Y'all be trippin'. An MLB or a home made 9:1 UnUn does wonders for
reception across a very wide frequency range.

The device does 2 important things:

a] It prevents the source impedance from exceeding the load impedance,
(which is one rule that cannot ever be succesfully broken)

2] It places all parts of the antenna system at DC ground, preventing
static buildup and keeping the outer conductor from picking up
radiation

An antenna tuner is a big pain in the butt.

On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 06:52:59 -0600, JJ
wrote:



Mark S. Holden wrote:
"Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL" wrote:

Cut your antenna to the frequency or band of choice. Listen with the
balun in, then listen without it. I'll bet you won't be able to tell a
difference. In fact, there will even be a little loss in the balun.
The point I'm trying to make is, Cut your antenna to the frequency you
want for best performance and you won't need to waste money and time
building baluns.

KB7ADL



The typical SWL listens on several bands so they'd need more antennas.

I guestimate my cost for a 9:1 transformer at about $2. I probably spend about half an hour making and installing one.

You can't buy a remote RF switch or very much coax for $2.

Also, I find the ferrite greatly reduces RFI that is brought back to the antenna on the shield of the coax.

For receiving a balun is of little value. For a certain length of
antenna there is one wavelength that gives the ratio at which the
balun is designed for. When you go to different wavelengths then
the antenna shows a different impedance and the balun may do more
harm than good. The best bet for the SW listener who usually uses
a long wire antenna, is an antenna tuner to match the receiver to
varying impedances.