[Antennas] Re: Antennas Digest, Vol 11, Issue 17

Fri Dec 31 09:43:32 EST 2004

W0OXJ wrote:
>> I believe since you are using balanced feed line and will, of course, use a
> tuner this problem will be taken care of by the tuner.I would make my
> radials the same length as the radiator to keep the antenna balanced.It
> should work just fine.
>
Yes, the tuner should take care of any matching problems. However, I
wanted to keep the electrical length of the antenna as close to a
quarter wavelength as possible to improve its efficiency. That was
when I started wondering about top loading. I only have 26 feet of
tubing which is fine for 30 meters and higher frequencies. It would
have been nice to top load the thing and get it be an electrical quarter
wavelength for 40 meters. Then, since I want to guy it at the center, I
began wondering if maybe center loading would get me electrical length I
needed for 40 meters.
I think that was just wishful thinking, but not being sure about how
much deviation from top loading I could get away with and still get
results, I had to ask.
In retrospect, seems a silly question. Now it is going to be insulated,
non-conductive guys and a horizontal, 26 foot top wire working against a
counterpoise. An inverted-L.
That should pretty well tap me out as far as usable antenna space. I
already have a 80/40 meter trap dipole, a four element tri-band beam,
and a 40 meter right angle full wave loop. I guess I could be concerned
about interaction between these antennas. I have a corner lot but it
still is in the suburbs and not all that large a plot of land.
Regards,
Frank Kamp
K5DKZ