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Author Topic: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II  (Read 16041 times)

W8KDR

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Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« on: October 03, 2014, 10:14:35 PM »

I am about to join Army Mars and currently have a Radio Works Carolina Windom that I am thinking about putting up at a new home I just purchased. I also have an LDG AT 1000 Pro II that I would like to use with it for MARS comm.

Ahy comments of suggestions?

Dick W8KDR
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W8KDR

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RE: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2014, 11:55:47 PM »

FYI, The antenna is a Carolina Windom 160 which I am thinking of hanging between two fiberglass flagpoles.

Dick W8KDR
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N9AOP

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RE: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2014, 06:56:09 PM »

Dick,
Don't forget that an off centerfed antenna is crafted to have low swr on most ham bands except 30 & 15.  The further you drift from these spots, the higher the swr will be.  The LDG tuner will do a fine job bringing down the swr but it will not change what is present in the coax meaning that you will incur some kind of power loss delivered to the antenna.  So if you are on a 5 meg freq and put in 100W, you will not get 100 at the feedpoint.  That doesn't mean that it will now work.  I use a TFD for that reason and make up for the low freq. end loss by adding more power at the front end.  Hope you enjoy MARS--I do.
Art N9AOP
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W8KDR

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RE: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2014, 07:09:48 PM »

Art,

Thanks. I think I will just go with a B&W folded 160 with tuner for higher freqs. I can run it up the flag poles for long range and lower it for NVIS.
Dick W8KDR
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N1EN

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RE: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2014, 01:42:24 PM »

For my MARS work, I generally use 3 antennas:

A Carolina Windom 160 at 35 feet
A Carolina Windom 80 at 60-65 feet
A 40m delta loop.

I do use a tuner, and I'm told that I have a good signal on most of the nets I participate in, with the exception of a few around 40m, where none of my antennas are really great for high-angle radiation (although selecting a different feed point for the delta loop would probably fix that concern).

My CW160 is OK on every frequency I've tried except for a few (AFAIK) uncommon low frequencies.  The only time I have problems with the local net near 160m is when the cat has been playing with the grounding straps.  However, my CW160 is a few dB down from the CW80 on several frequencies.

For quite a while, I only had the CW80, and it remains my preferred antenna for the frequencies I'm most active on.  However, a desire to improve my station lead to the sprouting of an antenna farm.

If you do go with the unbalanced antennas like the CW's, however, make sure you have good RF grounding, and perhaps keep a good supply of ferrite beads on hand just in case.

Personally, I think that if you have the space for a CW160, you would do well to consider going for it rather than the B&W160.  The B&W may have the advantage of being broadband enough to avoid needing a tuner, but its broadband nature comes at the expense of efficiency.  You'll likely be anywhere from "not much worse" to "quite a bit louder" with the CW than the B&W, depending on the specific frequency.

Of course, if you have the space for more than one antenna...that would be even better.
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W8KDR

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RE: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2014, 02:20:17 PM »

Thank you Michael.

I was a little concerned about the vertical radiation of the CW being a factor.
Still have to check some measurement at the new house. I have about 500 feet sloping down a hill at about 25 or 30 degrees. The lower end is 200 above a lake. My plan was to mount the CW160 on three fiberglass flapoles so I can lower it for NVIS ops. I still have to figure out the hieght of the poles to keep the CW horizontal.

Dick W8KDR
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WI9MJ

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RE: Using Carolina Windom 160 with LDG AT 1000 Pro II
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2014, 02:02:48 PM »

I use a homebrew 80m off center fed up 35 feet and it works fine on all but the lowest 2mhz freqs. You'll be operating near vertical incident skywave for the most part so vertical signal is good.

Mike WI9MJ
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