I had a 20 meter dipole about 65 feet over the house. The antenna had
a flat swr on 14.336 where I often hang out. On the low end, it was
too high to use below 14.020 so I only lost use of a portion of the
extra portion without a tuner. (flat defined as according to the 706
MKII internal meter.)

This evening I cut a pair of wires 4.5 feet long each. I added them
to the 20 meter connection center connection at the coax and let them
hang about 8 inches below the 20 meter wire. I also changed coax from
cable-tv coax to RG-8 foam. I rearanged the antenna just a little
with also allowed for an additional 10 feet of height. I now have a
20/6 meter dipole at about 75 feet high with the legs pointed almost
exactly east and west.. 20 meters is now flat at 14.030 and the top
edge of the band is only 1.3:1. The 6 meter dipole turned out to be
flat on 50.1.

So far, I am quite happy with the antenna. I am having a 6 meter QSO
as I write this. (The other party loves to talk and hasn't unkeyed
for at least 5 full minutes.)

Based on our current conversation, It appears that my next antenna
will be a loop.

Comments are welcome,

Thank you,


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

That's a good example of the ham spirit of experimentation.
A different antenna design might start with someone saying "I wonder how it
would work if I made this change."..
I tried a different style once - multiple home-made coils on a long
antenna - I need to revisit that experiment now that I have the MFJ Antenna
Analyzer.


"Buck" wrote in message
...
I had a 20 meter dipole about 65 feet over the house. The antenna had
a flat swr on 14.336 where I often hang out. On the low end, it was
too high to use below 14.020 so I only lost use of a portion of the
extra portion without a tuner. (flat defined as according to the 706
MKII internal meter.)

This evening I cut a pair of wires 4.5 feet long each. I added them
to the 20 meter connection center connection at the coax and let them
hang about 8 inches below the 20 meter wire. I also changed coax from
cable-tv coax to RG-8 foam. I rearanged the antenna just a little
with also allowed for an additional 10 feet of height. I now have a
20/6 meter dipole at about 75 feet high with the legs pointed almost
exactly east and west.. 20 meters is now flat at 14.030 and the top
edge of the band is only 1.3:1. The 6 meter dipole turned out to be
flat on 50.1.

So far, I am quite happy with the antenna. I am having a 6 meter QSO
as I write this. (The other party loves to talk and hasn't unkeyed
for at least 5 full minutes.)

Based on our current conversation, It appears that my next antenna
will be a loop.

Comments are welcome,

Thank you,


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Based on our current conversation, It appears that my next antenna
will be a loop.

Comments are welcome,

Ok...Live a little...Build a yagi for 6m...Will smoke the
dipoles and loops, etc...I built a 3 el NBS yagi all from
hard drawn copper tubing. I think it cost about $20 or
so for the tubing...I built it all one piece using a torch to
weld the elements to the copper boom. The elements
are 1/2 inch. The boom , 1 inch I think...
Actually on 6m, anything is probably ok...But my 706
does not like big wire antennas. Brings in too much
HF signals, and trashes the receiver..Using the yagi,
it's pretty clean. You'd probably see the same thing,
being you are using the same radio...Mine is a mk2g,
but 6m is probably the same appx circuit...Myself,
I don't see a loop really being much better than a
dipole..There won't be any mistake switching to a
yagi... MK

The trouble with a 2 or more element yagi is it has to be rotatable.

Simple dipoles and loops do not.
----
Reg, G4FGQ

On 17 Jun 2005 13:27:28 -0700, wrote:

Based on our current conversation, It appears that my next antenna
will be a loop.

Comments are welcome,

Ok...Live a little...Build a yagi for 6m...Will smoke the
dipoles and loops, etc...I built a 3 el NBS yagi all from
hard drawn copper tubing. I think it cost about $20 or
so for the tubing...I built it all one piece using a torch to
weld the elements to the copper boom. The elements
are 1/2 inch. The boom , 1 inch I think...
Actually on 6m, anything is probably ok...But my 706
does not like big wire antennas. Brings in too much
HF signals, and trashes the receiver..Using the yagi,
it's pretty clean. You'd probably see the same thing,
being you are using the same radio...Mine is a mk2g,
but 6m is probably the same appx circuit...Myself,
I don't see a loop really being much better than a
dipole..There won't be any mistake switching to a
yagi... MK


I wasn't very clear. (actually, not at all clear) on the loop. The
person I was talking to has offered to put up a full sized 80 meter
loop in my yard for HF. I think you are right. i would definitely
like to budget a good pair of filters for the rig. As it stands,
except for 20 and 6, I am tuning an 80 meter dipole for all other
bands.

I do want to create a yagi for 6 meters. I am hoping to get at least
4 elements, but I'll settle for 2 or 3 if necessary.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

On 17 Jun 2005 13:27:28 -0700, wrote:

Based on our current conversation, It appears that my next antenna
will be a loop.

Comments are welcome,

Ok...Live a little...Build a yagi for 6m...Will smoke the
dipoles and loops, etc...I built a 3 el NBS yagi all from
hard drawn copper tubing. I think it cost about $20 or
so for the tubing...I built it all one piece using a torch to
weld the elements to the copper boom. The elements
are 1/2 inch. The boom , 1 inch I think...
Actually on 6m, anything is probably ok...But my 706
does not like big wire antennas. Brings in too much
HF signals, and trashes the receiver..Using the yagi,
it's pretty clean. You'd probably see the same thing,
being you are using the same radio...Mine is a mk2g,
but 6m is probably the same appx circuit...Myself,
I don't see a loop really being much better than a
dipole..There won't be any mistake switching to a
yagi... MK

Just for your info, KM4QQ, Ed, the other party I was talking to last
night and tonight made six contacts before realizing it was off the
back of his Log Periodic. However upon closer examination, he
discovered he was actually on his 80 meter loop. We did some
experimenting and discovered he gains one s-unit by using the beam
pointed at me vs using the 80 meter loop. He will be using the loop
to monitor 6 meters and then rotate the beam as needed.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

We did some
experimenting and discovered he gains one s-unit by using the beam
pointed at me vs using the 80 meter loop.

Not unusual really...The big HF antennas have quite a
bit of gain in some directions...Some other direction,
it might be a dud though...Wonder how much gain his
"log" has...Most are fairly average, being they are
covering a pretty wide range. On the other hand,
my 3 el is set up for maximum gain..About 9.4 dbi,
or about 7.25 or so dbd. He may have that much gain,
if he has quite a few elements. I'm probably getting
more bang per buck per pound of metal, at that one
frequency...I often talk off the back and sides.. I don't
have a rotor. If I need to turn it, I have to go out and
"armstrong" the mast...So I note the skip trends at the
time, and turn it that way. Usually east in the early day.
Often later, as the skip drifts west, I'll end up swinging it
around in the evening. Most lately is E skip...Here at this
qth, the HF antennas have gain also, but they are fairly
unusable due to the trashing of the receiver. On the 706,
the yagi really cleans it up. This is probably worth more
here, than the transmit gain. My usual parallel dipole setup
for the low bands is resonant on 6m pretty close. I don't
even need a tuner , if I remember right...I'm sure it's got
some pretty good gain in some directions. But the beam
still smokes it overall. I actually don't get on there all that much,
as I usually don't notice the band openings, and have been
busy also...But all the people I've worked so far gave me
really good reports. I did do a f/b test with it , right after I
built it, and it seemed to jive with the model almost exactly.
Or as far as I could tell with my limited, means of
measurement...The beam is an exact copy of the NBS
yagi in elnec/eznec. MK