• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Windom

74IN

Well-Known Member
Feb 17, 2003
1,831
71
58
62
Labia
How much room do I need to have a Windom to reach 80M?

I see I can use part of the antenna vertically, with the ends a certain distance from the ground.

I really want to see if I can get a good antenna for 80M without having acres to do it.
 

An normal OCF antenna is 42 meters long, or 133 feet o so, put up the feed point as high as you can and look where you can have some space for the wire, even zigzagging in not too sharp bends and dropping down the last part of the ends to 10 feet from the ground.

Use an tree or ask an neighbour to put up an end of the wire to his house/trees might be possible, just asking costs nothing...

That is how i got my FD-4 up flattop at 45 feet.
 
In general, you are talking about something on the order of 150 feet, give or take. That's not necessarily in a straight line, but can be 'bent' in a number of interesting ways, and includes the space needed (taken up) by the support thingys. For a 'straight line' type antenna you can sort of figure whatever it's length is (typically 1/2 W) and then add something like 20 feet for those 'thingys' like support ropes, insulators, and who knows what else.
How high should it be? As high as you can get it. That usually means a minimum of high enough so that you don't 'clothes-line' yourself on it. A rule of thumb is that if it's high enough that you can't really make out the wire up there, only the feed line running up to it, then it's 'close' to 'right' (a little bit more might be better), sort of. Lots of 'wiggle-room' there, this is all just a generalization. It applies to all antennas, not just the 'Windom'.
Working 'backwards' helps sometimes. Figure out the length of the antenna, add a few feet for a 'fudge factor', then see if you can make that 'fit' the room that you have available.
- 'Doc

"Ideals" are things that people 'strive' for, very seldom ever reach, but are the 'goals'. The 'best' that you can ever expect are 'good enough' results that allow you to do 'almost' everything you want to do. The -Best- is a combination of physical attributes and ability. What you lack in one has to be made up for by the other, and that result is your 'best'. All men are created 'equal', but from there it always changes.
Hows that for a 'philosophical' moment?
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • dxBot:
    Tucker442 has left the room.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    LIVE 10:00 AM EST :cool:
  • @ Charles Edwards:
    I'm looking for factory settings 1 through 59 for a AT 5555 n2 or AT500 M2 I only wrote down half the values feel like a idiot I need help will be appreciated