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Newbie Here w/Some DX Questions....

That station in Germany has a big station, I have spoken with him a few times this week.
 
Whoo Hoo, connected with 341 Sarasota FL this morning. Bumped the modulation (ssb) up a bit in the radio just below 100%. Going to add 2 more ground planes to the antenna once the snow comes off the roof. Metal roof and dangerous to be walking around up there with water or snow. Been studying a lot about the Moxon Rectangle and looks like a build is coming soon. trying to figure out how to do it on a budget as a rotator would be the biggest cost involved. Thinking about setting it up the side of the house right in front of the window so all I'd have to do is reach out and manually rotate it. Can you all smell smoke? My brain is on fire. Just wanted to say thanks again for all your help. Great community here! 974 VT
 
Congrats on the DX contact! Someone built one out of a walker, can't remember where I saw it though. Wife just got her Mom another one and gave the old one away;(
 
Grinder74 said:
Congrats on the DX contact! Someone built one out of a walker, can't remember where I saw it though. Wife just got her Mom another one and gave the old one away;(
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Now that's funny right there! Well, definitely not the part about her needing a walker. That would be the last thing I would ever think of!
 
Glad for you Hobie ! I forgot Vermont = metal roof . You get your current set up straightened out you should be talking DX better than any one . That some serious ground plane action right there . Just my thoughts.

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I talked to some one the other day that was using a wire dipole , transmitting on the flat side he had a great signal , it' simple to make one an you can tune it to suit your needs but as seen them as low a $ 9.95 on eBay . Think this is my next option , don't want to deal with all the stuff that involves a beam .

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An inverted V dipole is one of the best options for a decent DX antenna. They can be built for under $30 and you have the pleasure of doing it yourself. Hang it in a tree, drop the sides to 45 degrees and plug in some coax. For 11 meters it will be about 16', 8' each side. It does not need to be up high, 15 or 20 feet is fine. Some 14 gage stranded wire, a 1:1 balun, couple of pvc pipe insulators and some rope and your all set.

DIPOLE AND INVERTED V VEE DESIGN AND CALCULATOR
 
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I have 2 dipoles I made with damaged coax, free if you have some laying around. I didn't have any luck with mine but I'm sure it was a location problem. Strip 9 feet, then bunch up the braid and pull the center conductor through the braid at the 9 ft strip point. Now you have your 2 legs. Tie a loop on each end, string it up and check SWR. When adjusting SWR alter the length of both legs equally. Dipoles are directional so think about that when setting up. If you want to transmit N/S string up E/W ect.
Tie a knot where the legs split to prevent the coax from coming apart.
 
W9cll , what is the purpose of the Balun function ? Dr Dipole asks if you want that option , just wondering if I need it because this is probably going to be my next antenna .

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357magnum said:
W9cll , what is the purpose of the Balun function ? Dr Dipole asks if you want that option , just wondering if I need it because this is probably going to be my next antenna .

Sent from my NB09 using Tapatalk
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The Balun reduces or eliminates chance of the feed line radiating and getting RF back in the shack. You can get away with out it but they are cheap and if you want you can make one yourself.
 
If you make a dipole out of coax, just below the split, get a short piece of 4" PVC and wrap the coax around it 5 times. Drill holes at the beginning and end of the choke for zipties. There you go. All in one dipole and choke.
 
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The issue with coax dipoles is the velocity factor of the coax needs to be .66. Anything else will cause issues. Anyway this is what I have always read.
 
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