[TowerTalk] MA5V Vertical question

Dinsterdog at aol.com Dinsterdog at aol.com
Tue Jan 28 12:06:02 EST 2003


I recently put up a Cushcraft MA5V vertical for HF satellite work.  The 
antenna is working ok- but since I can not find a human to speak to at 
Cushcraft, or anyone there to return emails, I have a question about the 
antenna design that maybe someone here can answer.  If you look at a photo of 
the antenna, you'll notice a very large coaxial balun at the bottom of the 
antenna PVC support.  The PVC isolates the antenna which sits about about 4 
feet above the balun feedpoint, and the balun is at the bottom of the PVC 
support- - The balun form is about 2 3/8  inches in diameter, 10 1/2 inches 
long,  and it takes about 30 feet of RG59 coax twisted around the form to 
create the balun.......what's with this monster balun??  What is it doing??  
I've never seen anything like it before- MY guess is that it is overkill to 
keep RF off the feed line- ???  Any thoughts on this? 

BTW, the QC at Cushcraft is awful...I had to redrill, rebuild, and modify a 
lot of missing and/or misized parts- Blah!  And the enclosed RG59 to form the 
balun is rat shack  junk- But the antenna is working FB!  Seriously, it's 
working well above expectations- 

73  Paul  N0AH


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