Hello all....I got a question about a old longwire antenna I bought 20 some years ago from radio shack.
I've had my longwire in my attic for years cause of outdoor restrictions and I'm currently making a 9:1 balun or unun (whichever it is) that wi also have a ground terminal on it. After reading and seeing several articles and pics...I was wanting to know the best options. Some say to mount the balun directly (or as close to the longwire as possible) others say to mount the balun to the feedline and keep the ground wire as short as possible. If I mount the balun close or directly to the longwire and use decent coax to bring it to my radio (roughly 15 to 20 feet) my ground wire from the balun will probably be the same length to go to a grounding rod outside. If I mount the balun in my room to the feedline that came with the antenna which is a single maybe 18 gauge shielded wire that I'm currently using..my ground wire may be about 5 feet or so to ground rod. This antenna is used on a old radio shack dx-392 so I won't be transmitting at all on it.
So basically what I'm asking is
1- is it better to mount the balun at the antenna and directly tie the longwire to it and do away with the 18 gauge feedline I currently have and have a longer ground wire or
2-mount it closer to the ground source and use the 18 gauge wire as my feedline to the balun and keep the ground wire a lot shorter
Thanks guys
I've had my longwire in my attic for years cause of outdoor restrictions and I'm currently making a 9:1 balun or unun (whichever it is) that wi also have a ground terminal on it. After reading and seeing several articles and pics...I was wanting to know the best options. Some say to mount the balun directly (or as close to the longwire as possible) others say to mount the balun to the feedline and keep the ground wire as short as possible. If I mount the balun close or directly to the longwire and use decent coax to bring it to my radio (roughly 15 to 20 feet) my ground wire from the balun will probably be the same length to go to a grounding rod outside. If I mount the balun in my room to the feedline that came with the antenna which is a single maybe 18 gauge shielded wire that I'm currently using..my ground wire may be about 5 feet or so to ground rod. This antenna is used on a old radio shack dx-392 so I won't be transmitting at all on it.
So basically what I'm asking is
1- is it better to mount the balun at the antenna and directly tie the longwire to it and do away with the 18 gauge feedline I currently have and have a longer ground wire or
2-mount it closer to the ground source and use the 18 gauge wire as my feedline to the balun and keep the ground wire a lot shorter
Thanks guys