LOL...the doublet it too ambitious, but you suggest THAT!!??!...
Actually, it looks quite doable and I think I'll give it a try. The instructions are pretty clear and it doesn't look that hard. I do have a couple of questions not answered by the article:
1. You say no tuner needed. If I cut the wire to match the frequency in the center of a given band, don''t I need a tuner to reach the edges of that band?
2. A question regarding ALL antenna (and I feel dumb asking but...), I am assuming the wire is all uninsulated, bare wire, right?
3. How exact do the measurements have to be on the wire, and is it the total length of the wire, including any that doubles back on itself, like the connections to the eyebolts at the ugly balun? I'm assuming (there's that word again) you would thread some wire through the eye and double it back on itself and twist and solder. If you ran 6" through and doubled it back for that 6", is that 12" of wire or 6" of a larger guage wire? Also, it eats up a bit of wire using a dogbone...count all of it, or just the distance to the dogbone itself?
4. Height. This doesn't look like it would be well suited to tree installation...too many wires that would have to not be touching branches, wind blowing branches and the tree itself around, etc...and towers cost money I cannot afford right now. Perhaps later (with the right deal I'd like to eventually have a 75-100 ft tower) but for now a tower is a no-go.
The best I can do right now is getting up about 30 ft. That's a 12 ft 6x6 with a 12 ft 4x4 lag screwed to it with a 1 ft overlap for 3 lag screws, with a 12 ft section of galvanized tubing (think chain-link fence post type tubing), again with a 1 ft overlap with the 4x4 and again lag screwed to the 4x4 (alternative inexpensive mast ideas welcome), which puts the base of whatever goes on top of that about 30 ft off the ground.
If I had the posts for the radials each consisting of a 12 ft 4x4 and 12 ft tubing (the top 2/3 of the center mast) and mounted it so the top of the ugly balun was even with the top of the center post and the radials were attached (with dogbones) to the top half of the radial posts, would that be enough height?
5. The article isn't clear...all the radials connect to the same copper strip on that side of the ugly balun with the eyebolts, right? I then use a short piece of 10-12 gauge wire soldered to each copper strip to bring the copper strips together and solder both of them to the center conductor of the coax, right?
6. Coax. Is RG-58 sufficient, or do I need to use RG-8...and what is considered to be a long run of coax back to the radio? What should my maximum length of coax be? I have 2 1/2 acres to choose my antenna spot and don't want it too far from the radio.
7. I'm assuming I can add more appropriate length radials to reach more bands? Not that I would (and I know I'd need more radial post length to do it) but I could have radials for 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 160 all on one antenna, right?
8.Last...how effective is this antenna, if built right? Is this the first of many, or is this (plus my A-99 for 11 meter mounted on the very top, or could I have an 11 meter radial as well?) all the antenna I'll ever need?
I'll think of more questions. If I don't, I'm sure y'all's answers will generate some.
Thanks.
