Some of my points may not have been obvious and there were a couple of comments.
1. The question was about 1:1 baluns. Transformers for other impedances are
obviously great.
2. My remarks about loss were meant to say that it’s hard to imagine any
device with less loss than the eight feet of coax in my choke.
And that advertising and endless “recommendations” have made people buy
things just because they are stylish, not because they are necessary.
3. As for balance, there’s a good bit of impedance in a wavelength or two of
coax shield, so I doubt if the shield end at the top is actually very near
ground.
This is mentioned in the list of factors someone gave. No doubt, but
how much does it affect the pattern? Suppose the coax were inside the mast?
4. What about an antenna floating in space? Would balance be an issue? As
long as current flows in the element and nowhere else, won’t it work as
expected?
It would be interesting to put an ammeter in each side of the driven
element and see what is actually happening.
5. I can afford my equipment, but $100 is still real money to quite a few
people and I think it’s important for them to prioritize their ham needs. If
they can
radiate within a dB or two with something free, I think the money would
be better used elsewhere.
6. I’m not competent to make analytical arguments about which choke is best,
but rather I maintain that using the ARRL choke and getting the Z of the choke
close to ten times the feedline Z
is likely to be all anyone needs. I never meant to imply that the choke
is not a good idea.
7. All my most rewarding ham experiences have revolved around designing,
building, repairing, repurposing, salvaging and trying to learn a little along
the way. The charm of store bought
equipment fades very quickly after the box is opened and, of course,
nothing is learned. Once it’s all working, it only takes a little operating to
make me want to rig up something else!
After 57 years on the air, I’m still amazed that our puny efforts can
be heard around the world. Doing it with a 6L6 or 807 is ten times the fun of
doing it with a K-3!
73,
WL
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