[TenTec] Open wire and Icom users...

[Dave Kamp, KW0D]

I don't use open-wire, but I do use 450-ohm ladder line and a 4:1... never
used anything special for feeder length, and my Vee's legs are a random
length (162' each).  Tuner is grounded, as is everything else... and the
ground rods are only for safety and static dissipation- not part of the RF
circuit... no beads or chokes.  I've run this configuration on all HF
bands, and built it long before I bought my T_T gear... so the arrow should
also be pointed to Icom/Heathkit enthusiasts.  With the mismatches inherant
to all band operation into a random-length wire, I just got tired of
replacing burned-out coax... wind it up past 200w, and something'd go
fritz.  I've never been concerned about efficiency and loss- I usually run
barefoot, and regardless, I don't seem to have any serious problems with
performance, no noise problems (even with 6+ computers, two hubs, two
switches, and a router running in the shack).

The only time I've ever recieved a burned-lip from a hot microphone... was
back in high-school jazz band-  my bass was connected to the school's
Kustom bass amplifier (a 'groovie' metalflake blue vinyl 200w job, with a
spring-reverb and mushy old Jensen speaker), and the stage microphone was
connected to a Kustom PA amplifier... the amps' switches were flipped to
opposite polarity, and there was a ground fault...  needless to say, my
performance that evening was reported to be quite electrifying.  The next
day, I bought Peavey amp, a polarity tester, and a surplus 2kva isolation
transformer.  Mounted the transformer inside the Peavey's 15" speaker
cabinet, put wheels on it, and haven't been bit since... sure helped
eliminate 'mike fright'.  :-}

DK  :-)


>So on we go with ideas about using balanced tuners, current baluns, 
>counterpoise, multitudes of ground rods, changing length of feeders, 
>floating tuners, RF chokes, ferrite beads, special antenna lengths etc. 
>and all the time we keep bragging about how our open wires are so 
>efficient. I love it. 

>...Now I run RG-
>213 to a 160m "windom" and joined the coax crowd. My little Lafayette 
>meter is motionless, no computer noise, no burnt lips, no tuner 
>needed....What a boring existence!
>
>N4LQ


73's from KW0D Dave in LeClaire, Iowa