40 meters on 20 meter antenna?

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Mikedp

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OK guys, I started on the air in 2016 then took a 3 year break(other things interrupted). So I don't have alot of time in the hobby. I have a 20 meter only inverted V in my backyard. Last night I fired up my little yaesu 450D when everything was dead in 20 meters, I decided to see just what was there on 40 m band. The noise floor was at 0-super quiet so I figured it's because you have no 40 meter antenna dummy. :) The signals started coming in. Turks and Caicos has a small pileup on 7.175. the caller was about S1, but because the noise floor was zero, I could hear him perfectly. And there were several other frequencies coming in. OK here's the dumb question, how am I receiving 40 meters on a 20 dipole? I never did key the mic to make contact.
 

KB4MSZ

Billy
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If the conditions are there you will hear Mars on that dipole. It's all about the conditions. I assume that that the match on that dipole on 40 meters is beyond the tuning range of the 450D? Beyond 3 SWR?
 

w2xq

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Any antenna--even a paperclip or a short hank of wire--will receive signals on any frequency. Making the transmitter happy with the antenna is another issue.
 

N2AL

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For the longest time, I built a center fed zepp by Using 230 feet of 10 gauge stranded wire, strung about 60 feet in the air between two trees. I used a manual and automatic antenna tuner, user preference, and I could tune from 160 meters to 6 meters.
I logged 600 contacts, in 105 countries, on all 7 continents.
You can do a lot with 100 watts and a wire.
 

vagrant

ker-muhj-uhn
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OK here's the dumb question, how am I receiving 40 meters on a 20 dipole? I never did key the mic to make contact.
As the others noted, receiving a 40m signal on an antenna tuned for 20 is not surprising. Additionally, if you turn off the RX tuner, the signal may be even better. Experiment and have fun.
 

Mikedp

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OK thanks for the replies guys, the only thing I've used as a tuner is the built in auto tuner. I understand that's not the best, but it's all I have. I was a little worried last night about keying up on 40 as not to screw something up in my 450D. But If I recall, the 450D gives a beep if there is a problem with mis-match and such. I'll try to make a QSO on 40 tonight though. Thanks again.
 
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