4 wave down from the top of the antenna. So an inverted V @ 20feet has the current centre at 20 feet a 5/8 wave vertical will have the current centre at roughly 35 feet and be the same polarization as your locals.
For DX it will be less critical as signals tend to become "random" polarization once refracted from an atmospheric layer and could come back down vertical, horizontal or a mix of both.
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