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Bored with my 1 day old dipole already

2Eight0

2Eight0

Member
Jul 4, 2012
42
1
16
Heres what I got:
Cobra 29xlr 4 swing 8-10
a single plug in the wall 8417 tube amp ( i think its dying I neverheard of a tube glowing blue.) variable deadkey to about 80w

I pretty much stay mobile but wanted an antenna for the house at the work bench, to test stuff and adjust I only had a 10ft jumper at the time so I made dipole and put it in the attic. surprisingly enough being in the attic above the second floor it works well.I ran the wires N/S from the floor up to the roof at kinda a 45 degree angl I think its a bit wider though, to keep the wires taught. I turned it on tonight and hit 2 contacts in missouri in about 10 mins. Skip on the eastern shore is great not much interfearence fromstreet lights or anything in the mobile but now i pick up a bit more interfearence on a few channels from who knows where a few pulses and a solid carrier. That doesnt bother me though.
Im already bored not sure the gainof the dipole but I want tobuild something else I think the bug is scratching to bite atmy skin!
Where do I go from here? google brings up so much
 

A properly built and installed dipole will have a "gain" of zero dBd.

A dipole in an attic space will have negative gain in terms of dBd. An antenna will only work its best when it's up high and outdoors, not cramped up in an attic with electrical wiring, vent ducting, foil-faced insulation batts and other RF sponges.
 
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Delta loops are fun. Cubical quads are fun. Yagis are fun. Elephant cages are fun. The sky is the limit, and so is your budget. :laugh: Check out most of HomerBB's posts for building antennas. He's done a bunch.

Link for elephant cage: http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/an-flr-9.htm My buddy RT356 used to monitor those pesky Commie's with one when he was in the Army (before we ran 'em bankrupt with "Star Wars).

73,
RT307
 
2Eight0 said:
Heres what I got:
Cobra 29xlr 4 swing 8-10
a single plug in the wall 8417 tube amp ( i think its dying I neverheard of a tube glowing blue.) variable deadkey to about 80w
Click to expand...
thats normal for the 8417 to burn blue .but i would never run it at 80 watts .run it at 50 watts key or less and let it swing .they use the 8417 in alot of modulators and some small 100 watt amps .
they can do 150 peak in good form but never run it higher than 50 watts deadkey or you will shorten its life alot.
 
My atic does not have vents, or anything else metalic. The insulation is from the 1950's no metal backing, the wires stop at the floor and not a lot of it any ways. In the north all the wires, ducting,and other RF sponges as you say are in our basement. I have a two story with attic so the Atic is almost 3 stories high with 10-11 feet being the average for a story in my neck of the woods. My 11m dipole functions flawlessly. Best part is it is horizontal so it knocks down some of the local trash's signal strength.
 
My attic is the same as above im going to try horizontal next and see if there is a difference in the noise or skip.
 
if you wanna try another omni , try a 1/4 wave ground plane . then if you want to build longer wavelength antennas you'll already have a ground plane .... you'll just have to decide on what type of matching section and make the vertical longer .
 

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