Making a couple of changes to my antenna systems here....
First off I need to improve my VHF/UHF capabilities, all I have at the moment is an R2 Ringo that sits approx 15 feet above ground level, not the best antenna or at a very good height. I was given a couple of Radio Shack standard grade antenna masts that have seen better days. I spent a good part of the day sanding off the rust, two coats of primer, and a top coat of silver hammer finish Rustolium....
Yesterday I placed an order with HRO for a new Diamond X50A which will get mounted to the 20 feet of this newly painted antenna mast, the base of which will be elevated about 9 feet above ground when attached to the wall brackets on the front of my garage. This should put the base of the X50A approx 28 1/2 feet above ground, and that's a little higher than the original X50A I had mounted there 20 years ago, and a lot higher than the Ringo that is there now.
I was also given an old Shakespeare Super Big Stick that I had to clean up, and may need to gloss coat with some clear resin since it has seen a lot of UV damage over it's lifetime.
I'm thinking about mounting this one on the back of the garage, not looking to get it up real high, but high enough to clear the roof line.
Now I've been told that with an antenna tuner I should be able to tune this antenna up on 10, 12, 17, and even 20 meters......
I'm going to assume at this point in time that even if it does tune up to work on 20 meters, it probably won't be as good as the 20 meter inverted "V" dipole I have now.....or will it......?
20 meters isn't really my goal since I have the dipole, and I'll be happy if it covers 10 through 17, but if for some reason it turns out that it works 20 as well as my low earth inverted "V", then I just might scrap the dipole, and use this vertical.
Some time in the near future I'll order some 450 ohm ladder line, and revamp my 40 meter dipole. Will probably also get a 4:1 balun, run the ladder line down to the roof line, then over to the garage, tie it into the balun, and make my home run through the garage wall in 50 ohm coax. It is my hopes that this arrangement will allow this dipole to tune up on and give me some improved receive on 80 meters with less RF issues on transmit.....
If that works, then I can scrap the random wire......
First off I need to improve my VHF/UHF capabilities, all I have at the moment is an R2 Ringo that sits approx 15 feet above ground level, not the best antenna or at a very good height. I was given a couple of Radio Shack standard grade antenna masts that have seen better days. I spent a good part of the day sanding off the rust, two coats of primer, and a top coat of silver hammer finish Rustolium....
Yesterday I placed an order with HRO for a new Diamond X50A which will get mounted to the 20 feet of this newly painted antenna mast, the base of which will be elevated about 9 feet above ground when attached to the wall brackets on the front of my garage. This should put the base of the X50A approx 28 1/2 feet above ground, and that's a little higher than the original X50A I had mounted there 20 years ago, and a lot higher than the Ringo that is there now.
I was also given an old Shakespeare Super Big Stick that I had to clean up, and may need to gloss coat with some clear resin since it has seen a lot of UV damage over it's lifetime.
I'm thinking about mounting this one on the back of the garage, not looking to get it up real high, but high enough to clear the roof line.
Now I've been told that with an antenna tuner I should be able to tune this antenna up on 10, 12, 17, and even 20 meters......
I'm going to assume at this point in time that even if it does tune up to work on 20 meters, it probably won't be as good as the 20 meter inverted "V" dipole I have now.....or will it......?
20 meters isn't really my goal since I have the dipole, and I'll be happy if it covers 10 through 17, but if for some reason it turns out that it works 20 as well as my low earth inverted "V", then I just might scrap the dipole, and use this vertical.
Some time in the near future I'll order some 450 ohm ladder line, and revamp my 40 meter dipole. Will probably also get a 4:1 balun, run the ladder line down to the roof line, then over to the garage, tie it into the balun, and make my home run through the garage wall in 50 ohm coax. It is my hopes that this arrangement will allow this dipole to tune up on and give me some improved receive on 80 meters with less RF issues on transmit.....
If that works, then I can scrap the random wire......