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Best antenna other than strainght wire for the FC-40


kd4e
 

n_collova wrote:
I purchased this tuner on promotion last year and strung up @100 foot of wire and I have encountered the issues, although not all that bad, regarding the tuner not tuning all bands with any one length of wire.
Additionally, the rf ground I am currently running consists of simply a ground rod driven into the earth. The earth in my area (300 tards from the beach and Atlantic Ocean)is sand with salt water approx 3-4ft down depending on the tide. A multi radial RF ground is difficult to achieve in my area due to lot coverage of my house and concrete.
What, please, is the "feet" equivalence of a "tard", please?
Just curious.

The sand may be a poor conductor but if your copper or
galvanize ground rod (8 feet?) reaches salt water in the
ground you are golden! Or so it would seem to me!

You may want to vary the length of that wire. There have
been some published reports that some lengths are more
readily tuned all-band (160-10M) than others.

You could fold and short to test shorter lengths or use
an alligator clip and wire to test a longer antenna.

What are you using for supports?

Is the antenna mostly horizontal or partially very
vertical?

How far above the ground is your antenna?

I once had the blessing of a rented room QTH near a bay
and it was the best location ever! RF loves salt water!

--

Thanks! & 73,
doc, KD4E
... somewhere in FL
URL: bibleseven (dot) com


kd4e
 

n_collova wrote:
Thanks for your advice and I look forward to your feedback.
I think that your next best stop for informed counsel is
towertalk@...

There are some gigantic egos on the list who insist upon
pompous and absolutist declarations or endless nitpicking
but they are outnumbered by well-informed and experienced
folks who really love to help fellow Hams.

There is much to learn and an opportunity to try different
configurations, in theory and in practice, and to bounce
them off list members.

HTH ...

--

Thanks! & 73,
doc, KD4E
... somewhere in FL
URL: bibleseven (dot) com


n_collova
 

I purchased this tuner on promotion last year and strung up @100 foot
of wire and I have encountered the issues, although not all that bad,
regarding the tuner not tuning all bands with any one length of wire.

Additionally, the rf ground I am currently running consists of simply
a ground rod driven into the earth. The earth in my area (300 tards
from the beach and Atlantic Ocean)is sand with salt water approx 3-4ft
down depending on the tide. A multi radial RF ground is difficult to
achieve in my area due to lot coverage of my house and concrete.

I suspect that since my setup is not optimum from an rf ground
perspective that I might benefit from an alternative antenna such as a
dipole or loop. I have heard that the tuner is quite flexible and will
work with certain loops and dipoles.

I also suspect that if the match is close enough that the antenna
might tune all bands with the proper dipole type antenna as well and I
can avoid the use of a matching transformer.

Under the circumstances what would be the best alternative antennas
(known to work well and tune all bands) to consider with my location
being close to saltwater and not likely having an optimum rf ground
easily available?

Thanks in advance.


n_collova
 

--- In YaesuTuner@..., kd4e <kd4e@...> wrote:

> n_collova wrote:
I purchased this tuner on promotion last year and strung up @100
foot
of wire and I have encountered the issues, although not all that
bad,
regarding the tuner not tuning all bands with any one length of
wire.

Additionally, the rf ground I am currently running consists of
simply
a ground rod driven into the earth. The earth in my area (300
tards
from the beach and Atlantic Ocean)is sand with salt water approx
3-4ft
down depending on the tide. A multi radial RF ground is
difficult to
achieve in my area due to lot coverage of my house and concrete.
What, please, is the "feet" equivalence of a "tard", please?
Just curious.

The sand may be a poor conductor but if your copper or
galvanize ground rod (8 feet?) reaches salt water in the
ground you are golden! Or so it would seem to me!

You may want to vary the length of that wire. There have
been some published reports that some lengths are more
readily tuned all-band (160-10M) than others.

You could fold and short to test shorter lengths or use
an alligator clip and wire to test a longer antenna.

What are you using for supports?

Is the antenna mostly horizontal or partially very
vertical?

How far above the ground is your antenna?

I once had the blessing of a rented room QTH near a bay
and it was the best location ever! RF loves salt water!

--

Thanks! & 73,
doc, KD4E
... somewhere in FL
URL: bibleseven (dot) com
The wire placement is currently less than ideal as well.

It is mostly horozontal and about 15 ft off the ground and running
along the side and around the back of a masonry constructed home.

The supports are an old metal eye type concrete anchor that were
previously used to hang phone line and/or television cable.

I have been considering a different placement. Possibly running the
wire up to a peaked roof in the front portion of the home and
streching the wire out (open air) to the rear of the home attaching
to a chimney which would leave about 30-40 feet of the wire about 25
ft off the ground and not encumbered by the structure of the home.

I have even considered relocating the fc-40 to the roof by extending
the control cable but this would lengthen my ground line and shorten
the antenna. Not sure if this would have a desirable overall result
as the ground leg would likely then radiate. Right now the ground
leg is approx 5 ft long. On second thought, this type of placement,
being above ground would likely require only a few radials of a
smaller length up on the roof to achieve decent efficiency.

On the ground issue, I have been reading the ARRL Antenna book for
insight and there is much about the radial systems but not so much
on the salt water beach situation. It is mentioned that a salt water
marsh is best and I guess my situation is close to that. Not so sure
what else is done to effectively couple to that.

Thanks for your advice and I look forward to your feedback.


 

According to the chart you can download in the file section 100 foot
should be ok but it is close at 102 and 98 foot so make sure your
lenght is accurate not a guess.

I tried 25 foot of 300 ohm twin lead and tried 25 foot of 450 ohm
ladder line,,, ran one side from the "hot" side of the tuner and the
other side to an 8 foot ground rod. I just wanted to try both types
of line and had luck tuning using either set up. Some times I may
have not been able to tune a frequency so I would move up or down the
band a bit and it would tune and then just bring the vfo back to
where I was and it would tune.Thats just what I did.

One thing I wonder is if your ground rod is still ok and has not
corroded apart under ground where it meets the salt water?

I also constructed a 540 foot loop to work 160 meter for field day
and fed it with ladder line as high as I could get it in the air and
I was able to tune everywhere.

Have fun and experiment.

--- In YaesuTuner@..., kd4e <kd4e@...> wrote:

> n_collova wrote:
Thanks for your advice and I look forward to your feedback.
I think that your next best stop for informed counsel is
towertalk@...

There are some gigantic egos on the list who insist upon
pompous and absolutist declarations or endless nitpicking
but they are outnumbered by well-informed and experienced
folks who really love to help fellow Hams.

There is much to learn and an opportunity to try different
configurations, in theory and in practice, and to bounce
them off list members.

HTH ...

--

Thanks! & 73,
doc, KD4E
... somewhere in FL
URL: bibleseven (dot) com