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#1
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I just started on hf bands and i usiing now a FD4 from Fritzel and I hear
all goods things about the G5RV. Is that so, works it's also great on 10 and 15m? I have not to much space for a full size beam but a mini beam works also good I think. But most of beginners started with a wire like a G5RV??? If I buy a G5RV is that with a Balun or without a balun what's the best?? 73's Dave on4dsq |
#2
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On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 17:33:53 GMT, "Willy" wrote:
I just started on hf bands and i usiing now a FD4 from Fritzel and I hear all goods things about the G5RV. Is that so, works it's also great on 10 and 15m? Works better than a dummy load, but probably not much better than (or as good as) a dipole. How 'good' an antenna works is relative to the antennas the operator has previously used. If you a) never had an HF antenna, or b) used only a long wire, your opinion would probably be that it's 'great'. If you had previously used 5 x 5 x 5 monobanders on the high bands, your opinion would probably be that it sucks. I've used lots of wire antennas, and it's been my experience that any multiband wire antenna (like the G5RV) never works any better than a simple half wave dipole, and most of the time they work worse. But the G5RV has advantages - you can feed it with one coax and use it on many bands instead of feeding five or six dipoles, and it takes up less room than five or six dipoles. I have the same problem you do, not enuff space for a tower and a good antenna. One wire antenna that I have always like is a loop. It seems to be a little quieter than other wire antennas, and it supposedly has a tiny bit of gain over a dipole. It doesn't take up any more space than a dipole, and you can mount multiple loops inside of each other without much interaction between the different bands. So I made one for 10/15/20 meters and it seems to work a bit better than dipoles I tried and also much better than a mutliband vertical in the same location. You can see a picture he http://kh2d.net/photos.cfm If I buy a G5RV is that with a Balun or without a balun what's the best?? Don't buy one. Make one. It's always more fun to use an antenna you make yourself. Not to mention that it's a lot more fun to throw it away because it doesn't work 'great' than it would be if you invested 100 bucks in it. RealHams(tm) never buy wire antennas. Here's some info on how to make one: http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/qsl-g5rv-2.htm If you are going to spend money, don't buy wire antennas. Buy propagation. Because on a day with good propagation, you can work the whole world with a very bad antenna, but on a day with bad propagation, you can't work anybody with even the best antenna...... 73, Jim KH2D |
#3
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On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 17:33:53 GMT, "Willy" wrote:
I just started on hf bands and i usiing now a FD4 from Fritzel and I hear all goods things about the G5RV. Is that so, works it's also great on 10 and 15m? Works better than a dummy load, but probably not much better than (or as good as) a dipole. How 'good' an antenna works is relative to the antennas the operator has previously used. If you a) never had an HF antenna, or b) used only a long wire, your opinion would probably be that it's 'great'. If you had previously used 5 x 5 x 5 monobanders on the high bands, your opinion would probably be that it sucks. I've used lots of wire antennas, and it's been my experience that any multiband wire antenna (like the G5RV) never works any better than a simple half wave dipole, and most of the time they work worse. But the G5RV has advantages - you can feed it with one coax and use it on many bands instead of feeding five or six dipoles, and it takes up less room than five or six dipoles. I have the same problem you do, not enuff space for a tower and a good antenna. One wire antenna that I have always like is a loop. It seems to be a little quieter than other wire antennas, and it supposedly has a tiny bit of gain over a dipole. It doesn't take up any more space than a dipole, and you can mount multiple loops inside of each other without much interaction between the different bands. So I made one for 10/15/20 meters and it seems to work a bit better than dipoles I tried and also much better than a mutliband vertical in the same location. You can see a picture he http://kh2d.net/photos.cfm If I buy a G5RV is that with a Balun or without a balun what's the best?? Don't buy one. Make one. It's always more fun to use an antenna you make yourself. Not to mention that it's a lot more fun to throw it away because it doesn't work 'great' than it would be if you invested 100 bucks in it. RealHams(tm) never buy wire antennas. Here's some info on how to make one: http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/qsl-g5rv-2.htm If you are going to spend money, don't buy wire antennas. Buy propagation. Because on a day with good propagation, you can work the whole world with a very bad antenna, but on a day with bad propagation, you can't work anybody with even the best antenna...... 73, Jim KH2D |
#4
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![]() "Willy" wrote in message ... I just started on hf bands and i usiing now a FD4 from Fritzel and I hear all goods things about the G5RV. Is that so, works it's also great on 10 and 15m? Dave, I use a G5RV with the center at about 9 meters high and the ends at about 4.5 meters high. The tuner un my 756 Pro II will tune all bands except 160 and 30 meters. 15 meters does give some problems but will tune. It works very well on 20 meters. The one I have is made by Van Gordon and uses 300 ohm twin lead instead of 450 ohm. I also have a Cushcraft MA5V vertical and the G5RV at lease 3 S units better on receive. Yes it does work, not the best antenna in the world but has allowed me 1100+ contacts since February of this year. It will be coming down as soon as the tower and beam go up. Good luck, Dave W4WLC |
#5
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![]() "Willy" wrote in message ... I just started on hf bands and i usiing now a FD4 from Fritzel and I hear all goods things about the G5RV. Is that so, works it's also great on 10 and 15m? Dave, I use a G5RV with the center at about 9 meters high and the ends at about 4.5 meters high. The tuner un my 756 Pro II will tune all bands except 160 and 30 meters. 15 meters does give some problems but will tune. It works very well on 20 meters. The one I have is made by Van Gordon and uses 300 ohm twin lead instead of 450 ohm. I also have a Cushcraft MA5V vertical and the G5RV at lease 3 S units better on receive. Yes it does work, not the best antenna in the world but has allowed me 1100+ contacts since February of this year. It will be coming down as soon as the tower and beam go up. Good luck, Dave W4WLC |
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