[TenTec] Using a remote tuner for quieter band conditions

[Carl Moreschi]

I had the pleasure of setting up a new QTH with a simple but effective set
of wire antennas.  My design criteria was to be able to run my Pegasus and
RX320 combination with a small set of wire antennas and be as effective as
possible with 100 watts.  I have always felt that if you can get the
antennas more than 100 feet from the house, things will be much quieter on
the bands.  It is amazing how much band noise comes right from your own
house.  So I set up a remote LDG RT-11 tuner and a few relays 200 feet from
the house.

I ran 200 feet of coax to a waterproof box.  In the box I have the RT-11
tuner and some relays.  The first relay either selects a 130 foot inverted L
or goes on to a toroid balun.  The inverted L goes 65 feet straight up a
tree and then runs horizontal for 65 feet.  The output of the toroid balun
goes to another relay that either selects an east-west 40 meter dipole or a
north-south 40 meter dipole.  Both dipoles are up 50 feet and are fed with
open wire line.  I also have 4 radials coming from the box.  The radials are
60 feet long.

This allows me to select the inverted L for 160 and 80 meters and the
dipoles for 40 through 10 meters.  The tuner is controlled from the shack
and tunes these antennas very quickly.  Having two dipoles that are at right
angles to each other gives very good directional coverage.  I find some
signals have a significant difference in strength between the two dipoles.
I also have the option of using the inverted L on 40 through 10 meters and
find sometimes it is better than either dipole and sometimes not.  This will
depend on whether a station happens to be on one of the inverted L lobes or
not.

Anyway, this is working out to be a real fun setup this is both effective
and inexpensive.

Carl Moreschi N4PY
Franklinton, North Carolina
n4py at earthlink.nole