On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:56:53 -0500, Buther Boy wrote:



The Imax is 24 feet. Forget it. The A-99 is 18 feet. You would have to out it at
a 45 degree angle. You best bet is a 1/2 wave dipole.

Forget the vertical in the attic idea. I tried it and there was a ton of noise.
I was able to shoot skip, but had little local communications.

Vinnie S.

Do you think I would be able to shoot skip with a 1/2 wave dipole? And
can you recommend a manufacturer or model number?

Easily shoot skip. You would have some local success. But you might run some
TVI. Hang it as high as you can get it, away from AC power wires.

http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/7117/antenna.html

Here is the formula for the antenna. You can easily make you own. Get some 14
gauge wire from Home Depot. Cut the 2 wires about 9 feet long per leg, solder
one wire to the center conductor, and one wire to the ground braid, and then
trim 1/2 inch at a time, to the SWR you need. Make sure you use electrical tape
or shrink tubing to insulate where you solder. When trimming, trim both ends the
same amount, each time you cut. They need to be equal. You will be closer to
about 8.66 feet when it's all set and done. Some people say to just make it out
of the coax, and use the center conductor as one leg, and the braid as another.
That is much harder and much more expensive. Use the 14 gauge wire instead.

Use a good shielded coax like Belden 9913. Also, some people here have suggested
to coil the coax at the feedpoint using 10 turns - 6 inches apart. The best
thing to do is find a can about 6 inches in diameter, and wrap 10 turns of coax
around it, tape it and remove the can. This would choke stray RF and keep the
coax from radiating. I am not the antenna guru of this group. There are plenty
of them. This info comes from them, and most of it very helpful.


Whatever you do, don't run power with this. You will most likely produce TVI.
Get yourself a good TVI low pass filter with the money you save.

Vinnie S.