First HF rig advice

[n8fgb]

HYGAIN DX88 R L Electronics

You may want to give something like this a try.
Rich

 

[W4LKR]

HYGAIN DX88 R L Electronics

You may want to give something like this a try.
Rich

Yep, that's the one I saw in an ad in the latest QST magazine. I have a dumb newbie question - I'm assuming you have to manually change something on the antenna itself if you want to switch bands, say from 40 to 80? The product description says 40 and 80 are both tunable from the ground but I wasn't sure if I understood that right.

 

[n8fgb]

RF will follow the path of least resistance, so it will see the right portion of the antenna. No switch necessary.
Rich

 

[BJ radionut]

Curt: Never used this specific Vertical....However they can be made to work and work well. I must impress on you that it is going to take some work to make it work well on 40/80m. The radial "kit" they list as an option is "bare minimum" for any kind of performance. That kit will allow the antenna to work ok 20m and up through 10m. The bandwidth on 40m/80m will be very narrow, maybe 50kc on 40m/25kc on 80m (2:1 vswr) So where you wish to operate will be your choice to tune the coils and then from there performance will go down and a external tuner will be required for additional bandwidth. Radials on a Vertical equals More is Better...and expecting good to moderate performance on 40/80m with 8 or 10/ 14ft radials is a push.
Do not expect any modern internal transceiver tuner to be much help.
Look into a doublet(Double Zepp) antenna and external tuner to perform a couple "S units" better than that vertical with the standard radial option kit.
The doublet antenna feed with 450 or 300 ohm twin lead, even 15/20ft above ground will most generally stomp that vertical into the ground,(most of the time)...You may be better off spending that $300+ dollars for that antenna...toward a good external tuner(Johnson Matchbox/Dentron Super Tuner/Heathkit...etc) and as much wire as you can get in the air...
A doublet is dipole feed with "twin lead" and with a good tuner, you'll be much happier, I am sure... than with that money spent on the vertical.
I have used many and they do very well.(I have 2 versions up now)...Remember you do not need 120ft of "Open Space"....the more you can raise that center up shortens the distance you require out to the ends...
That big tree may be your best friend....I am getting "windy" here, however take a moment to measure your space and let us know what you really have to work with....I am sure you can do better than spending half your budget on a all band vertical....IMHO...
All the Best
Gary/W9FNB

 

[WA8ZYT]

The Hustler 5BTV is an excellent antenna. Being a vertical, it does need radials. DX Engineering has a good deal on them and some good hints and kinks on how to get maximum performance out of one.

I hear a lot of mobiles on 40 meter SSB, with great signals using screwdriver type antennas. I imagine a properly set up 5BTV would run rings around them.

I have a Kenwood 480SAT. Very good radio, excellent receiver. Radio hears better than it transmits. I do have the 1.8 Khz filter, but it does not seem to do much. At least not as much as I thought it would.

 

[BJ radionut]

The Hustler 5BTV is an excellent antenna. Being a vertical, it does need radials. DX Engineering has a good deal on them and some good hints and kinks on how to get maximum performance out of one.

I hear a lot of mobiles on 40 meter SSB, with great signals using screwdriver type antennas. I imagine a properly set up 5BTV would run rings around them.

I have a Kenwood 480SAT. Very good radio, excellent receiver. Radio hears better than it transmits. I do have the 1.8 Khz filter, but it does not seem to do much. At least not as much as I thought it would.

http://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/instructions/dxe-btv-inst-ins-rev0f.pdf

Please note instructions on pages 11-14 of DX's guide to a "Better" 5BTV antenna...
I had a 3 band version(20m/15m/10m) for quite some time mounted on my barn...did a nice job...however it performed much better with 8 tuned radials for each band than it ever did with just 2 or 3 as Hustler suggested for minimum use...
again IMHO
All the Best
BJ

 

[W4LKR]

Ok, the attached PDF is a fairly accurate sketch of my available space from bird's eye view. The tree in my backyard isn't to exact scale but its pretty close. The branches are starting to touch my facia and I've been meaning to trim it back for months.

I'm not even sure what I can get away with in this neighborhood. It's Deed Restricted but the covenants make no mention of radio antennas. They do limit dishes to 36" diameter and they can't be visible from the road....and yet lots of my neighbors have visible dishes. I've heard stories about how some hams are able to trump their HOA because the FCC licenses us to operate a station and an antenna is part of doing that, but I don't know if I would fare the same with my HOA if I erected something really obvious from the road like a huge double zepp or dipole that's seen above my roof line.

Thanks again to all for your feedback and please keep it coming.

EDIT - in the legend ignore the text saying "proposed fencing dimensions" its just supposed to say 'dimensions"

EDIT2 - I've heard that some people hide their antenna in the attic. Is this even worth trying with a dipole strung through my attic? I have a walkway up there that runs the whole N/S length of my house.

 

[WA8ZYT]

A wise man once said, "It is better to seek forgiveness, than to ask for permission."

 

[W4LKR]

I've been studying the ARRL Antenna Book. Maybe a 20m dipole in my attic is what I need to start with. There's plenty of room for it up there. The info on RF safety is a little vague in this area. According to this calculator the zone around a dipole operating on 14MHz and 100w in which I'm in compliance begins at about 7 feet away from the antenna. That's still inside the attic if I mount it high enough so I assume the rest of my house's living areas would also be in compliance since they are further out. That's hard for me to wrap my head around since the entire house would absolutely be enveloped in the near field of a 20m dipole mounted high up in my attic.

 

[Billk]

Kurt,
I am getting back into HF after a long layoff. I used to have an all band vertical years ago and it worked ok, but needed radials for sure.

Back in August I was trying to figure out what to do for just a temporary setup to work the Lighthouse contest and make a QSO with a customer of mine who turned out to also be a ham. I started doing some research and found the "double bazooka" antenna. I made a 20 meter one in less than an hour out of some left over RG58 coak and wire and strung it up on the front "peak" of my garage, which is very similar to yours. Turned out that the same day as the lighthouse deal was the North American QSO party. I got the antenna up around 5pm, made the lighthouse contact and then made about 40 qso's in the NAQP. I had contacts in all four corners of the country. You could put one up on the "Vee" of your upper level and do even better. Do a google search of "double bazooka antenna" and see what you get. HRO also sells them already made up.

 

[W4LKR]

Bill, thanks for the link. That's a really interesting design. An opening night like that would have made my day for sure. Do you have any insight on the field intensity issue with rigging up an antenna in your attic? At that wavelength the near field will envelope the whole house. I've asked here on the forums, at my local ham club, and I also called AES. Nobody seems to have a straight answer on whether it is 'safe'. I've got a wife and two kids living under this roof with me. Maybe I'm being overly paranoid but I haven't been able to get a clear answer on the RF field strength issue with attic antennas.