bending dipole legs - elmers Forum at eHam.net

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bending dipole legs	Reply
by WA2ART on October 30, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
well, I just had interesting if not disappointing results from an experiment. I have a G5RV jr up about 35 feet in the back court yard of my NYC apartment building TOTALLY surrounded by tall buildings. I use if only on 40 meters. Today I put up a shortened 40 meter dipole with 15 foot legs and coils but up at 100 feet and totally in the clear. Well, the G5RV jr totally ran circles around the shortened dipole. I thought that with the added height above ground and the fact that there are no obstructions that the shorty would do better. Didn't happen. So now I want to sneak back up on the roof and add some length to those legs - make it a true 40 dipole. But there is not enough room to stretch them out. What effect might there be if the legs were bent? And in what direction should I avoid bending them?

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by W0FM on October 30, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Hi Phil, No problem. You can bend and zig-zag dipole legs with little consequences. Just don't fold them back along themselves. There are examples in the ARRL Antenna Handbook I think. I envy your 100 height capability. Nice to bump into you. Hope all's well. 73, Terry, WØFM

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by K9FON on October 30, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I have a similar situation with my 160 dipole. I put up the east leg and it affects the SWR on my 75 meter dipole which sets near the east leg of the 160. So now i am going to intall the east leg at a right angle to the 75 meter dipole and zig zagthe end a bit. The beauty and simplicity of a dipole antenna.

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by N7ZM on October 30, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Bending the legs will work just fine, just go ahead and dogleg the ends. Hams have been doing that in restricted areas since the beginning of radio.

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by W4VR on October 31, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I will certainly work better than your shortened dipole with coils.

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by N5LRZ on October 31, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
There was a piece in QST recently concering the configuration of a center loaded dipole in a horizontal configuration. Half of the dipole on each side of the feedpoint was in a horizontal configuration with the remainder of the wire length on each side (1/8 wave length) allowed to fall down in a vertical format. The piece went on to say that the load was no different compared to a compltete horizontal configuration and the operational results were similar. SO, you might try to install your dipole in a horizontal confuguration for 1/8 wave length on each side of the middle with the remainder drooping down. This should reduce your footprint to a 20 meter space

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by KB2DO on November 1, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
u really did not give info about the roof size and i don't see any suggestions for an inverted v as far as the dipole goes you can also droop the ends however keep them away from other objects including the roof I would consider the inverted v as you only need a center pole and 2 locations to anchor some rope if u are not informed about the V its easy to google 73, robbie

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by WB8UHZ on November 4, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
You can bend the legs but not more than 90 degrees. If you bend more than 90 degrees you will cancel RF from the antenna. The high current portion , the first 50% either side of the feed point (25 percent on each side from the insulator) is the part that does the most radiating of the signal. Do your best to keep this part straight. The last 50 percent the 25 percent on each end is merely capacitance that allows the antenna to be resonant. The last 25 percent can be bent but not more than 90 degrees. Good luck 73 Tim WB8UHZ

RE: bending dipole legs	Reply
by NV2A on November 7, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I have an 80 meter dipole in free space (it didn't cost me anything.) The last 17 feet or so of each end hang straight down with two large nuts hanging from each end to keep them from folding back on the dipole. It worked so great N and S that I put one up exactly like it going E to W and I love them. I did it out of desperation but have been surprised at how well they work. That is to say, they work far far better then nothing at only because I don't have the room for anything else. Try it before you rule it out.

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