Topband: Beverage Woes

[Grant Saviers]

Or you could replace the open wire line with a bi-directional coax cable 
Beverage.   see ON4UN.  I've built a couple from RG58 and they worked 
ok.  RG6 would be stronger, but might have a bit more loss with the 
copperweld center conductor, but that usually isn't a concern.

The RG58 fit thru the slot in the screw in electric fence insulators I used.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but don't understand the attraction of 
open wire Beverages when a much easier alternative is possible. Maybe an 
expert could enlighten me about why an open wire bidi-Beverage is 
superior.  If they are then why not use aluminum fencing wire in 9 or 13 
gauge, cheaper than copperweld, strong and will last a long time.

Grant KZ1W
currently using a DX Eng receive 4 square.


On 10/23/2013 6:15 AM, Jim Garland wrote:
> I have two bidirectional 720 ft beverages that use 450 ohm ladder line,
> oriented NE-SW and NW-SE. The ladder line is supported by 4x4 wood posts,
> about 7 ft above ground, spaced every 60 ft. The antenna works well, but has
> turned out to be a maintenance nightmare. My first mistake was to anchor the
> ladder line to the top of each 4x4 post using little plastic clamps (DX
> Engineering). Those lasted about a week before being pulled apart by the
> wind. I replaced them with wood pressure plates screwed down over the ladder
> line with 2" lag screws into the top of the posts. Those lasted about a year
> before cracking and splitting. The ladder line turned out to be very
> fragile. The plastic material gets brittle and cracks, and the wind causes
> metal fatigue and eventual failure of the strands.
>
>   
>
> I've spent the past three afternoons patching up the beverages for the
> winter DX season and am only about half done.Yesterday, I thought I had
> everything fixed and only needed to phase the ladder line properly. I left
> one wire open and grounded the other wire at one end, and then used a DMM to
> identify the grounded wire. To my dismay I found an open circuit on both
> wires. A spent a couple of hours with a toner trying to find the break, but
> to no avail. Then, it occurred to me that my Fluke 87-V DMM may be giving me
> erroneous readings. I replaced the Fluke with my trusty Simpson 260 and
> discovered the wire was actually intact. Evidently, the Fluke's sensitive
> solid state ohmmeter circuit had been overloaded by the
> inductance/capacitance of the ladderline or possibly RF pickup. I should
> have known better from the get-go.
>
>   
>
> So now, I've got one of my beverages working and will start repairs on the
> 2nd one. I've decided ladder line is a terrible choice for a beverage
> antenna, at least in New Mexico, where there is intense UV sunlight and
> windy Springtimes.  My plan is to replace the ladder line with parallel
> strands of 12 AWG copperweld wire, with pass-through insulators on each 4x4
> post, and the wire anchored at each end. I'll use turnbuckles to adjust the
> tension. I'm really tired of repairing the damn antennas, and my feet hurt
> from hiking back and forth to each end.
>
> 73,
>
> Jim W8ZR
>
> _________________
> Topband Reflector
>