We bought our house last February but the antenna didn’t go up until April, due in part to shortages in ladder line from the Wireman. April 8th, in fact – a year ago today.
The configuration is:
5/100-watt rig -> 3′ of RG-58 -> Z100 LDG autotuner -> 15′ of RG-58 out the window -> 4:1 LDG balun -> 75′ of ladder line -> 80m dipole
The antenna is about 65′ high, strung north-south between two pine trees and used 10-80 meters. Continue reading 'A year with a dipole'»
LCR meter kit from Jackson Harbor Press (thanks Bob)
I’ve been wanting an LCR meter for a lot of years now but have refrained from buying one due to my skepticism of their accuracy. A voice in the back of my head is telling me that I could probably measure the value of a small-value capacitor a number of times and get a number of different results.
The variation would be due to factors like overall meter accuracy & resolution, lead capacitance, physical arrangment of the leads, body capacitance as the measurement is made, etc. But maybe I’m wrong, as often is the case…
In reading over the manual for the new Ft. Tuthill 80m kit, it appears that there are ten 0.1uF capacitors that should be matched. If not, the rig stands a small chance of breaking into self-oscillation. Continue reading 'Convenient excuses & expenditure justification'»
A Google search for lowband DX antennas will yield tons of results, even if you are limiting your search to something that would fit on a typical city lot. I doubt any one person has tried more than a few variants of the many designs that are out there.
Continue reading 'Limited-space *Effective* Lowband DXing'»
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