Use the F12 B1 Balun. Been using them for 5 years on my C31 stacks and
Mag340N taking the abuse from a couple of Alphas and not a glitch. Except
when the loop caught in the Tic Ring and the balun lost the fight! They are
a FB balun. Tommy WD4K
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of
towertalk-request@contesting.com
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2004 11:00 AM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: TowerTalk Digest, Vol 14, Issue 2
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Today's Topics:
1. Pennant question (Georgens, Tom)
2. Re: Climbing is risky business (GALE STEWARD)
3. Force12 baluns (Dave, W7GK)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 17:07:32 -0600
From: "Georgens, Tom" <tom.georgens@lsil.com>
To: "'towertalk@contesting.com'" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Pennant question
Message-ID: <53CF1076699CD711B7DD0002A51363F101A9051D@exw-ks.ks.lsil.com>
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Tower talkers -
I have a question about a pennant antenna.
Background:
At my QTH in Barbados I decided to try a pennant antenna that W1UK had made
for me. I usually use an 800 foot beverage to the US and a somewhat shorter
version for EU. After 4 years of not working a single EU station in CQWW
SSB, I decided to use the pennant toward EU and forget the Beverage as it
was not worth the effort. When I put up the pennant, the SWR read 4.8:1 on
the Autek RF-1. On the other hand, it seemed to work as I did hear a few EU
stations before the contest. I did not have the time to experiment any
further.
Instead, I decided to make a second pennant at home and bought two K1FZ
pennant transformers. In CQWW CW, I had little time so I put up two
pennants instead of either Beverage. Unfortunately, they both measured the
same high SWR on the Autek RF-1. I just used them anyway, and they seemed
to work as expected.
I decided to bring one pennant and transformer back home to figure them out
once an for all. I had many theories ranging from ground conductivity,
proximity to metal roof, or the towers themselves - all of which would be
different at home. I strung up the pennant in my back yard and once again,
the SWR measured 4.9:1. The feedpoint was antenna to K1FZ transformer to 1
foot coax to RF-1. I tried fooling with geometry of the antenna, angle of
feedline escape, etc, and very little change was noticed.
Having very little test gear at my house, I tried one last thing. I tried
to measure the impedance of the antenna itself. Somewhat clumsily I managed
to get the lugs on the ends of the antenna wire in the connector of the
RF-1. Once I removed my fingers from any of the metal surfaces, the
impedance measured 860 ohms. This is about what I should have expected.
The RF-1 does not display the reactive component and the SWR was out of
range so I could not calculate it. Assuming the antenna might be OK, I took
a 1K resistor and put it across the transformer input and measured the
output. Once again the SWR measured about 5:1. With the 18:1 transformer
ratio, I expected it to be closer to 1:1. Interestingly, a similar
experiment yielded the same results with the W1UK Balun.
I am looking for advice. My guess is the antenna is fine and the problem is
either my measurement technique or the feedpoint itself. Should I be using
a balun after the transformer? Is there some leakage or coupling path that
is fouling my measurement that I need to isolate?
Other notes, all measurements on 160 meters (80 not much different), wire is
18 gauge insulated copper.
Any suggestions are welcome
73, Tom W2SC
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 07:32:24 -0800 (PST)
From: GALE STEWARD <k3nd@yahoo.com>
To: towertalk reflector <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Climbing is risky business
Message-ID: <20040201153224.68868.qmail@span.corp.yahoo.com>
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Message: 2
I remember my first climb. In 1970 I installed my
first tower (50ft of R25). Some if my fellow FRC
members helped with the installation as this tower
business was all new to me. The R25 had the hinge base
so we tilted it up with a temporary gin pole
(extension ladder). After the tower was up (the
antenna & rotator were installed before tilting up). I
was given the job of going up the the 40ft level and
removing the pull cable. The guys handed me the
climbing belt and up I went. When I got to 40ft, I
"belted in" and looked around (I had been looking ONLY
at the tower on the way up). It looked so high, I
thought I was on top of Mt. Everest! My knees were
knocking together so hard I think you could hear
them!I took a few (many?) deep breaths and removed the
pull cable. I then climbed back down (shakely). That
ground never felt so good! Since then I've spent
hundreds of hours on towers, in all kinds of weather
(even at night) but still find I need a few deep
breaths from time to time. Brings back a lot of
memories. Stay safe guys...
73, Stew K3ND
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 08:10:38 -0800
From: "Dave, W7GK" <dlhough@citlink.net>
To: <TowerTalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Force12 baluns
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Message: 3
What balun would you recommend to use with a Force12 C-4SXL?
------------------------------
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End of TowerTalk Digest, Vol 14, Issue 2
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