6m (50Mhz) Long wire antenna
Description by Arnie Coro CO2KK
There is another form of long wire antenna which provides uni-directional coverage and is easy to build.
Here is the description.
From the transmitter or transceiver, you go to an antenna tuner via
coaxial cable. The tuner is placed at the base of the antenna, not
at your operating position.
From the tuner's single ended output comes a wire that first goes
STRAIGHT UP for about ONE WAVELENGTH at 50 mHz...
Then the wire is bent and slopes VERY GENTLY in the direction of
the desired coverage, You want the wire to extend itself for no less
than 5 wavelengths, although shorter versions work quite well too, but
are not SO DIRECTIONAL.
The wire SLOPES until it ends at a height of about ONE TO TWO
METERS ABOVE GROUND.... There you tie it to a small mast...
THEN.... tied to this small mast you need to place no less than 3,
and much better 5 one quarter wavelength radials , that act as a
counterpoise... The radials will kindly help to hold the small mast
in a vertical position... You can use very small insulators for the
radials, or tie them with dacron or nylon lines ( I prefer to use
dacron lines similar to those used for sailboats ).
REMEMBER to aim your antenna to SLOPE in the DIRECTION
that you want to communicate with....
It shows a gain of no less than 5 to 6 dB over a horizontal dipole
when the wire length is about 30 to 40 meters....
The antenna seems to work also on 10 meters , with the appropriate
tuner, and I have tested it on 2 meters too, but have yet to do
some really good comparative tests against my "standard" 5 element
portable yagi.
This VERTICAL 1 wavelength + HORIZONTAL SLOPING 5 to 7
wavelength antenna + RADIALS, can be taken on a reel, and the
wire can be really light... a lot easier to transport than a YAGI or
a QUAD, and certainly a lot easier to build and to put in place.
YES... YOU ARE RIGHT... I always USE A TREE ( when available)
to hold the VERTICAL PART OF IT !!!
Hope this helps those in need of a very simple, low cost, unidirectional
field antenna for VHF use
Arnie Coro CO2KK
Host of Dxers Unlimited
Radio Havana Cuba
e-mail : [email protected]
phone: 53-7-814243
phone res: 53-7-301794
Postal address
Arnie Coro
Dxers Unlimited
Radio Havana Cuba
Po Box 6240
Havana
CUBA 10600
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