HF Dipole

[K0BLR]

Hello Everyone,

  I need help on thinking about a dipole antenna that covers 160M-10M. It really dosen't matter wether traps are involved or not. I'm also working on getting upgraded to General. The length I was thinking of was 206 feet or some where in there. My back yard and front yard combined is big enough to hold that big of a wire antenna. Any idea? I'll be buying wire here in Febuary.

73,

Ben, K0BLR
St. Cloud, MN

[WB2WIK]

You could make a "double" G5RV antenna.  That's 204' long (102' each side), fed with 63' of 450 Ohm ladder line, and then 50 Ohm coax spliced to the ladder line and routed into the station.

It requires an antenna tuner in the "shack," but does cover all the HF amateur bands; working best on 160 & 80m, and then less effectively as you increase frequency.

WB2WIK/6

[WW5AA]

I like my 177' doublet fed with 450 ohm ladder line and 75 ohm coax balun (5') and 4' inside to the tuner. I use the shield of good quality RG6 as the elements. The tuner in the Pro III matches 160 thru 6, as does the AT-500 at high power (160-10). Have fun!

73, de Lindy

[WB6BYU]

Almost ANY piece of wire about that long and fed in the center with
balanced line to a tuner will work.  Many of the design issues come
down to personal preferences - are you willing to readjust the tuner
when you change bands, or do you want direct coax feed without a
tuner?  Is there a particular direction that you are most interested in
working, or is anywhere OK?  Are you more interested in local contacts
or working DX on the lower bands?  All of these are questions that we
can't answer for you.  The type of tuner that you have (or plan to buy,
since most such antennas other than a trap dipole will need one) will
also affect your choice, because some combinations of antenna and
feedline length will be more difficult to match on some bands.

As is often the case, a good place to start understanding such antennas
is W4RNL's web site at www.cebik.com/radio.html.  Specifically the
following articles should give you a good understanding of some of the
issues and tradeoffs in choosing a suitable dipole:

http://www.cebik.com/wire/abd.html
http://www.cebik.com/wire/zzdd.html
http://www.cebik.com/wire/vang.html
http://www.cebik.com/wire/g5rv.html
http://www.cebik.com/fdim/atl1.html
http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup4.html
http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup5.html
http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup6.html
http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup11.html
http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup22.html
http://www.cebik.com/gup/gup30.html

[K0BLR]

Thank you all so far for replying to me. Well I got my wire that I will be using for the antenna. Now what I am wondering is what could I use for insulators. I guess I could spend money for insulators?

73,

Ben K0BLR

[KE5ICG]

Ben,

If there's a Tractor Supply or similar store near you, go in there and check out their electric fence supplies. You'll probably find insulators that will work for you, and at a very reasonable price.  JMTC and 73 Ray -- KE5ICG

[KF4ZGZ]

A 4-6 " lenghth of 1" or so PVC pipe. Scrap works great.
Drill holes about 3/4" in from the end.


Matt