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[TowerTalk] beverage questions

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] beverage questions
From: Dennis OConnor <ad4hk2004@yahoo.com>
Reply-to: ad4hk2004@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:25:49 -0700 (PDT)
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Well, if you ask ten hams a question like you did you will get 11 opinions - 
because one will change after hearing the others...

So, my opinions are:
Yes, running a second beverage parallel and close to the first will cause 
significant interaction...  The accepted rule of thumb is that minimum lateral 
separation between Beverages that are at less than a 45 degree angle should be 
at least their height above ground... In my opinion it should be significantly  
more than that...  If you check the published Beverage installations you will 
find they all (including me) make wires cross at a fairly acute angle and not 
run nearly parallel...

Next, there is not a nickel's worth of difference between the transformers 
wound by the various vendors... 
***********************************************************************************
The difference is that the transformer's primary winding impedance (and coax 
turns ratio) needs to match to the impedance of your Beverage wire as 
installed...  (repeat this to yourself ten times as it is the key to 
understanding life, the universe, and everthing - well that and 43)
***********************************************************************************
 I have not used KD9SV's transformers... I have used K1FZ, DX Engineering, and 
multiple ones of my own winding - both single toroid and binocular core...  
After a massive lightning storm exploded all but one transformer in my Beverage 
array a few months back - an amazing display of lightning strokes slashing 
across my South 40 like Irish River Dancers - I am currently using DX 
Engineering boxes- 2nd day delivery - both the single direction and the 
reversibles... I feel they work just fine and do not see/hear any difference to 
my hand wound except their SS enclosures and hardware are first rate compared 
to my usual Tupperware and Margerine containers.....

On ladderline versus twisted pair - I am opinionated - I don't use either...  
Ladderline is a pain in the butt to keep up if you have any wind at all... 
Ladderline is heavy, it has amazing wind resistance and flails and flops like a 
wounded fish in a strong wind...  It takes double the amount of poles to run 
ladderline compared to anything else.. 
 And a twisted pair annoys my sense beauty...  I run two parallel wires, no 
twist, nicely tensioned...
I use aluminum fence wire - 17 gauge - it is cheap and light and you can 
tension it with two fingers. It runs nicely with a pole every 100 feet. and it 
works..  My reversibles use 4 inch spacing...  A 450-600 ohm transformer seems 
to about right...

I have not tried using 2 spaced wires as a single wire... It will work, but 
there may be subtle problems... I am not in favor of giving Murphy an 
unecessary opening for mischief... 

denny / k8do


      
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