Help with an HF antenna?

Name
Email
Subject
Comment *
File	Select/drop/paste files here
* = required field	[▶ Show post options & limits] Confused? See the FAQ.

Embed	(replaces files and can be used instead)
Options	Do not bump (you can also write sage in the email field) Spoiler images (this replaces the thumbnails of your images with question marks)
Password	(For file and post deletion.)
Allowed file types:jpg, jpeg, gif, png, webm, mp4, pdf Max filesize is 8 MB. Max image dimensions are 10000 x 10000. You may upload 5 per post.

File: 1433789238399.jpg (86.4 KB, 1266x760, 633:380, DipoleConst_A.jpg)

Help with an HF antenna? Anonymous 06/08/15 (Mon) 18:47:18 No.358

Hey guys, general class ham here. I've been trying to into HF for a while but I've been lost in what I should do when it comes to the antenna setup.

Obviously the size of the antenna should be based around the primary working band, but my problem is I'm not sure what band I want to work. I have an HF rig, a tuner (does balanced but requires me to buy a balun kit) and an external SWR meter. For making the antenna I have a bunch of new PL259 connectors and insulators.

My questions are: for someone who doesn't have a lot of money to spend on the hobby and hasn't been on HF basically ever, what would be a suggested band and antenna (inb4 dipole- there's a fuck-ton of variations) setup? What about station grounding and lightning protection?

Should I buy the balun kit and use ladder line to feed between the station and antenna, or just coax? What kind of coax should I use? I need to buy some for feeding between the radio and the other pieces of equipment at the very least.

Any help would be appreciated.

Anonymous 06/08/15 (Mon) 19:24:28 No.359

I hear 40m is popular in the states for ragchewing and general use. 20m is an all around good DX band that's open world wide.

A 40m dipole should also function 15m if it happens to be open. 80m/75m gets some good skip at night and is a usable local band during the day.

For the antenna: A simple dipole

For the band: 40m (others can chime in here)

Coax vs. Ladder line: coax is easier to use and easier to get, and at HF the attenuation compared to ladderline is not that bad in short runs.

For coax: RG213 is good for up to 1.5kW, RG58 good for 200W. Use the best stuff you can get for higher bands. In general RG213 is nice all around coax.

About blauns, you don't absolutely need one at the dipole feedpoint, but it helps (a 1:1 current balun) with avoiding noise form the electronics in your house and it keeps the radiation pattenr better as the feedline does not radiate.

For grounding a gorunding rod hammered in to the gorund outside is a good bet. For lightning protection I'm not sure, ARRL likely has some good publications.

There is also http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Antennas/ for antenna ideas.

Anonymous 06/08/15 (Mon) 20:50:35 No.360

Thanks, I've looked up this stuff many a time, but I just get lost in what I should do as there's so many options. I'll see what anyone else thinks.

Anonymous 06/09/15 (Tue) 00:10:49 No.362

>>358

Most dipoles will be viable on multiple bands.

If you've got a tuner, a G5RV-style dipole is a popular starting point on HF, covering most of the popular bands reasonably well.

Anonymous 07/17/15 (Fri) 16:20:51 No.450

"un-un" 9:1

http://nt1k.com/blog/2014/portable-antennas-the-earchi-end-fed/

Anonymous 07/20/15 (Mon) 00:57:31 No.451

Look into fan dipoles. You basically put 10, 20, 40/15, and 80 meter dipoles all on the same coax.

As far as baluns go , and actual balun is preferred.

What you can do instead though, is take a good long length of coax, and make a nice neat coil on something about like a #10 can. This is just an RF choke that will keep the shield from radiating. You can also use clip on ferrites, but you are more likely to have extra coax than to have clip on ferrites lying around.