A Question for the Antenna Gurus

[W1GUH]

There must be some sort of force in the ether that dooms many Island hook-ups on the radio. I tried a few times last year & everytime I did condx really sucked & there was nothing doing. The best (and it was pretty good) was 'bny and I could hear each other, but barely. Enough to exchange reports, but not nearly enough for a rag chew.

And, usualy a couple of days later the bands were wide open to where they were deader than a doorknob when we were trying. Go figure.

[KJ3N]

We had reasonable success on 75m some months ago.

[KG4CGC]

There must be some sort of force in the ether that dooms many Island hook-ups on the radio. I tried a few times last year & everytime I did condx really sucked & there was nothing doing. The best (and it was pretty good) was 'bny and I could hear each other, but barely. Enough to exchange reports, but not nearly enough for a rag chew.

And, usualy a couple of days later the bands were wide open to where they were deader than a doorknob when we were trying. Go figure.

It's called the egg shaped circle of event. Eventually it will oscillate in your favor.

[W3WN]

Conditions have been a little strange lately.

Almost worked FO8RH on 17 meters last night. At about 11:30 PM local (0330 Z). I say "almost" because he copied my call as W3WH; and Bill was not QRV at the time (I asked him).

[NQ6U]

Conditions have been a little strange lately.

I worked a guy in Italy Monday night, which is not as easy for me here on the Left Coast as it is for you guys over there on the other side of the map. And, just in time for Field Day: A CME headed our way with a possible geomagnetic storm, projected to arrive at 07:00 UCT on Friday. Woo-hoo!

[W1GUH]

It's called the egg shaped circle of event. Eventually it will oscillate in your favor.

Murphy will dictate that it's "in your favor" when it doesn't matter!

[KG4CGC]

Murphy will dictate that it's "in your favor" when it doesn't matter!

yep :)

[N8YX]

We had reasonable success on 75m some months ago.

We'll have even better luck with future attempts. I haz fire in wire now.

[KA9MOT]

They will interact with each other and make initial tuning a little difficult. I see no reason why it wont work. That said, the best antenna I ever owned was my Fan Dipole..............

[ab1ga]

...
Now, the idle thought is simply this... why not run more than one wire inside? That is, run multiple lengths cut for each band (10, 12, 15, 17, 20 & 30 meters) alongside the "main run". This ought to make the flag pole resonant (more or less) on each band; or close enough that the tuner won't have to "work" too hard to match.
...

It has been done, although not within the relatively tight confines of a flagpole.

"WA5ABR's Homebrew Seven-Band Vertical", in "Simple and Fun Antennas for Hams", First Edition, ARRL. This book may no longer be in print, but I think it was replaced by another title within the past two years, and the article may be in there.

The article also appeared in the ARRL Antenna Compendium, Volume 5.

The antenna covers from 10 to 40 meters, and looks to be about 23 feet tall, with the 40 meter radiator being 16' of tubing, a loading coil, and a whip. It's made of telescoping tubing using 15-inch diameter acrylic disks as spacers.

Just brainstorming here: Use aluminum tubing as the 40 meter element right down the middle of the interior of the flagpole. Put the loading coil right at the top, drill a small hole in the top for the whip portion to attach through. Attach acylic spacer disks to that center element at intervals, maintaining as snug a fit as practical. Use bare wire, or perhaps brazing rod for rigidity. Rigid small-diameter copper tubing would also work, but might be pricey. Assemble the unit, do preliminary tuning outside the pole, then slide it in from the bottom.

You may have the books on your shelf, but if not, send me a PM with email address and I'll send you a copy of the article. No guarantees, either about the quality of the scans or the performance of the antenna, though. :)

73,