Describe Your "Antenna Farm"

[ad4mg]

Everybody aspires to have a killer antenna system, but the reality is that not all of us have endless acreage and bottomless bank accounts to do so. My theory is that if several of us list what we use for antennas, someone will benefit from a new idea!

I have a 2 acre lot, and plenty of hardwood trees. My tree line around my property probably exceeds 75' or higher. My "farm":

HF:

1. Dipole cut for lower end of 80 meters, fed w/450 ohm ladder line, up about 60'.
2. Ten meter rotatable vee dipole, elements fashioned from 3/4" EMT conduit, each set 30° above horizontal, up 33', turned with an old TV rotor.
3. Ground mounted Butternut HF6V, needs more radials.
4. 160 meter dipole in an inverted vee, feedpoint up 60'.

Antenna 2 is lying on the roof of the garage, a victim of wind. Antenna 4 is lying on the ground ... needed trimming after ice storms stretched it quite a bit. Both are spring-time projects.

VHF/UHF:

1. "Stubby" Ringo Ranger VHF only, up 75', fed w/12 year old RG-8. Used for packet only.
2. Ringo Ranger VHF model (abt 13' tall) up 50', currently not being used.
3. Cushcraft dual band vertical, also abt 13' tall, up 45', for repeaters & simplex voice communications.
4. Dual band vertical purchased from N2RJ, going up on a 60' guyed aluminum mast I am trying to build, will be used primarily for UHF packet.

Anyone else doing any farming? :D

[kc7jty]

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/188/myshackqi8.jpg

[kd6nig]

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/188/myshackqi8.jpg

Thats a 10-8 antenna there, station!

[kk7ue]

:doh:

[kd6nig]

Though I'm sure the exposure levels are probably not within FCC specified limits :)

[k3td]

I live in a deed restricted community north of Austin, TX - what they don't know won't hurt me!

For 160 - 10 meters I have an Inverted L - 30'H x 75'L
Wire goes up one tree 30' and then across to another tree 75'
I use it on all HF bands by feeding it at the base through an SG-230 Smartuner
59 ground mounted radials help it play nicely.
The radials vary in length between 35' - 75' and were stapled to the turf
After one season they have become invisible below the grass.
Feedline is buried between SG-230 and house
Except for the horizontal portion of the L, the antenna is completely invisible

For VHF (6 and 2 SSB) I have Par Omniangle horizontal loops
Both antennas are mounted on a 12' wooden pole that is bolted into a tree
6 meter antenna is at 20', 2 meter antenna is at 15'
Antennas, pole and feedline painted with camo paint
Feedlines are buried between the tree and house
Absolutely invisible

Pictures at http://mysite.verizon.net/resxgopw/k3td/

73,

[N2RJ]

I have:

- SteppIR MonstIR 4 elements 20m-10m, 3 elements 40m & 30m, 6 elements 6m. This is on an AN Wireless 70ft self supporting tower
- Hustler 6BTV ground mounted with 120 buried radials
- Jetstream JTB1 2m/70cm antenna @86ft

This summer I am putting up:

- 80m 4 square using the Comtek controller
- 160m inverted L, I have already targeted the 100' tall tree I am putting it in,
- M2 2M18XXX 18 element 2m yagi for 2m SSB, hoping to work KG4KWW - Antenna is stored in the barn, just need to lift it on the tower
- Lightning protection - ring ground around the house and around the tower (already have the wire and ground rods). Right now I just have three ground rods at the tower, and ICE protectors and a ground rod at the shack entrance

All fed with Andrew heliax - 1/2" for the MonstIR, 3/8" for the vertical, 7/8" for the VHF/UHF stuff

Don't mean to brag, but this is why I bought a house, to have a serious antenna setup, after living in apartments for 6 years, I think I deserve it.

Of course I am always open to antenna ideas - I like experimenting, and antennas are one place that is wide open.

[N3ATS]

Stubby rubber duck antenna with a BNC adapter for my tuner.

[kk7ue]

Currently using a low mounted cushcraft R5 for hi hf. Not much of interest out here on vhf and up that an ht cant fix for now. Hell ,it takes a 10 element beam to get into Potland area repeaters from here due to topography! See other article in this forum for my plans in progress. Im tellin ya, it cant happen fast enough! :wall

[N3ATS]

Right now...

A 20M and a 40M Par Electronics End-Fed oriented N&S.
A Diamond X50A for 2m/70cm on the chimney at 33' to the base.
A piece of crap GAP Titan ground mounted that's coming down and getting sold.

To be...

A 44' N3ATS (I designed it, so my call sign goes on it) :dance: 40-10 meter doublet oriented N&S and an identical antenna oriented E&W.
A Diamond X50A for 2m/70cm on the chimney at 33' to the base.
An empty, easy to mow spot in the back yard. I may install a aluminum telescoping mast on a tilt-over base in place of the GAP for experimenting with inverted V's.

[n4aud]

At the moment:
160m full wave loop fed with homebrew ladder line
80m inverted V fed with twinlead (as a receiving antenna and backup)
2 meter 5 element beam
Antron 99 for 10m
6 meter halo- took it down temporarily while I had a metal roof put on
FM broadcast band vertical dipole

I've got some others out in the garage, may put up some kind of omnidirectional for 2m if I find a VHF antenna switch cheap. The 160m loop is coming down and getting re-arranged then put back up, hopefully a little higher and in a better "shape" than it is now. I'd like to get it into more of a regular square than it is now.

[ad4mg]

At the moment:
160m full wave loop fed with homebrew ladder line
80m inverted V fed with twinlead (as a receiving antenna and backup)
2 meter 5 element beam
Antron 99 for 10m
6 meter halo- took it down temporarily while I had a metal roof put on
FM broadcast band vertical dipole

I've got some others out in the garage, may put up some kind of omnidirectional for 2m if I find a VHF antenna switch cheap. The 160m loop is coming down and getting re-arranged then put back up, hopefully a little higher and in a better "shape" than it is now. I'd like to get it into more of a regular square than it is now.

Homebrew feedline! Interesting ... "tuned feeders", I've heard them called. I've heard that some of the serious VHF, UHF & higher, weak signal guys rolled their own feeders, but never knew anyone to go through the trouble for an HF antenna. How did you construct the line?

With 450 & 600 ohm ladder line so inexpensive, there had to be a specific reason you constructed your own line ... I'm really curious to hear more!

I have a ringo ranger 440MHz up at about 22 feet.

[n4aud]

Simple, I'm a fan of balanced feedlines. Other hams have told me they've had trouble with the commercially available ladder line, especially when applying high wattage. I always check the "remnant cart" that Lowe's fills with returned and odd lengths of wire, and got some 2 conductor cord CHEAP. I pulled it apart, then used mini popsicle sticks from Wally World as spreaders, simply by drilling them at the drill press, sliding them onto the conductors and using a dab of GOOP to hold them where I wanted them. It's been up for a couple of years now and the line, while not intended for outside use, has held up.
There are many pages about making your own ladder line. The most popular spreader materials seem to be PVC and plastic clothes hangers cut to length, but I like the popsicle sticks. I've got a couple of thousand of the things I've bought on sale at crafts stores, and I'm getting ready to make some more feedline because I'm moving my loop and need a longer feeder to it.

http://www.kr1st.com/hfcoath.htm
http://www.io.com/~n5fc/openfeed.htm
http://www.ka8vit.com/hbll/index2.html

Thanks Audie. This information is priceless.

[ad4mg]

Simple, I'm a fan of balanced feedlines. Other hams have told me they've had trouble with the commercially available ladder line, especially when applying high wattage. I always check the "remnant cart" that Lowe's fills with returned and odd lengths of wire, and got some 2 conductor cord CHEAP. I pulled it apart, then used mini popsicle sticks from Wally World as spreaders, simply by drilling them at the drill press, sliding them onto the conductors and using a dab of GOOP to hold them where I wanted them. It's been up for a couple of years now and the line, while not intended for outside use, has held up.
There are many pages about making your own ladder line. The most popular spreader materials seem to be PVC and plastic clothes hangers cut to length, but I like the popsicle sticks. I've got a couple of thousand of the things I've bought on sale at crafts stores, and I'm getting ready to make some more feedline because I'm moving my loop and need a longer feeder to it.

http://www.kr1st.com/hfcoath.htm
http://www.io.com/~n5fc/openfeed.htm
http://www.ka8vit.com/hbll/index2.html

I've run legal limit power through the 450 ohm feedline I have, but it does have the heavier wire in it (16 ga, I think). And I only did this on 40 & 80 meters (it feeds a 80 meter wire).

Thanks for the links ... will check them out tonight!

[mm0jvb]

i took down my farm last year it was : on a 35 ft tennamast
cushcraft ma5b beam 10-20mtr , 7 element zl special beam 2 mtr , watson 2000 vertical at the top of the mast for 6 , 2 , 70. on an eighteen foot alloy mast ( 5 ft bolted to the house i had a moonraker alloy coil loaded di-pole for 40 mtr & an 80 mtr one at the top in between i had a 4 element 2 mtr yagi in vertical position . under the rotor i had a slinky g5rv in an inverted v .
i took it all down & now have the ma5b on a 55ft tower & the g5rv . my garden is only 24 ft long by 9 ft wide . i built a one bedroom extension in the garden 3 years ago so i have no room for what i dream of. here,s a photo of the old antenna farm.

[n5usr]

I haven't gone the tower route yet. I just have a small forest of masts with 1-2 antennas per!

In the backyard I have an R8 vertical on a 12 foot pole.

One end of the house has a tri-band (2m / 220 / 440) vertical.

The other end has a mast with 2M and 6M SSB loops.

The chimney holds another triband antenna that goes to my 220 repeater with remote bases. (Lets me be lazy when talking simplex, I can wander around with my handheld!) There is also a discone lower down for my scanner.

I have a "temporary" tripod sitting on the back porch, usually used for testing and playing around but currently holding a 6M copper pipe J-pole that's hooked to the repeater as well.

I also have all the hardware (and *barely* enough yard) to put up an 80M dipole fed with ladder line. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

One of these years (probably in 2-3) I want to plant a nice, tall tower in the back yard. My "dream" tower is a 60 foot self-supporting, have to see how that'll look in my tiny yard... But that would get me over all the trees and hills around my house. I'm sure the neighbors will be thrilled! :twisted:

[K1OU]

Right now, I just have a 330 foot loop in the back yard up about thirty-five feet. It's fed with 450, into a 4:1 balun through a short run of coax to a Palstar tuner.

Come spring, I am going to reconfigure it and make a 3/8 inverted L for 160 and put tons of radials underneath. As I expected, the loop sucks for DX work, and ragchewing on 75 isn't really my thing anymore, so I figure I'll sacrifice some high angle, but still, feeding it with 450, I can tune it, so it should still be pretty effective because it's electrically 3/4 wavelength on 75, meaning a good chunk of high angle is still part of the pattern. Plus, I will be able to work 160, which is more appealing to me thanks to the chucklehead 4-landers who think it's funny to invoke religion to incite when they emphasize Obama's middle name.

Also, after much research, I have decided to build this antenna...

http://www.leoshoemaker.com/hexbeambyk4kio/general.html

A working antenna rotor came with the house that turns the large TV antenna, so cost and effort are minimized, and the antenna will be aesthetically unobtrusive.

That, and a small amp, and N2RJ will be running for his DX life. :D :dance

[N2RJ]

That, and a small amp, and N2RJ will be running for his DX life. :D :dance

This aint david and Goliath, bro. :whistle

[K1OU]

That, and a small amp, and N2RJ will be running for his DX life. :D :dance

This aint david and Goliath, bro. :whistle

Yeah, mine's bigger.

[ad4mg]

That, and a small amp, and N2RJ will be running for his DX life. :D :dance

This aint david and Goliath, bro. :whistle

Yeah, mine's bigger.

Uh, I dunno. he said his was a MonstIR. :shock:

[N2RJ]

That, and a small amp, and N2RJ will be running for his DX life. :D :dance

This aint david and Goliath, bro. :whistle

Yeah, mine's bigger.

ROFLOL. Okay, you win. I'll C U in the pileups! :D

[K1OU]

Actually it's the angle of the dangle that counts.... :shhh

[N2RJ]

Actually it's the angle of the dangle that counts.... :shhh

That's true, and actually living on a ridge and having a decent slope, I get a decent takeoff to EU and AF.

JA and pacific isn't so hot but I get them anyway.

[ad4mg]

It was in ruins. Coax ripped off one of the vhf antennas, and the swaying of the trees sawed through a brand new 150' section of parachute cord holding up one end of the 80 meter wire. It's back up in the air now, awaiting the next wind storm.

I guess I really need to get some pulleys up there.

[K1OU]

Actually it's the angle of the dangle that counts.... :shhh

That's true, and actually living on a ridge and having a decent slope, I get a decent takeoff to EU and AF.

JA and pacific isn't so hot but I get them anyway.

My old location in Lancaster, Ohio was pretty good for 10 meter JA runs when the sunspots were alive, Europe wasn't bad either.

At the new place, while Summit County is the highest part of the state, I'm in a bit of a valley and Europe might be a tougher sell, the Caribbean and the Pacific are looking good.

[N2RJ]

Yeah, well as I said, see you in the pileups.

Antennas are always a good thing mind you. When you get that hex up, let's make a sked and see how well it does. I can give you a couple of comparisons - one with the SteppIR pointed at you, one pointed 180 deg, and the vertical and maybe even a dipole, so you can see just how well you're getting out.

[KC9NRN]

My setup is a Comet GP3 2m / 440 mounted to a 2x4 in my attic and also a 20m dipole in the attic. The 20m dipole is used for receive only of course since I'm just Tech but it does a great job at RX for now.

When I go General the XYL and I are going to have the "Tower" talk, going to get her tipsy first of course. :mrgreen:

http://radiofun.homestead.com/100_3117.JPG

http://radiofun.homestead.com/100_3119.JPG

[n4aud]

It was in ruins. Coax ripped off one of the vhf antennas, and the swaying of the trees sawed through a brand new 150' section of parachute cord holding up one end of the 80 meter wire. It's back up in the air now, awaiting the next wind storm.

I guess I really need to get some pulleys up there.

Luke, my biggest problem with wind storms has been dead limbs taking out my antenna on their way to the earth. I've had that happen a couple of times with my loop and at least I can say my soldering/splicing skills are OK because the wire never breaks where I've spliced it.

We've had some pretty strong weather this spring here in the Old Dominion, haven't we?

[WV6Z]

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d148/ku4my/roflbot2.jpg

[kk7ue]

Finally got a dipole up for 80 & still want to do that 160 loop.....





its a start :shhh

[kc4umo]

Please no laughing!

Covers about everything.
2 meter 70cm homebrew quagi.(8 ele VHF ver, 16 ele UHF hor 16 foot long)
2 meter ssb homebrew yagi.
10/15/20 homebrew rotatable dipole.
6 meter homebrew beam.
10 meter homebrew yagi.
2 meter homebrew ground plane.
70cm homebrew ground plane.
70cm homebrew quagi.
VHF homebrew twist 24 element satellite antanna.
UHF homebrew twist satellite antenna.
Homebrew VHF texas potatoe masher.
Homebrew UHF texas potatoe masher.
Homebrew discone.
Homebrew fan dipole (10-80).
450 foot Long wire.
Warc band dipole.
Commercial made 40/80 meter dipole.


http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=642&stc=1&d=1209318411

[ki4itv]

All wire on HF here.
66ft. Doublet @ 55ft. high, Flat Top, broadside- East/West.
48ft. J-pole (20m Zepp)- this is a cool antenna. 20m only, but a very low take-off angle and no need for ground radials. Constructed from stranded unshielded wire, window line and coax to make a choke. This antenna is fed exactly like you would a j-pole and hung vertically.

VHF-
3L 6m beam/25ft.
Larson NMO 2/70 magmount on a pizza pan. (no kidding)
Rubber duck on what I wish was a Inrad filter. :roll:

[N9FE]

UMO: Atleast you have them lined up. Some that you see the different yagi's are never lined up. Often wonder how you get a proper beam heading that way, On which one comes to mind. Your still about five antennas away from a true junkyard in the sky. hi hi..

[kc4umo]

UMO: Atleast you have them lined up. Some that you see the different yagi's are never lined up. Often wonder how you get a proper beam heading that way, On which one comes to mind. Your still about five antennas away from a true junkyard in the sky. hi hi..

This is true, but wish my VHF on top was about 20 degress to the east. Then I would not have to keep moving to talk to the guys on 6 meter and the group on 2 meter simplex :)

5 more antennas eh? Hmmm How can I fix this? :chin:
Let me think for a while.

[W5GA]

4-BTV with about 40 radials and a 80m inverted vee up at 45'. Should have a 100' R25 up by the end of the summer, and have a 205BA and a 155CA waiting for it.

[N2RJ]

Please no laughing!


That's actually quite nice.

[kc4umo]

Please no laughing!


That's actually quite nice.

Thanks Ryan. Much appreciated.
I like to have more space so everything is not so cramped. Acre lot. ALso think of raising the tower another 15 to 20 feet. During the summer the trees block communication to the east on VHF. Another 15 foot would clear that.

If you look close you can see the long wire. In fact I am standing directly behind it...

[AD5ND]

150' inverted L, homebrew L match and the metal siding on the trailor for a ground. Loads up great. No RF in the shack.

[N8YX]

At present -

6BTV; base @ 33ft. 4 tuned radials per band on everything but 80; 2 there.

102' ladder-line fed doublet @ 40ft

10M 5/8-wave vertical @ 35 ft

144/440 Diamond (X300) @ 30 ft

144/440 Cushcraft Yagi @ 50 ft; fixed-pointed NE

25-1300 MHz Discone (for scanner listening)

Assorted random wires in flattop and sloper configuration (SWLing)


Proposed additions:

72' step tower with some sort of 10-20M directional array on top; 4-5 el 6M yagi stacked on top

Offset mounts on tower for 6/2/440 vertical; 2/220/440 vertical and 2 VHF marine antennas (for monitoring purposes)

Offset mounts on tower for 80/40/15M slopers; selected by remote switchbox

Roof tripod with 2/220/440 yagis and az-el rotors - 2 and 440 will be cross-polarized and selectable.


I would REALLY like to have about 20 acres or so on which to play... 8)

[kc4umo]

I would REALLY like to have about 20 acres or so on which to play... 8)

man that would be nice :)

I just added a Hy-Gain TH6DXX to the collection....
No pic yet

[n4aud]

I'm still more of a listener and Ryan has piqued my interest in Beverage antennas, so that' probably next on my list. Should be quite easily done here.

[N2RJ]

My 60 degree Beverage (capital B) is going to be finished this weekend. So I'll let you guys know how it plays.

I plan to put 4 of them for 8 directions, and maybe phase Europe, because Europe is my bread and butter in contests.

[KC9NRN]

Ok, finally getting the parts in to get onto the air on something besides 20m which I can't transmit on yet! I have used my attic mounted 20m dipole on 10m and made a few QSO's but that is obviously isn't the way to go. So here is what I'm working on now.

I have recently purchased a Heathkit SB-220 linear amplifier and Buckmaster 6-band OCF Dipole. I am also working on my General so I can make use of this power soon! But for now the Buckmaster is getting hooked up to my 746Pro.

Installing this weekend (if my LMR400 shows up!!).
6ft LMR jumper to Palstar PM2000AM SWR/Wattmeter (6ft because later on it goes to the linear!).
15ft LMR400 to 2000watt capable lightning arrestor which will be grounded to an 8ft buried ground pole.
85ft LMR400 feedline from grounded lightning arrestor to a tree where a military fiberglass mast will be mounted along side the trunk of a tree and will loft the Dipole 35ft into the air, the legs will go to trees on each side at the specified heights, I hope!

I'll take pictures and post them soon.

[AC0GR]

Ground mounted Butternut HF6V with what radials my tiny QTH will allow. (pair of 80m radials actually wrap part way around the house and garage.)

Driven element from an Cushcraft ATB-34 beam on the roof as a rotatable 10/15/20 dipole. (TV rotor not beefy enough to handle the entier beam)

Homebrew 6m Moxon above that on the same rotor.

2m/70cm copper J-pole at 7ft. (top of clothesline support)

Homebrew 132' 80-6m New Carolina Windom (Field-day 'portable' antenna)

------------------------------------------------------------
Parts in storage awaiting new QTH. :pray: 60ft tower and KT34XA w/TX2 rotor

[KU0DM]

My PETTING-ZOO of antennas (not farm)

20m dipole at 20 feet, GP-15 at 13 feet. Homeowners associations put the a$$ in association. :evil:

Have made enough money mowing lawns to buy a SteppIR BigIR MK3 vertical (6-40m) so hope to put one of those up.

[k0ews]

I have a ground mounted 6BTV, but I'm going to elevate it this summer yet.
I have a G5RV flat-topped at about 35 feet.
I have an end fed wire for 160 meters
I am in the process of putting up a 44 foot doublet fed with twin lead for the upper HF bands.
I have a dual band vertical on the roof for UHF/VHF stuff.

[N2RJ]

I now have an inverted vee at 70 feet for 80m/75m, fed with ladder line for tunable low loss goodness.

MonstIR's going back up in a couple weeks once I finish final checks and adjustments.

[ad4mg]

I now have an inverted vee at 70 feet for 80m/75m, fed with ladder line for tunable low loss goodness.

MonstIR's going back up in a couple weeks once I finish final checks and adjustments.

Superb! Is the vee noisy? I had my 80 meter dipole in an inverted vee configuration when I first moved here, and it was very noisy. Now, it's a flat-top, and it's still pretty noisy, but a little better than the vee config.

You'll probably do better on the DX with the vee, unless you can really elevate the flat-top. Of course, just having a resonant, full sized 1/2 wave dipole on 75/80 is huge!

How high is the inverted vee?

[VK3ZL]

At the moment:
160m full wave loop fed with homebrew ladder line
80m inverted V fed with twinlead (as a receiving antenna and backup)
2 meter 5 element beam
Antron 99 for 10m
6 meter halo- took it down temporarily while I had a metal roof put on
FM broadcast band vertical dipole

I've got some others out in the garage, may put up some kind of omnidirectional for 2m if I find a VHF antenna switch cheap. The 160m loop is coming down and getting re-arranged then put back up, hopefully a little higher and in a better "shape" than it is now. I'd like to get it into more of a regular square than it is now.

Homebrew feedline! Interesting ... "tuned feeders", I've heard them called. I've heard that some of the serious VHF, UHF & higher, weak signal guys rolled their own feeders, but never knew anyone to go through the trouble for an HF antenna. How did you construct the line?

With 450 & 600 ohm ladder line so inexpensive, there had to be a specific reason you constructed your own line ... I'm really curious to hear more!


I have a 160 meter dipole fed with home brew 1/4 wavelength balanced feeders....I made the feeders about 25 years ago from 3 strands of 22 gauge soft copper wire ...The 3 wires are twisted together using a hand drill..Just tie the wires to something solid at one end and clamp the other end into a hand drill chuck...Keeping the wire reasonably tight crank the hand drill to put an even twist on the 3 strands...You end up with a nice length of 3 strand wire which is flexible but very strong...I actually cut my spreaders from 1/4 inch thick perspex 51/2 inches wide by 1/2 inch...I then filed a V slot on each end of the spreaders and also drilled a small hole opposite the V slots..I then got the two feeder wires and tied each end to something solid stretching the wires to keep them both even and tight....I then put the spreaders in between the wires seating them in the slots..I then use a single strand of wire through the hole in the spreader and firmly bind the feeder wires to the spreader....

My 160 meter feeders are 130 feet long with the spreaders spaced every 4 feet..The feeders are connected to the 1/2 wavelength dipole via a solid pyrex insulator..The feeders and dipole ends are firmly attached to the center insulator and I use two flying leads to connect feeders and antenna ends...I use a stainless steel halyard through a high quality yachting pulley to haul the antenna to the top of the 90 foot mast..I hauled it up there 25 years ago and it has never been pulled down...It has survived many huge storms etc..

I can tune this antenna for any band from 160 meters through to 10 meters....I built 7 individual balanced tuners for this antenna installation..I cannot remember when I last checked the tuning on any band...I originally pre set each tuner to the band segment of interest and to this day the tuning hasn't altered and each tuner presents 50 ohms to the radios..I do not switch electronically between tuners...I have to go to the tuning hut and swap the lines and the heliax over to the tuner required..

This system has worked well for 25 years....I don't use the 160 dipole for transmitting as I have a vertical antenna system for dxing which is directional and much more efficient..That is a much more complex arrangement and uses a lot of space...However the 160 meter dipole is an
excellent receive antenna and ok for local VK work..

I hope there are a few ideas there for somebody to use....I very rarely work any other band except 160 meters and my main interest has always been CW DX.....

Bob VK3ZL.... :D

[K8WPJ]

finally did get one 2m/440 vertical up a week ago, and been enjoying the coverage ever since... The antenna is an OTEK UVS-200 and mounted on a 10" mast on a 5 foot tripod, and fed with 100' of RG-8X.

Radio is a Yaesu 857D at 50w 2m and 35w on 440... Coverage on 440 hasn't been worked out yet, not a whole lot of traffic there in these parts... with a bit of luck, I can get a couple antennas more up next month...

I have the parts, I just need the labor...

[WØTKX]

I'm a fan of being loopy... I had a 350' loop that is now about 450' long, in a rough squarish shape. Feed point is on the west side, up about 30 feet, and the middle of the opposite side is up about 50 feet. Ladderline to a Dentron Supertuner. After the mods, I've been getting out coast to coast AND local with a nice strong signal. It's an amazing receive antenna.

And I'm trying to figure out an Inverted L with ground radials for 160, because the loop just is not quite long enough for 160. I might put a switch in the loop to open it up opposite the feed point and try that. I'd really like to get on 160 again...

Gap Titan is almost fixed, and I hope to have it put back up this weekend.

Homebrew 2 meter phased loops and a Comet 6m/2m/70cm vertical up about 35 feet. I have a couple of very beat up Cushcraft 2 meter "boomers" that were given to me, and I may get one of them up in the air soon.

I am very intrigued with Moxons, and I'd like to play with a few designs. I use a PVC 6 meter Moxon for roving, along with a little Elk 2m-440 log periodic. PVC pipe is used in a lot of my antenna "creations", W4RNL got me turned on to using it... great fun, like Tinker Toys.

Antennas are one of my favorite things to dork around with.

[M0GLO]

Homebrew 10 element Yagi on 70cm (finished it up this weekend) that looks like the TV Yagi's around here, no one should be the wiser.
65' end fed Zep strung through the tree's so no one will see it. Luckily the east line of trees is at the right angle for N America. 8)

Sneaky stealth, my neighbors are HAM ignorant and I don't care to school em.

[kd8dey]

I tried all summer. I have a small garden alongside my driveway fence, and never could get anything to grow. I watered diligently, weeded, fertilized. the antennas just would not sprout :cry: tried using "seedlings, but I'm still stuck with just a AS-2 and a Tram 1481. no matter what I tried.

[N2RJ]

Superb! Is the vee noisy? I had my 80 meter dipole in an inverted vee configuration when I first moved here, and it was very noisy. Now, it's a flat-top, and it's still pretty noisy, but a little better than the vee config.

You'll probably do better on the DX with the vee, unless you can really elevate the flat-top. Of course, just having a resonant, full sized 1/2 wave dipole on 75/80 is huge!

How high is the inverted vee?

The vee is 70ish feet at the apex. The ends are at 20 feet or so.

The noise is low actually, about 2-3 S units above the Beverage. I haven't had a chance to compare it to a flat top yet.

[kd6nig]

I tried all summer. I have a small garden alongside my driveway fence, and never could get anything to grow. I watered diligently, weeded, fertilized. the antennas just would not sprout :cry: tried using "seedlings, but I'm still stuck with just a AS-2 and a Tram 1481. no matter what I tried.

Don't ever "plant" Wilson 1000 magmounts. People always come and steal those for some reason :)

I've never had an antenna stolen off my car, but I've heard of a few who have. Been thinking about getting one of those mounts you can stash in the trunk when you're not using it-more for the fact that if I mount it where I want it on my car, I have to "tilt" the antenna a bit to the left so it doesn't scrape the car when I open the trunk. So it looks kinda funny.

I know people decry them but I have had lots of good experience with "Comet" 2m/440 glassmounts. The wife wouldn't let me put anything significant on the HHR so I used 2 of those-one for the dual band mobile and one for APRS. Although I only needed 2m for APRS, I put 2 of the same on there so they would match. I'm probably losing a few DB, but I've never had issues being heard, and APRS performance is mostly the same versus the Diamond on the Cobalt.

Gotta do what you gotta do hehe.

[K8WPJ]

I'm a fan of being loopy... I had a 350' loop that is now about 450' long, in a rough squarish shape. Feed point is on the west side, up about 30 feet, and the middle of the opposite side is up about 50 feet. Ladderline to a Dentron Supertuner. After the mods, I've been getting out coast to coast AND local with a nice strong signal. It's an amazing receive antenna.


I'm considering something similar to go around the back yard here. 2 small questions tho-

my loop would be slightly bigger, possibly 400-420 feet... would that be any problem for a tuner like the LDG 100Pro to match ??

Ladder line and a balun or coax feed with a balun?

I have no trees, just (5) 25' poles to support the loop. The feedpoint would be at the base of a roof top tripod mount that supports another antenna. What impact would the relately low height have on performance?


thanks in advance..

[WØTKX]

Sooooiitainly!

http://www.threestooges.com/images/bios/photoCurlyHoward.jpg


I've found that loops suffer less for being mounted low, and are quieter.

I'm a fan of balanced line, and the length you've described will tune nicely to the bottom of 80 meters and then some... But I go all the way to a Dentron tuner with the balanced line, with stand-offs through a window plate. Cobbled together from Home Depot parts.

The feedpoint Z is about 100 ohms, so using a balun is not needed, and can get tricky. Are you planning on running power over 100 watts?

I'm running an amp and I use the antenna as an all bander, so the balanced line is a good idea.

RG-62A/U coax is available, and it is 93 Ohms. You might go for coax for simplicity. The DX-Engineering site have good baluns for loops, and information to consider, depending on how you are going to use it.

http://www.dxengineering.com/Products.asp?ID=50&SecID=10&DeptID=9 Click on "Choosing the Correct Balun".

It will be a 4:1 with coax, but if you really want to tune everywhere, the 1:1 with balanced line may be better.

Here's some links:

This description discusses a 75 Ohm coax matching section, your best bet.
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~wh2t/loop.html

Handy Dandy Loop Calculator
http://ka1fsb.home.att.net/loopcalc.html

The Skywire Loop Antenna
http://n1su.com/loop.html

W4RNL's website via Antennex, look for "Notes on All-Band Use of Horizontal-Plane Loops"
http://www.cebik.com/wire/hl.html

Go for it!

[K8PG]

Hello All,

I have 3 antennas for 160mtrs,#1 is a 3/8wave Inv L. with 64 1/2
wave radials,#2 -3 full waves LW fed 45 deg in on sw leg-#3 is a
1/2 wave Inv V,these antennas are all on white cedar trees(poles)
that I harvested in my swamp -85ft,65ft,and 60ft,For 80mtrs I have
1/2 wave vertical with 64 -1/2 wave radials and a 3/4 wave Invee
on 40 mtrs I have 7 full waves fed 3 waves in as a Lw -E/W and a
1/2 wave Ivee-These are my wire transmitting antennas.I have K9AY
receiver ants and matching unit. I have a US Towers HDX 555
with a Mosley Pro 67-C-3 yagi-4 ele 10-3ele on 12/15/17/20 and 40 mtrs with a rotatable dipole on 30 mtrs at 62ft,laying on 4x4s just delivered a US Towers Crank-up HDX 572 -72 ft tower with motor drive -dosent look like ill have it up this yr ? and in the garage in storage for 10 yrs in the box a KLM-Mirage-80M3-3 ele relay switched 75/80 mtr yagi and a Prostill rotator with 15 ft chromium
2-1/2in mast -200ft of 3/8 hardline.Ive been working on this antenna system going on 14 yrs-my theory is I cant have the toys
unless I pay cash so I save all those yrs,Its finally coming to a Reality !!.See you all in the CW pile-up-73 and Take Care

Paul -K8PG CW IS -CW LIVES :dance

[WØTKX]

I have 3 antennas for 160mtrs,#1 is a 3/8wave Inv L. with 64 1/2
wave radials,#2 -3 full waves LW fed 45 deg in on sw leg-#3 is a
1/2 wave Inv V,these antennas are all on white cedar trees(poles)
that I harvested in my swamp -85ft,65ft,and 60ft,For 80mtrs I have
1/2 wave vertical with 64 -1/2 wave radials and a 3/4 wave Invee
on 40 mtrs I have 7 full waves fed 3 waves in as a Lw -E/W and a
1/2 wave Ivee-These are my wire transmitting antennas.I have K9AY
receiver ants and matching unit. I have a US Towers HDX 555
with a Mosley Pro 67-C-3 yagi-4 ele 10-3ele on 12/15/17/20 and 40 mtrs with a rotatable dipole on 30 mtrs at 62ft,laying on 4x4s just delivered a US Towers Crank-up HDX 572 -72 ft tower with motor drive -dosent look like ill have it up this yr ? and in the garage in storage for 10 yrs in the box a KLM-Mirage-80M3-3 ele relay switched 75/80 mtr yagi and a Prostill rotator with 15 ft chromium
2-1/2in mast -200ft of 3/8 hardline.Ive been working on this antenna system going on 14 yrs-my theory is I cant have the toys
unless I pay cash so I save all those yrs,Its finally coming to a Reality !!.See you all in the CW pile-up-73 and Take Care

Paul -K8PG CW IS -CW LIVES :dance

I am insanely jealous, and will hate you forever.

[N8YX]

I just finished all the work I'm going to do on mine for this year.

The tally is as follows:

6BTV; tower-mounted; base @ 30ft. 4 tuned 1/4w radials per band except for 80; 3 there. Fed with RG213.

Modified 4BTV; 11-12-15-17M. Base @ 30ft on roof mount; 3 tuned 1/4w radials per band. Fed with RG213.

Alpha Delta 80/40M set up as an inverted vee; apex @ 45 feet. Fed with LMR240.

Alpha Delta DX-SWL slopers; one favors the SW...the other favors the SE. Feed to receivers is with RG8/X.

102' G5RV with ladder-line to 4:1 balun transition. Is set up as an east-facing sloper at the moment but may hoist the eastern end into the treetops in the near future. Feed into shack is a run of RG213. (Nabobs may critique it but d..n does that thing work well on 20!)

Diamond C3200X 144/220/440 @ 25ft. 9913 feedline.

Cushcraft 2/440 5-el/band @ 40 ft; fixed towards NE. 9913 feedline.

Diamond discone w/ HF whip section @ 20 ft. Inline 10dB preamp @ antenna; another 10dB preamp downline of the first 1-4 splitter. All fed with RG6/U.

Next year the 6BTV comes down...a 70' freestanding tower goes up in its place, topped with a TA54XL or similar multiband yagi. Then I'll relocate a lot of the VHF/UHF antennas to the tower and take advantage of the elevation.