Wow. I read about 14% off center fed dipoles. I simulated one on 4NEC, and I discovered that while the swr can get pretty high, the gain is still high in most bands.
So I tuned my antenna last night to 3.5~3.6 MHz. One leg is about 66' long and the other is about 45'.
Wow! My test is to tune in to the Mojave station on GlobalTuners.com and talk from my station. Before, I could just barely hear my call over the static. After tuning my antenna, I was able to hear myself on 80M on 5 watts. I can also make Mojave on 40, as well. Since I caN only play at night, I am missing out on the daytime skip...
For fun, I tuned in to the PSK sub band on 40m. I replied to a CQ and chatted with a very helpful ham for maybe 15 minutes. He helped me understand the macros in Digital Master 480 and also helped me tune my TX. Turns out I was seriously overdriving my tx output.
As we talked, we kept dropping power. We ended up on 5 watts... For an 800+ mile trip.
So I'm feeling pretty good about this configuration. Since I'm buried between 3 mountains, I think I'm doing ok.
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