[TowerTalk] TowerTalk Digest, Vol 52, Issue 48

Allan H. Kaplan w1ael at arrl.net
Wed Apr 25 06:34:09 EDT 2007


Bill,
I use Palstar BT1500A tuner with open wire line from W7FG and am pleased 
with performance of my doublet.   My lightning arrestor comprises two 
auto spark plugs screwed into an aluminum bar.  I fastened the aluminum 
bar to the top of an 8-foot ground rod.  So far so good!    I believe a 
BIG knife switch is a good idea, too.

I believe that proximity to ground of your inverted vee will tend to 
fill in the nulls published for a doublet high up and used on higher 
frequency bands than its natural resonance.   You have nothing to lose 
by hooking it up and trying it in the true ham spirit.   You will have a 
flexible multiband antenna.
73 de W1AEL, Allan in Sevier County, TN (callsign at arrl)
towertalk-request at contesting.com wrote:
> Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:39:21 -0700
> From: Bill Turner <dezrat at copper.net>
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Ladder line suggestions?
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Message-ID: <213f239b5ta7egj42tusd26lnh8tjsfeir at 4ax.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I need some advice on using ladder line if you would be so kind. 
>
> I have a Palstar AT5K 5kW tuner but sp far I've only used it with coax
> feed and a W9INN trap dipole. I'm considering using my 160 meter
> inverted vee with the tuner on all HF bands other than 20/15/10, where
> I have a yagi. The main reason is to avoid having a remote coax switch
> outside. I can just switch the Palstar from coax for the yagi to
> balanced for everything else.
>
> Any pitfalls here? I have lightning suppressors on the coax, but what
> about the ladder line? The voltages would be pretty high depending on
> the SWR, so I'm wondering if maybe a DPDP knife switch to ground the
> ladder line when not in use might be a better idea. Or possible some
> homebrew spark gaps on the latter line? Or both? Or something else?
>
> Also, how well would the vee work on the higher bands? According to
> EZNEC the pattern is pretty wild. Woould I be sorry?
>
> All suggestions appreciated.
>
> 73, Bill W6WRT
>
>   


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