Attaching antenna wire to a balun

[Rastaman147]

Hi all,

I am building an antenna that will use a Unadilla W2AU balun and some 14gauge wire. I haven't been able to find a clear explanation of how to attach the antenna wire to the balun. This particular balun has 2 eyelets (actually there is a third eyelet on the top, but I am assuming it is for hanging the balun) and 2 pigtails. (photo below).

1. Are the 2 eyelets on the sides for strain relief or for making the connection, or both? Most of the pictures I've found appear to show the antenna wire is twisted around the eyelet *and* connected to the pigtail.

2. If the eyelets are for making the connection, then what are the pigtails for?

3. WRT antenna length, If I am going to be twisting the antenna around the eyelet, does the 1" or so of twisted wire need to accounted for in my total antenna length, or do I just cut the wire to the exact length that I want the antenna to be?

*** This will be an indoor loop antenna and it's weight will be 100% supported, so strain relief is not an issue -- Solder will be adequate. I am primarily concerned with antenna performance.

Maybe my balun will come with instructions that clearly explain all this, but based on the radio gear I have purchased so far, I'm not optimistic.

 

[WA0CBW]

You've got the right idea. The eyelet on the top is for support. If you were building a dipole you would use the "top" eyelet to support the center of the antenna. The eyelet on either side is used to connect to the antenna wire. Usually you would make a loop with the end of the antenna wire through the eyelet and then wrap the loose end around the antenna wire. The pig tail lead from the balun is then wrapped around the antenna wire and soldered. The eyelets take the strain and the little pigtail makes the solid connection from the balun to the antenna wire. Do the same thing for the other end of the antenna wire to the other eyelet and the balun pig tail lead.
BB

 

[popnokick]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11D167 Safari/9537.53)

The pigtails/eyelets are electrically connected, and are the same electrical connection points for each leg of the dipole the W2AU balun is made for. The center eyelet on top has no electrical connection and is used to hang the balun/antenna from a center support. This will all be clear in the instructions with it.

 

[WA0CBW]

About the length......The length is measured from the eyelet to the end of the antenna wire. In the case of the loop it would be from eyelet to eyelet. If it was a dipole it would be from the eyelet to the end of the antenna wire which would be a 1/4 wavelength long for each leg of the dipole.
BB

 

[Rastaman147]

Thanks, all -- You've answered my questions!

All I need to do now is wait for the balun and my radio to arrive, and I'll be up and running. Hopefully, I'll even be able to pick up some signals. I'll check back in and let you know how it works!