cpuerror
Member
I am going to setup a ham stick antenna for rx/tx on 75m... What I am wondering is whether it would be better to mount it at ground level with buried cables and such, or go for height with an artificial ground??
Like what?
Like what?
Check out the Isotron line for each band. They are odd looking antennas but I understand from a good friend that they work well on the HF bands. They offer package deals for some multiple band combo's.
http://www.isotronantennas.com/
But a dipole for 75m would be huge. Maybe I've got no choice but to get a tuner.
The problem with the isotrons is that they are extremely narrow banded. Particularly on the lower frequency bands.
A tuner won't pull you out of the mud unless it's feeding a proper antenna to begin with. A tuner does NOTHING for tuning an antenna, it's an impedance matching device. Frankly I don't know what numptie came up with "tuner" when it used to be called a match box; eg. the EF Johnson Matchbox. Now PLEASE go find yourself an Elmer before these guys have you mixed up as a cat in a washing machine.
An SGC "tuner" is actually an antenna coupler, NOT a matchbox. You CAN'T use it to feed a coaxial input antenna of any type. It is part of the antenna itself, when operated properly. In fact, the radiating element begins on the circuit board at the location of the last lumped element. Unlike the match boxes you speak so disparagingly of, a coupler will work quite well in making a random piece of wire radiate, even better if that random piece of wire is in doublet form with a balanced feed.
Where in the world did you get that idea???????????
An SGC tuner is NOT part of the antenna---BUT you can, and they sell waterproof boxes for them, mount them at the base of a vertical antenna-----much more efficient there as they only have to match the vertical, and not several feet of feedline to the transmitter-BUT they are still a transmatch,albeit by electronic relays.....you still have to have a fairly resonant antenna
I also agree, that a Hamstick for anything other than a mobile install is useless for transmitting---you will have more luck yelling out the window especially on a low band like 75.
The best idea i have seen in the thread is to forget the Hamstick and put up the dipole-----as the above poster said, there is no rule that it has to be straight, and a loop will also work.......
and from the SGC website--the cut and paste below says just that--all thought they use their unit to "couple" the antenna to the transmitter--it is still a TUNER
"SGC Smartuners deliver more flexibility and accuracy than any other HF antenna coupler on the market. They are independently intelligent, matching any HF transceiver and any antenna, with no user interface. Smartuners are available in power levels from 1.5 to 500 Watts and frequency ranges from 1.6 to 60 MHz. They provide efficient, accurate, all purpose tuning that is ideal for base, mobile, portable, marine or avaition. An SGC Smartuner ensures that you will get the most efficient, most accurate tuning solution possible."
Good Luck
from the definition in the dictionary of an "antenna"http://www.sgcworld.com/Publications/Books/stealthbook.pdf
And I quote:
"Antenna couplers are placed at the antenna, and precisely match conditions of the antenna to the feed line.
Antenna tuners are generally located at the transmitteroutput, at the radio end of the coaxial feed line.
A tuner placed at the transmitter, fools a transmitter into working correctly.
A coupler installed at the antenna feed point eliminates the most serious cause
of feed line losses by providing a proper match of the antenna to the feed line.
The Smartuner® is a true antenna coupler." end quote.
Putting a pi or L network at the antenna to match it to the feedline is, essentially, part of the antenna itself.
Where in the world did you get that idea???????????
An SGC tuner is NOT part of the antenna---BUT you can, and they sell waterproof boxes for them, mount them at the base of a vertical antenna-----much more efficient there as they only have to match the vertical, and not several feet of feedline to the transmitter-BUT they are still a transmatch,albeit by electronic relays.....you still have to have a fairly resonant antenna
I also agree, that a Hamstick for anything other than a mobile install is useless for transmitting---you will have more luck yelling out the window especially on a low band like 75.
The best idea i have seen in the thread is to forget the Hamstick and put up the dipole-----as the above poster said, there is no rule that it has to be straight, and a loop will also work.......
and from the SGC website--the cut and paste below says just that--all thought they use their unit to "couple" the antenna to the transmitter--it is still a TUNER
"SGC Smartuners deliver more flexibility and accuracy than any other HF antenna coupler on the market. They are independently intelligent, matching any HF transceiver and any antenna, with no user interface. Smartuners are available in power levels from 1.5 to 500 Watts and frequency ranges from 1.6 to 60 MHz. They provide efficient, accurate, all purpose tuning that is ideal for base, mobile, portable, marine or avaition. An SGC Smartuner ensures that you will get the most efficient, most accurate tuning solution possible."
Good Luck