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Wow...I'm stoked.....

Beetle said:
Define "work".

You might make the transmitter think it's looking into a good match, but the SWR downstream from the tuner is going to be in the many hundreds, if not thousands, of ohms, and you'll still have a ton of loss in the coax. If the length of the coax isn't too great, this might be acceptable to you. 20:1 is not out of the ballpark for a 40 meter antenna on 20 meters. Figuring a 50 foot length of RG-213, the loss is "only" about 2.6 dB @14 MHz, which is still almost half your power.

Don't forget that you'll have the same losses on receive.
Click to expand...

that answered my question that was within a statement lol
 
Mole...just won a Kenwood AT-130 antenna tuner on eBay, it's the matching unit to this TS-130S. I don't believe it has the capacity for a balanced line feed since the description stated that it has 4 SO-239 connectors for 4 different antenna feeds....

Are you telling me that with a coax feed I won't be able to tune a 40m dipole to work on 20m...or any other band......????
That would suck.....
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No, I didn't say that. You should be able to tune it with coax feed line and will also have fun talking too. But (as Beetle described very well) the feed line loss can be significant doing it that way which will severly affect your TX/RX signal strength. Using ladderline minimizes those losses to next to nothing . It's also so cheap that it really makes it worth considering. There are some issues you have to consider, however. You can't just strap it to the side of your antenna mast like coax. You must figure out a way to make it "stand off" from the mast and also need to run it at 90 degrees when you need to cross other metal surfaces (like rain gutters). If your exterior walls are made of stucco and chicken wire, you really need to get it away from that a bit. Other than those few issues, it's a piece of cake. You say your tuner only has S0-239 connectors? No problem; use a balun. You don't want to deal with the stucco/chicken wire/rain gutter issue? Run a 10' length of coax out of the shack, then attach a balun and run the ladder line the rest of the way.

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat.
 
AT-130 tuner

Tony: Are you sure, you purchased the KWD AT-130 tuner?
This tuner has only ONE coax in/out...unless it has been modified.
The tuning range is really pretty slim. This tuner is made to only tune coax antennas with about a 3 or 4 swr or smaller (about 200 Ohm range) nice little unit for mobile/base unit...but for example using a 40m dipole it should be able to tune the entire 40m band... and then tune your 40m antenna on 15 meters. This tuner may not have the range to tune your 40m on 20m...
I was going to email you the manual but did not find your AD on Qrz or here...let me know if you need it and I can send it along...

Glad your enjoying the new rig...have fun...hope to meet you "In the Air"
I'll be on 3865 Sunday morning...if I do not have to work. I run that mobile early in the AM from about 6 Am EST to around 7 AM also...
All the Best
BJ

PS: Look for a Shure 444D or M/desk top... great Mic for that rig. I have also used a Shure S58 and couple other studio mics on them that work well. Never much cared for the factory hand mic but that's me.
 
N2ITH said:
...I start spinning the dial on the 20m band, hear a bunch of QSO's in progress, then on 14.209.0 I hear a station with a funny sounding call sign calling out "CQ DX North America"....I return his call... I'm Stoked.......:D :D :D
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being "stoked" is one thing,....

being out of band is entirely another matter:w00t::w00t:

just sayin;);)
 
Tony: Are you sure, you purchased the KWD AT-130 tuner?
This tuner has only ONE coax in/out...unless it has been modified.
Click to expand...

I looked again Bj and you're right, my confusion is the result of looking at, and also bidding on the AT-250 which has I believe 4 SO-239's on the back.

I was going to email you the manual but did not find your AD on Qrz or here...let me know if you need it and I can send it along...
Click to expand...

I'm in the QRZ call search data base, and my e-maill addy should be there too, but if you could, please send it via e-mail to: mig1411@comcast.net
I'd certainly appreciate it.....

Look for a Shure 444D or M/desk top... great Mic for that rig. I have also used a Shure S58 and couple other studio mics on them that work well. Never much cared for the factory hand mic but that's me.
Click to expand...

I have this D-104 with the T-UG8 base that I was going to wire up for this Kenwood, I assume it too will work with this rig.....???

being "stoked" is one thing,....

being out of band is entirely another matter
Click to expand...

hookedon6....
I keep the Icom band plan poster at my side at all times just to make sure I don't go out of band.....(Don't want to bring down the rath of those QRZ Armchair Radio Lawyers who sit there and check your license class before answering your CQ call).....:glare:

Mole, hookedon6, Bj Radionut, Lazybones...et al.....

Thanks for all your advice, I just might change the feed line over to ladder line from the top of the mast to the roof line, I can keep it at 90° to that point, but it then has to make a 90° turn towards the garage from that point. I assume that is where I would place a balun, my only question is...what type of balun....4:1, 6:1, 9:1....????

Started off on 40m this morning, lot's of nets and round tables going down, answered a CQ call from a guy in Detroit Michigan and exchanged 5 X 9 signal reports. Then changed over to 20 mneters only to discover the band is choked with a contest. Heard a station with the call "PI4DX" call out CQ DX, I answered it and got a good signal report form him, then he kept asking me for a contest number, and I told the guy I wasn't in the contest, just heard him calling CQ DX and thought I'd help him with his numbers, he thanked me and continued on with his contest activities.
I bring this up because it's the first contest contact I had where the other party didn't get rude, or ask me to turn off my radio because I wasn't a part of said contest.....like happened a few times on 10 meters several years ago.

I came into the house, and looked up this PI4DX call on QRZ, and found out they are.....Crew Contest Group - Zeeuwsvlaanderen - Walsoorden, Netherlands......

I guess the east - west radiation pattern of these two dipoles will bring me in a lot of contacts from across the Atlantic......
 
N2ITH said:
hookedon6....
I keep the Icom band plan poster at my side at all times just to make sure I don't go out of band.....(Don't want to bring down the rath of those QRZ Armchair Radio Lawyers who sit there and check your license class before answering your CQ call).....:glare:
Click to expand...

tony,... thats what i'm telling ya..... 14.209.0 IS O.O.B. for you:blink:
 
:blush:.....Typo.....:blushing:

Sorry guys, it was 14.239.0 Mhz....not 14.209.0 Mhz.....I really need to proof read my posts.....:headbang

I was scratching my head wondering why you brought that up, and now I know......:blink:
 
hookedon6 said:
:tt2::tt2: lol better here than getting "zeded"
Click to expand...

:laugh: That's for sure....I've already gotten that treatment a couple times....:laugh:

Since 20m has been choked with contests all day, I spend most of the morning, and again this afternoon on 40m.....(being that it's Valentine's Day I had to spend part of the day with the Queen.....:wub:)

A couple of contacts up in New York State, one in West Virginia, and a nice long QSO with a fellow in Tennessee.....it was tough holding a steady signal with all those damn forgien broadcast stations drowning out these state side amateur stations. I heard one guy say they are supposed to be taken off the air in a couple of months, and that it'll clean up the 40 meter band once they all go off the air.....anybody know about this.....????
 
N2ITH said:
Thanks for all your advice, I just might change the feed line over to ladder line from the top of the mast to the roof line, I can keep it at 90° to that point, but it then has to make a 90° turn towards the garage from that point. I assume that is where I would place a balun, my only question is...what type of balun....4:1, 6:1, 9:1....????
Click to expand...

You have to determine your system's impedance at that point and use that information to figure out the balun ratio. If everything works well without a balun you could use a 1:1 just as a connection point between coax and balanced line. That's where I'd start.

Actually, where I'd start would be eliminating the coax altogether and running the balanced line the whole way. Much less of a problem for using one antenna on multiple bands.
 
Beetle said:
Actually, where I'd start would be eliminating the coax altogether and running the balanced line the whole way. Much less of a problem for using one antenna on multiple bands.
Click to expand...

I wish I could Beetle, but I already purchased an antenna tuner that only has an SO-239 connection, so I'd have to convert the line to coax at some point.

We'll get it figured out one way or another.....
 

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