WTF?? I was paying around $7 each for the 43 mix and $10 for the 53 mix. 2x or 3x the price? Who was screwing you over? I got mine from Digi-Key.
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The Truth, ... ,and Nothing But The Truth (as I've experienced it)
- Thread starter HomerBB
- Start date
WTF?? I was paying around $7 each for the 43 mix and $10 for the 53 mix. 2x or 3x the price? Who was screwing you over? I got mine from Digi-Key.
They have gotten pricey. I paid $13 for one FT240-61. Almost twice as much as 31 mix. But I would go as far as 3x the price.
At one point I was unable to locate a 52 under $20 each.
Add in the shipping on these eBay examples and the price is still high.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ft240-52+&_trksid=p2380057.m4084.l1313
And here is examples of Amazon.
Clearly my frustration bled through on the 3x to 4x price thing, but stacking 52's at $18 each starts making a wire antenna slightly costly.
Add in the shipping on these eBay examples and the price is still high.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ft240-52+&_trksid=p2380057.m4084.l1313
And here is examples of Amazon.
Clearly my frustration bled through on the 3x to 4x price thing, but stacking 52's at $18 each starts making a wire antenna slightly costly.
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Okay, I will now intrude into the EFHW mindset with some antenna sacrilege. I have also read testimonials about the end fed terminated inverted Vee antenna. Following the directions available I hoisted a wire and placed a counterpoise beneath it and leads to ground rods at each end. I built another 9:1 transformer, terminated the wire with a 100watt 470 Ohm resistor, and found out the SWR was never below 2:1 anywhere. Fiddled around with the leads to ground or not, removed the terminating resistor and tried a delta loop, then endfed non-terminated... then I put it back as it was originally, but put a 5:1 transformer inline instead of the 9:1. Yes, it's wrong for the 470 Ohm resistor, but at this point, why not. The elusive one-wire-all-band-no-tuner antenna was making me determined to either prove or disprove the idea. I know the traveling wave terminated antenna bleeds away power to ground through the resistor, but the question is, "does such an antenna actually exist?"
So, what happened so far is this:
1.8-2.0Mhz --------------- 1.7:1 SWR
3.8-4.0Mhz --------------- 1.6:1
7.175-7.3Mhz ----------- 1.25:1
14.225-14.350Mhz --- 1.1:1
18.110-18.168Mhz ---- 1.55:1
21.275-21.450Mhz ---- 1.9:1
24.930-24.999Mhz ---- 1.15:1
26.965-27.405Mhz ---- 1.1:1
28.3-28.6Mhz ------------- 1.9:1
50-54Mhz -------------------- 1.6:1
And, not perfect, but it could be used without a tuner.
So, what happened so far is this:
1.8-2.0Mhz --------------- 1.7:1 SWR
3.8-4.0Mhz --------------- 1.6:1
7.175-7.3Mhz ----------- 1.25:1
14.225-14.350Mhz --- 1.1:1
18.110-18.168Mhz ---- 1.55:1
21.275-21.450Mhz ---- 1.9:1
24.930-24.999Mhz ---- 1.15:1
26.965-27.405Mhz ---- 1.1:1
28.3-28.6Mhz ------------- 1.9:1
50-54Mhz -------------------- 1.6:1
And, not perfect, but it could be used without a tuner.
To gain the advantages of the End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) antenna the antenna must be a resonant half wave or multiple there of and fed with a 49:1 or similar. The End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) antenna has about 2,500 ohms impedance at the feed point. If you are using some other matching device such as a 9:1 transformer what you have is a "random" end fed antenna. The random length End Fed antenna usually requires an earth, counterpoise and tuner. The performance of the random length End Fed is dependant on the ground, counterpoise and efficient tuner. But it can and will tune up on almost any frequency.
The End Fed Half Wave when correctly configured does not require a ground system, counterpoise, or tuner to work efficiently on the frequencies it is a half wave or multiple thereof.
Your antron A99 is a prime example of such an antenna.
Getting the correct wire length for the EFHW is critical. It must be a half wave or multiple there of for the frequency you want to use. It actually works out a bit less than the free space calculation for a half wave.
The End Fed Half Wave when correctly configured does not require a ground system, counterpoise, or tuner to work efficiently on the frequencies it is a half wave or multiple thereof.
Your antron A99 is a prime example of such an antenna.
Getting the correct wire length for the EFHW is critical. It must be a half wave or multiple there of for the frequency you want to use. It actually works out a bit less than the free space calculation for a half wave.