So, About That Antenna...

OK, I probably left some of you with a question or two about my 'fan dipole' that is cut for 80/15m. Let us see if I can answer those.

This antenna was actually made and used for our club's 80/15 CW Field Day station 2 years ago. The dipole is actually constructed out of 450-ohm ladder line, fed by coax. One 'side' of the ladder line is cut for 80m, and the other 'side' is cut to 15m. The center insulator is a Ten-Tec "Acrobat" (see "Up On The Roof", below for a close-up of it). At the insulator, on each side the two ends are brought together and mated with either the center conductor or shield of the coax feeder. The antenna is strung from a tree in my front yard to a tree in my neighbor's backyard, in a roughly N/S configuration. The center point is conveniently over my roof, so it's an easy matter to get the coax through a roof vent into the shack.

So, how does it perform? The antenna is cut for the CW portion of the band- so, my TS-450 can tune it reasonably for SSB, but it is a compromise at best. However, on PSK...it rocks! Now, I have discovered that I can also tune it OK for 40/30/10m also. Again, a compromise...but you use what you have, right? It actually works well in all these bands- go figure!

Will I put up a better antenna someday- of course. But for now, it works and the best part is that it was free- given to me by a club member when I was starting out in HF and didn't have anything else. So, I make it work and either enhance it, or pass it on when I get something better.

And isn't that what Amateur Radio is all about?