That's one for the books! The skin depth on 160 meters in poor soil is 20 meters deep. That means a ground rod 20 meters deep would still have the some effect at the lower end, because noticeable cu
It depends on the capacitor. The more "bulky" or compact the capacitor for a given insulation type the lower the loss will be. The LAST thing we want is a long thin capacitor....like one made from c
I picked the largest, lowest loss, 92 ohm coax in any of the dozens of catalogs I have. The reason loss is so high and power rating very low in 90-ohm coax is because the center conductor has to be
Hi Tim, I'd use a dipole or an inverted V with the legs pulled out as flat as possible. Keep in mind 80 feet is a really good height for all around DX useage. If you use a loop, you lower the mean h
Z is not R. Only R=50 j=0 is a 1:1 SWR referenced to 50 ohms. Z=50 can be an infinite SWR, or perfect, or anything in between. Not in a high Q system that is changing resistance rapidly with frequen
I know several people who do that. I run ropes off my 200-foot tower that hold 1/4 wl vertical elements that form a four-square for 160 meters that fires in eight directions...or I can use the tower
Two things can cause that. Improper adjustment of the 259B's internal controls or external voltage coming from the antenna that upsets the detectors. There is a filter sold for HF that cures most ex
There must be some misunderstanding Bill. Current baluns are the less core-critical type of balun. By far the most core, power, and impedance critical balun is the voltage type balun. It is also the
Hi Ford, You found a good use for cattle panels. I hope they don't start turning up missing around here, if local hams start installing verticals! It sounds like your ground screen is what, 24 feet i
Hi Bill, I hope no one reaches their curie temperature....but...... I never worry about keeping beads dry. The only parts that are water problems are the connectors. Better to have air over the beads
Hi Brian, I'm not sure where you got your numbers from, but..... At 700 MHz RG-59 (F59) cable from CommScope:6.42dB per 100' RG-6 (F6) from CommScope: 5.6 dB per 100' RG-11 (F11) from CommScope: 3.67
This is a hot topic, judging from the e-mails. I'l eventually post something up at www.w8ji.com...but it might be a while. Just a couple more comments. No Bill, that is true. The differential mode cu
I contacted the ARRL about that when it first appeared in the Handbook! I was amazed to see it. Steel wool baluns do not work. The ARRL has removed that balun description from their books now, after
Hi Bob, Elevated radials radiate like crazy in close to the radial, and couple to everything around the radial. There is nothing you can do about that radiation, it always happens. Remember what cau
This goes to the earlier discussion about unedited and unreviewed technical text. Look at how this can happen in the only publication system that actually attempts to review things! Now consider the
The line section has a surge impedance of 50 ohms, and the slugs are nulled at 50 ohms. You could re-null the slug at 75 ohms, assuming it has enough range inside. I have no idea if Bird does this,
Hi Tom, You've received many good answers, but keep this in mind: You are generally better off to use lumped loading rather than feedline loading, of you are worried about getting every last watt out
Woops! The prototype 259B I have is not the 259B that is production. Mine is a transition unit to the 269 which is 16-bit and has more memory and does more or different things. Sorry about that. 73,
Hi Dave, The problem is with feedline balance and/or distance to the feedline. The most effective type of balun is a 1:1 chokebalun....and it belongs on the OUTPUT side of the tuner...not the input.
It is not a valid test. Radiation comes from charge acceleration, which is related to current and distance (ampere-feet). There also are induction effects caused by voltage (charge distribution) and