Yes, Tom Schiller, N6BT, founder of Force 12, ran DX using a light bulb
followed by a common mode choke so he wasn't cheating using the feed line as
the antenna. I believe he later ran a phased array of light bulbs and tested
the efficacy of different lightbulbs.
I think he must have had sunspots in his favor.
Jon
PS: The length of a the feed line will matter a lot on how well the tuna does
with the 260 doublet.
On Jul 11, 2013, at 9:06 AM, Mike Bryce wrote:
> Gang,
>
> I'll have to jump in here, too.
>
> I remember reading in one of the antenna books that some guy, to prove a
> point, worked DXCC using a light bulb as an antenna.
>
> But...
>
> Several years ago I homebrewed a OCF dipole with a 4:1 balun and stuck it up
> a tree. I've had nothing be outstanding results without a tuner. I won't
> cover 30 meters, but what the hey.
>
> There is currently a large antenna/tower project in the final stages at this
> qth. One of the antennas I plan on installing is a 260 foot doublet feed with
> 600 ohm open line feeders
>
> Now, I wonder how much of a problem my 238 tuner will have with the 600 ohm
> line instead of the 400 ohm the tuner had been designed for?
>
>
> Mike Bryce, WB8VGE
> the heathkit shop
> SunLight energy systems
> J e e p
> o|||||||o
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2013, at 11:29 AM, Carter wrote:
>
>> On 7/10/2013 11:33 PM, Michael Tortorella wrote:
>>
>>> I feel compelled to weigh in here....back in the late '70s I used an
>>> OCFD design from Ham Radio magazine which was pretty straightforward.
>>> It was 135' long, fed with 44' of 300-ohm open wire to a 4:1 balun
>>> and then a run of RG-11 into the shack. It was superb. Never had any
>>> stray current problems. Worked about 150 countries using a Johnson
>>> Navigator, 40 watts input. Would like to reproduce that next time
>>> out. Don't pooh-pooh the OCFD design, be careful and it works well.
>>> 73 Mike W2IY
>>
>> I smile when I see everybody describing their favorite wire antenna, so let
>> me jump in with my comments (asbestos suit on). <grin>
>>
>> Mike, not to deny your success nor picking on you or anyone else describing
>> their favorite wire antenna...but with ANY antenna, the RF has to go
>> somewhere.
>>
>> I'm using a dipole about 130 feet long and maybe 25 feet off the ground fed
>> entirely with ladder line (and a Johnson Matchbox) and worked a LOT of DX
>> including Indonesia on 80, the VK0IR dxpedition and even North Korea on RTTY
>> with that antenna.
>>
>> Heck, Kurt N. Sterba wrote in 'World Radio' magazine that he used a SHOPPING
>> CART as an antenna during a DX contest and worked 17 countries! Again, the
>> RF has gotta go somewhere.
>>
>> Bottom line: DX performance seems more attributable to the Propagation gods
>> rather than what flavor of wire antenna is being used.
>>
>> 73,
>> Carter K8VT
>>
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