For the last 6 months I've been using a 1/2 wave 40m dipole sloping from an
oak tree in the back your to a peach tree in the front. This has worked
great for 40. I use this for amateur activity as well as SWL stuff with an
MFJ tuner. I always noticed that on some bands, particularly around 20
meters, I couldn't receive as well I thought was possible. The closest
thing to DX I've worked was a station in Costa Rica.

Well I finally got around to stringing up a simple 1/2 wave dipole with a
4:1 balun, cut just for 20 Meters. I strung one end from the same point the
in the oak tree that my 40m dipole uses but I wanted to keep them angled at
least 95 degrees away from each other to keep them from interacting.
Because of this, I ended up sloping this fella down into the backyard
between the oak and another tree and tied it off to a martin house. I was
worried about the fact that I couldn't position this dipole any better away
from the trees - and/or higher.

I finally got a chance to try it out yesterday after all the above ground
power line noise dyed down, and wouldn't you know it, ACTIVITY EVERYWHERE
on 20!!! Way more than I'm use to hearing with my 40m and the tuner.

The 3rd station I worked was in Serbia!!! And I can only squeeze 50 watts
out of my Yaesu FT101B on 20m.


Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance out
of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.

Cheers! - Matt

Radio TexMex wrote:
Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance out
of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.

What kind of feedline were you using for the 40m dipole
when used on 20m?
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

Cecil Moore wrote:

Radio TexMex wrote:
Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance
out of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.

What kind of feedline were you using for the 40m dipole
when used on 20m?


I've been using RG-8X the entire time. I have some 450 ohm ladder line
laying around. Would you suggest trying that, or something other than the
coax?

Wonderful lesson, thank you! Now I have to learn how to match antennas &
receiving systems! : }

"Radio TexMex" wrote in message
...
For the last 6 months I've been using a 1/2 wave 40m dipole sloping from
an
oak tree in the back your to a peach tree in the front. This has worked
great for 40. I use this for amateur activity as well as SWL stuff with an
MFJ tuner. I always noticed that on some bands, particularly around 20
meters, I couldn't receive as well I thought was possible. The closest
thing to DX I've worked was a station in Costa Rica.

Well I finally got around to stringing up a simple 1/2 wave dipole with a
4:1 balun, cut just for 20 Meters. I strung one end from the same point
the
in the oak tree that my 40m dipole uses but I wanted to keep them angled
at
least 95 degrees away from each other to keep them from interacting.
Because of this, I ended up sloping this fella down into the backyard
between the oak and another tree and tied it off to a martin house. I was
worried about the fact that I couldn't position this dipole any better
away
from the trees - and/or higher.

I finally got a chance to try it out yesterday after all the above ground
power line noise dyed down, and wouldn't you know it, ACTIVITY EVERYWHERE
on 20!!! Way more than I'm use to hearing with my 40m and the tuner.

The 3rd station I worked was in Serbia!!! And I can only squeeze 50 watts
out of my Yaesu FT101B on 20m.


Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance out
of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.

Cheers! - Matt

I would! Use the ladder line and get rid of the balun. Much more
broadbanded solution. You CAN use a tuner at the rig to tune the
antenna, but if all you do is receive, it will work quite well. I
currently use a 200 foot dipole with ladder line and a tuner in the
shack. Works great just about anywhere I go. No coax and no balun
makes that possible!

-Tim


Radio TexMex wrote:
Cecil Moore wrote:

Radio TexMex wrote:
Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance
out of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.
What kind of feedline were you using for the 40m dipole
when used on 20m?


I've been using RG-8X the entire time. I have some 450 ohm ladder line
laying around. Would you suggest trying that, or something other than the
coax?

Tim wrote:

I would! Use the ladder line and get rid of the balun. Much more
broadbanded solution. You CAN use a tuner at the rig to tune the
antenna, but if all you do is receive, it will work quite well. I
currently use a 200 foot dipole with ladder line and a tuner in the
shack. Works great just about anywhere I go. No coax and no balun
makes that possible!

-Tim


Radio TexMex wrote:
Cecil Moore wrote:

Radio TexMex wrote:
Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance
out of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.
What kind of feedline were you using for the 40m dipole
when used on 20m?


I've been using RG-8X the entire time. I have some 450 ohm ladder line
laying around. Would you suggest trying that, or something other than the
coax?


Yeah, someone just pointed out, via email, the jack-assery I have going on
by using that balun. I just did some much needed reading and clarified to
myself *again* exactly what baluns do. And in this case, there's no need
for a 4:1 balun. I'm going to take it off and I *should* still get the
desired results.

Thanks! - Matt

In article ,
"Lisa Simpson" wrote:

Wonderful lesson, thank you! Now I have to learn how to match antennas &
receiving systems! : }

Snip

You just have to have the antenna elements the right length.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article ,
Radio TexMex wrote:

Tim wrote:

I would! Use the ladder line and get rid of the balun. Much more
broadbanded solution. You CAN use a tuner at the rig to tune the
antenna, but if all you do is receive, it will work quite well. I
currently use a 200 foot dipole with ladder line and a tuner in the
shack. Works great just about anywhere I go. No coax and no balun
makes that possible!

-Tim


Radio TexMex wrote:
Cecil Moore wrote:

Radio TexMex wrote:
Moral of this story: I've learned you can only get so much performance
out of an unmatched antenna with a tuner.
What kind of feedline were you using for the 40m dipole
when used on 20m?


I've been using RG-8X the entire time. I have some 450 ohm ladder line
laying around. Would you suggest trying that, or something other than the
coax?


Yeah, someone just pointed out, via email, the jack-assery I have going on
by using that balun. I just did some much needed reading and clarified to
myself *again* exactly what baluns do. And in this case, there's no need
for a 4:1 balun. I'm going to take it off and I *should* still get the
desired results.

Yeah I did not see that in your post sorry. Coax to dipole 1:1 would do
the job unless you have a fractional unit.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Lisa Simpson" wrote:

Wonderful lesson, thank you! Now I have to learn how to match antennas
&
receiving systems! : }

Snip

You just have to have the antenna elements the right length.

Which sorta implies an antenna for each frequency you wish to listen to. I
don't have room for an antenna farm, so I have to make do with one
(external) antenna that works for as many frequencies as possible. I
currently have an Eavesdropper C attached to the side of the house, which
seems to be working well, BUT I have a homemade dipole which seems to work
just as well! (used with a RadioShack DX-394). So far I've logged over 200
frequencies since Christmas with the dipole, since I just hooked up the
Eavesdropper today. So far I've picked up another dozen new (to me) freq's
on the Eavesdropper.

What I *really* need is the ability to filter receptions; I seem to now be
getting a lot of multiple receptions since plugging in the Eavesdropper . .
..

In article ,
"Lisa Simpson" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in
message

.com...
In article ,
"Lisa Simpson" wrote:

Wonderful lesson, thank you! Now I have to learn how to match
antennas
&
receiving systems! : }

Snip

You just have to have the antenna elements the right length.

Which sorta implies an antenna for each frequency you wish to listen
to. I don't have room for an antenna farm, so I have to make do with
one (external) antenna that works for as many frequencies as
possible. I currently have an Eavesdropper C attached to the side of
the house, which seems to be working well, BUT I have a homemade
dipole which seems to work just as well! (used with a RadioShack
DX-394). So far I've logged over 200 frequencies since Christmas
with the dipole, since I just hooked up the Eavesdropper today. So
far I've picked up another dozen new (to me) freq's on the
Eavesdropper.

What I *really* need is the ability to filter receptions; I seem to
now be getting a lot of multiple receptions since plugging in the
Eavesdropper . .

Depends on the type of antenna as some are more broadband than others
but for reception you get the majority of the benefit of a resonate
condition for a band of frequencies. For the most part higher bands
than what the antenna was cut for will be some multiple of it and still
work well so generally you put up the biggest one you have room for.

A dipole will not work well on a band that is 2X the one it is cut for
so avoid that situation and make sure the bands fall on the odd
harmonics.

I'm not sure what you mean by multiple receptions? Some transmissions
by a station are simulcast on several frequencies or do you mean that
your radio is getting false images of some sort?

If you have the false image problem than you can use a pre-selector.
You tune it to the frequency of interest and other signals above and
below it are reduced hopefully to the point the image is not heard.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California