+++++++++++++++++++++ See Antenna Random Wire +++++++++++++++++++++ Reply-To: "Don Wilhelm" From: "Don Wilhelm" To: "Lloyd Lachow" , Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How to hook up a longwire to a K1 Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 18:23:08 -0400 I would sugest using a BNC female to PL259 male adapter - also a bannana plug. The bannana plug fits nicely into the center of the PL259 and provides the connection point for the antenna wire. In case the adapter projection from the back is a bother to you, add an angle adapter to your 'wants' list. 73, Don W3FPR ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lloyd Lachow" To: Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 3:47 PM Subject: [Elecraft] How to hook up a longwire to a K1 > I believe I'm on the verge of acquiring a K1, and > beginning to live the dream. I'm not familiar with the > little nubbin on the back, where the antenna goes. I'm > using a 90' endfed longwire; what do I need to hook it > up to this jewel? Thanks! ++++++++++++++++++++++ From: "Sandy, W5TVW" To: "Lloyd Lachow" , Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How to hook up a longwire to a K1 Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 18:00:58 -0500 I assume you have the KAT1 option installed ? The best connection medium available is an adapter made by Pomona Electronics, Cat nr. 1296. It adapts the BNC connector on the set to two banding posts/banana jacks which is VERY versatile and compact in the field. I have also found that a homemade small "Balun" constructed from a small 3/4" ferrite core using twin "speaker wire" for the bifilar winding works very well with high impedance or balanced loads. I mounted the balun in a small "project box" from Radio Shack, input/output binding posts mounted on each end of the box. See any ARRL Handbook for 4:1 balun winding details. 73, Sandy W5TVW ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lloyd Lachow" To: Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 2:47 PM Subject: [Elecraft] How to hook up a longwire to a K1 ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Sandy, W5TVW" To: "Lloyd Lachow" , "List Elecraft" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Grounding a K1 Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 10:20:12 -0500 The black binding post goes to the ground bus of the K1 via the BNC connector shell. Counterpoise length is not unduly critical. It should be preferably at least a quarter wave long on the band being used. I use 33' lengths of hookup wire. Try and use at least two run in different directions. Attach the "earth" lead to the same post the counterpoise wires go to. Again, with a "random wire" antenna....I assume you have the KAT1 antenna tuner built in? If not, you should be using a seperate antenna tuner/transmatch. 73, Sandy W5TVW Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 7:51 AM Subject: [Elecraft] Grounding a K1 | I'll be hooking up a longwire to my K1 with a | connector that goes on the BNC and has two binding | posts. Longwire to red, counterpoise to black. Sound | right? Then: can I have two (or more) counterpoises | attached, cut for each band? Finally: Where can I, or | should I, attach an earth ground to the rig? Thanks! ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 13:31:16 -0400 To: "Tom" From: Charles Greene Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How Long Is "Long Enough"? Cc: "Wayne Burdick" , "Elecraft Reflector" Tom and All, I use 85' of wire with a 17' counter poise laid on the ground (which is known as a W3EDP antenna) and a 4:1 balun at the intersection. Works well. At 09:38 PM 8/5/2002 -0400, Tom wrote: >Wayne, > I like the "tossing a wire into a tree" approach myself. What sort of >balun do you use on the # 26 wire? > >Thanks >Tom McCulloch >WB2QDG >K2 s/n 1103 > > >Friend of Bill W. > --- If you are too, drop me a line. >-----Original Message----- >From: Wayne Burdick >To: Weymouth Walker >Cc: Elecraft Reflector >Date: Saturday, August 03, 2002 4:55 PM >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How Long Is "Long Enough"? > > > >Weymouth Walker wrote: > > > >> The subject is: the "shortest" dipole I can get by with > >> when operating portable with the K2 ... > > > > > >Weymouth, > > > >One possible answer is: use a random-length vertical rather than a > >dipole. A piece of wire of any gauge (I use #26, usually) can be tossed > >into a nearby tree. In many cases this is simpler than putting up a > >dipole--you can get on the air in literally seconds if you keep a weight > >attached to the line. It will often outperform a low dipole on > >lower-frequency bands. > > > >Another advantage of the random-length vertical is that you can get by > >with no feedline, especially if you have a balun available. Instead of > >using the balun to convert unbalanced to balanced, use it just as a way > >of providing some isolation between the K2's chassis and the antenna. > >Eliminating the feedline is the key to minimizing the fiddle-factor in > >getting an antenna up. > > > >I've loaded wires as short as 20' on most bands using the KAT2. Avoid > >lengths that are an exact multiple of a half wave on any band you plan > >to use. Bring a few extra hunks of wire to lay out as radials. > > > >73, > >Wayne > >N6KR +++++++++++++++++++ From: "Stuart Rohre" To: , "elecraft" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Antenna Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 18:41:08 -0600 Hi Earl, My comments about galavanized wire antennas I have used being lossy was in the original query context of combined receiving and transmitting antennas. Of course, the Beverage receiving antenna is a wave antenna, and the loss of galvanized distributes the needed terminating resistance throughout the wire slowing the wave. I have a buddy here who has numerous Beverages for 80/160 (big acreage) he and ON4UN have similar set ups. Will have to ask him if he considered galvanized. I have up to this point been thinking his were copper. Good suggestion, thanks, Stuart K5KVH ++++++++++++++++ To: rohre at arlut.utexas.edu, elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 17:09:20 -0800 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Antenna From: k6se at juno.com Stuart, K5KVH wrote: "Of course, the Beverage receiving antenna is a wave antenna, and the loss of galvanized distributes the needed terminating resistance throughout the wire slowing the wave." ========== Perhaps that explains why the termination resistance for my Beverages is much less than others have found on theirs. To determine the correct termination resistance value, I applied about one watt of power at 1830 kHz to my 1100' Beverage and walked the wire with a field strength meter. With the correct value of resistance, the field strength along the antenna had no peaks or nulls, however it did gradually get smaller due to wire loss and radiation loss as I walked toward the terminated end. The correct value of resistor in my case was about 300 ohms (7' high Beverage over desert soil). The theory behind the improved F/B ratio for the galvanized steel Beverage is that the signal from the reverse (unwanted) direction must travel down the lossy wire twice to reach the receiver -- once toward the terminated end, and then whatever signal is reflected from the termination must travel down the wire again toward the receiver. Signals coming from the forward (desired) direction must travel down the lossy wire only once. 73, de Earl, K6SE ++++++++++++++++ Reply-To: From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" To: Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Balun on KAT2 Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 18:55:26 -0800 Dave's quite right. You do NOT want a balun to use with an end-fed wire. Some ops "recommend" them to keep r-f off of the rig. "RF" on the rig CAN be an issue, but a balun is NOT the way to handle it efficiently. Just make sure that you have a decent r-f ground at your rig. If you are close to a water pipe ground, etc., that will work fine. By close, I mean 10 feet or less for 80 meters, a foot or so for 10 meters. It's a function of wavelength. The shorter the wavelength, the shorter your ground wire must be. Another way to get a good r-f ground on your rig is to hook a 1/4 wave long wire to the case of your rig for the band (s) you are using. Eight feet is fine for 10 meters, for example. Insulate the wire, especially the far end. It will be "hot" with r-f. You can simply put on a wire for each band you operate on and leave them all hooked to the case. Assuming that your long wire antenna is truly long - at least 1/2 wavelength or on the lowest frequency band you will use (120 feet on 80 meters, for example) - the quality of the ground only need be good enough to keep "rf" off of the rig. You'll know that is fine if the SWR doesn't change when you touch the rig case. If your wire is substantially shorter than 1/2 wavelength, the quality of the ground will start to have a greater and greater impact on performance. It'll still work, but you might want to read up on good ground systems for "vertical" antennas in order to get the best performance. Ron AC7AC K2 # 1289 +++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 21:42:08 -0500 (EST) From: Thom LaCosta To: Stuart Rohre Cc: rondec at easystreet.com, Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Balun on KAT2 On Fri, 22 Nov 2002, Stuart Rohre wrote: > Better still for RF ground than any water pipe would be a quarter wave > counterpoise either inside or preferred outside the shack, or as much as you > can run near the earth outside. FWIW, for years I was frustrated with bad locations, RF all over the place, etc.....until I made up "The Bundle", a series of 1/4 wavelength wires for each band I use. Taped them all together and stretched it out around the secnd floor of my house. The antenna is an end fed wire about 89 feet long, and all of 15 feet high. Is it a great antenna? No Does it set the world on fire? No Can I work everyone I hear Almost(operator skills, or lack thereof) Do I get RF in the shack No Can I power up the K2, pick a band and go about QSOs without hassle YES Thom baltimoremd at baltimoremd.com Thom LaCosta K3HRN Webmaster http://www.baltimoremd.com/ Baltimore's Home Page http://www.baltimorehon.com/ Home of the Baltimore Lexicon http://www.zerobeat.net Home of The QRP Web Ring and DrakeList http://www.tlchost.net Web Hosting as low as $3.49/month +++++++++++++++ From: "Wallace, Andy" To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 08:37:19 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] multiband counterpoise with K1 > -----Original Message----- > From: Thom LaCosta [mailto:baltimoremd at baltimoremd.com] > FWIW, for years I was frustrated with bad locations, RF all over the > place, etc.....until I made up "The Bundle", a series of 1/4 > wavelength wires for each band I use. Taped them all together and > stretched it out around the secnd floor of my house. The antenna is an end > fed wire about 89 feet long, and all of 15 feet high. Thom, thank you for this idea! I just tried it. My ant is just a 35' or so random sloping down to a clothesline pole. The rig is a fair distance away from the window so I use a length of RG8X to get there. I've got a barrier strip attached to the wall and the coax attaches here, with the antenna wire attaching to the corresponding terminal. So I have the coax shield terminal for a counterpoise - in trying a random length of that, it didn't help much. I made a bundle as you described for my 4-band K1 (40/30/20/15) and drooped it down the stairwell. Seems to work. The KAT1 is happy about it. I'm in MA -- had a ragchew with a guy in NM on 20, and worked LX0LT in Luxembourg on 40 as well. Bands may seem a little quieter -- perhaps this helps on receive also. I'll hang it (unfortunately inside) more properly tonight and keep experimenting. I'll be happy if it reduces TVI, too. I don't see any references for such a counterpoise in a quick search. If anyone has pointers, please post them. I am curious how the four different lengths affect each other, electrically. Should the lengths change? I guess it would be similar to a fan multiband dipole, except with the elements against each other. I used insulated wire, of course!!!! Before someone suggests -- unfortunately I have no prospects of a better antenna outside... :-/ Someday! -Andy +++++++++++++++ From: "George, W5YR" To: "Wallace, Andy" , Subject: Re: [Elecraft] multiband counterpoise with K1 Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 10:22:57 -0600 Andy, I have posted on this topic at least a dozen times over the past two years. This "bundle of wires" is not a true counterpoise in any sense of the word. It is, rather, a "driven ground" in which the wires being in the near-field of the antenna develop a current and associated voltage. By being 1/4 wavelength long and open at the "far end" the end attached to the station equipment is driven by the induced r-f to a near zero r-f potential, effectively "grounding" the equipment. Generally, this produces better results that any attempt to physically connect to an Earth ground. "Ground"is not all that it is supposed to be for r-f purposes - I suspect that more problems are created by efforts to "connect the station to a good r-f ground" than by omission of any such connection and concentration on the antenna system configuration. Keep in mind that the wires need be only approximately resonant but length is to some degree important. The open ends can achieve quite high voltages so they must be insulated. The wires will radiate and can be a source of RFI. Being bound up in a bundle will detune them all to some extent, but as long as they "work" that is what counts. Good luck with your new discovery of a very old application of the "driven ground." <:} 73/72, George Amateur Radio W5YR - the Yellow Rose of Texas In the 57th year and it just keeps getting better! Fairview, TX 30 mi NE of Dallas in Collin county EM13qe K2 #489 Icom IC-765 #2349 Icom IC-756 PRO #2121 ++++++++++++++++