[Antennas] B&W AC 1.8-30 vs BWD terminated antennas?

Mon Sep 6 09:01:26 EDT 2004

Gentlemen: 
My two cents again, as the subject seems to come up once a year 
(grin)... The B&W folded dipole was my only antenna my first four and a 
half years on the air... I finally replaced it with a 450-ohm ladder 
line fed 80 meter dipole 'vee' the day after Christmas ('02) in order to 
finish up DXCC-80 (the B&W is very lossy on 80m)... The new ladder line 
fed dipole (and little Dentron Super Tuner) is a much better and 
cheaper all-band antenna, compared to the B&W, but, the B&W worked very 
well and certainly has it's place...
B&W disadvantages
- the terminator resistor seems to cost about 6-db (rx and tx)
- the antenna is very lossy on 80 meters
- 1,000 watt ICAS power rating (too low)
B&W advantages
- small 90' size (it fits on my small city-size lot)
- flexible flat-top, sloper, or vee configuration
- 2:1 or better SWR (without a tuner)
- 1,000 watt ICAS power rating (works well with my lil' 500w SB-201 amp)
- the antenna is extremely quiet, often providing a better though 
weaker copy
 on some signals
The all-band ladder line fed dipole has proven to be a much better 
antenna but since I was a 'newbie' and didn't really know any better I 
ended up working 307 countries on the B&W as well as qualifying for 
7-band DXCC, 8-band WAS, WAZ-CW, WAZ-SSB, etc., with it...
For the money, I recommend buying a tuner (my 500w Dentron Super Tuner 
cost 60ドル), some 450-ohm ladder-line, one of those ladder-lock thingies 
to secure the ladder line to the wire, some insulators and wire, and 
you'll have a much better antenna for about 100ドル investment... And if 
you come across a used B&W folded dipole at a good price (I've seen them 
for around 100ドル), buy it and play with it at your second home up north 
on Lake Huron... You'll be surprised how quiet it is and how well it 
works -- no tuning -- search-n-pounce -- easy...
Vy 73, Mike - K8LH (Westland, MI)...