graywoulf
Member
Another thing occurred to me. Which is better, a north south orientation or east west orientation? Or does it matter?
Well, it took me a while to gather the parts and finally decide on a design but I now have a DIY ZS6BKW dipole antenna. My first ever antenna build at that. After looking at many designs and looking at other DIY antenna builds, I made my own version using (if you can believe this) a nylon cutting board I bought at the DT store. I used MFJ 450 Ohm ladder line and 14 Ga. stranded and insulated THHN wire. I also used brass bolts for terminals and all of the wire terminals were soldered on. I sealed it all with a combination of shrink tubing, silicone sealant, coax tape and electrical tape. I made a choke using 6 4" turns of the Wireman low loss RG-8X coax which I will cut to length as needed after the installation. This was fun to do and I do really appreciate everyone's information and encouragement in getting this done. Here are a couple of pictures. One is the strain relief/connection boards before I sealed them up and the other is the finished antenna. Now to wait out the rain to install this sucker.
Thank you for the complements!Looks fantastic! Great workmanship. But loose that coiled up coax choke, it will do a little less than nothing for that antenna. You need a very good and effective choke balun at the coax/ladder line junction.
Thank you for the complements!
I installed that coax choke as it was used in the YT video I got my plans from. It was said that it would keep any flowing currents from straying outside of the coax. I don't understand the theory of it but it was also said that the antenna may work with or without it. What kind of choke balun do you suggest that I use?
Hi Roger,I would put up a wire antenna like a G5 RV. Get yourself a manual antenna tuner. This will work very well on all bands. Roger Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well, two things about that suggestion. First, I don't have any old TVs to rob parts from and second, there are no bars where I live.Just for grins...
Got an old TV laying around, the kind with a picture tube? Get in there and take the yoke off of the neck of that picture tube. Strip all the copper wire of off that yoke and you will find a ferrite core. No idea what mixture it is, but it's big. Easy to wrap gobs of coax through.
If you have infinitely more patience than I do, un-wrap that itty-bitty copper wire instead of cutting it off. No idea what you'd use it for but there's gotta be miles of it! I'd say un-wrapping that stuff would keep you out'a the bars, but when you're finished you will take up residence in said bars...
Well, two things about that suggestion. First, I don't have any old TVs to rob parts from and second, there are no bars where I live.
I will have to order a core to get this job done. BTW, we do have a few places around that serve craft beer though.
Thanks prcguy for the link to the cores. One thing I still need to know though. Will I need to build an enclosure for the core that will be outside? Or can I wrap it with coax tape and electrical tape to seal it from the weather? Thanks.
Thanks for letting me know that. I was thinking that after I get the coax wrapped around the core and secured, that I would seal it with Plasti-Dip spray. I think that would seal it good and offer some protection otherwise as well.I've had several coax wrapped cores up for years with no enclosure, the ferrite doesn't seem to care about weather. They are fragile and will crack if they hit something hard, so use that as your guide.
Thanks for letting me know that. I was thinking that after I get the coax wrapped around the core and secured, that I would seal it with Plasti-Dip spray. I think that would seal it good and offer some protection otherwise as well.
Thanks for letting me know not to over tighten the Ty-Raps. That is definitely good to know. Learned something new today.I use small Ty-Raps to secure the coax to the core but if you do that be careful not to pinch off the coax and distort it. I use two Ty-Raps at each end criss-crossing the coax in an X pattern with just enough force to hold it in place. If you pinch off the coax you can make a filter that can have a frequency suck out that will reoccur at harmonically related frequencies.
Thanks for letting me know not to over tighten the Ty-Raps. That is definitely good to know. Learned something new today.