[TowerTalk] Dipole Longer or higher?

[W. E. Bailey]

I would suggest that you think about shortening the length of your antenna
(instead of lengthening it).  I know that this sounds counter-intuitive, but
take a look at L.B. Cebik's article on an 88 foot long doublet
(http://www.cebik.com/88.html).  I had always used dipoles of at least 125
feet in length and even for a time had longer ones.  When I moved to my
current location, suburban lot with limited space, I stumbled on Mr. Cebik's
article about the 88 foot length. I built it and have never been
disappointed.  Its performance has been excellent.

If you shorten the length of the wire - you will increase the average height
of the antenna - probably a good thing.

If you are interested in reading more by Mr. Cebik about wire antennas, see
his article "My Top Five Backyard Multi-Band Wire HF Antennas" at
http://www.cebik.com/fdim/fdim9.pdf

Good luck on your project. 

Ed W2ED


-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Derek Cohn/WB0TUA
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 12:31 AM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Dipole Longer or higher?


Dear Friends,

A few months ago, I asked for advice getting a 40' high center support
installed for my random length dipole fed with 450 ohm balanced line and
tuned with a homebrew link-coupled tuner.  Thanks to your guys advice, I now
have a support up and am ready to move my dipole from its' anemic 18' center
support to the 40' one.  The current anchor points of the dipole are on 18'
supports so it's a pretty horizontal antenna at the moment.  The anchor
points of the dipole are probably going to remain at 18' for the forseable
future.   Since the center support will be at 40', the antenna will become
an inverted vee.  This gives me a choice.  As I raise the dipole up another
22 feet in the air, I can either add more wire to the antenna or not.  If I
do not add wire, the ends of the antenna will be higher.  The antenna is
currently about 100' long.

Would I be better off adding wire to the antenna or having the ends higher
in the air.  I primarily operate 80, 40, 30, and 20 CW.  Any advice?
 
Thanks to all who helped me with my advice on my center support.  I'll post
photos as soon as I can get them.

73,

Derek Cohn
Morse Telegraph Club - Alton Chapter
Office UD, Sine DJ
Amateur Radio Station - WB0TUA
1969 Brunswick M274A5 Mechanical Mule
_______________________________________________

See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.

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