[TowerTalk] 160 antenna

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 05:42:52 -0400, Tom Rauch wrote:

>IMO the best solution is the suggestion to tie the
>feeder wires together and feed the antenna like a "T"
>against a good ground. 

This has worked for me. I don't have a big signal, but 
it works well enough that what I can work is limited as 
much by receive noise as by my transmitted signal. In my 
case, I don't have a "good ground," but I do have a 
reasonable counterpoise.  It loads pretty easily with a 
TenTec tuner (and no external capacitance). In fact, it 
works better than the same antenna loaded as a dipole on 
80 in directions that are off the end of the antenna. 

See

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/K9YC/k9yc160TopLoad.htm

and 

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/K9YC/Kraus-TopLoad.jpg

which is from Kraus. 

It is QUITE important that there be no choke balun in 
the usual place at the dipole center. The first time I 
tried this configuration, I burned up a conventional 
balun with 100 watts during the first contest weekend 
that I used it. The reasons should be obvious.