G5RV dipoles ?..

[KD8NIV]

This has been one experience I won't for get for sometime....been working on this project and putting the rope in the 1st tree was easy doing so, did this from the edge of my yard, this leg is up 45', but the 2nd tree was a totally different story getting the rope in it....got it in that tree today, not only was it fun doing so, had to stand on the mountain side which is just about straight up and down, tried 3 different tree's before I got a good one...rope is 20 some feet in this tree, with the elevation and footage the dipole should hang level across the land....

But the hard part is getting the LL and coax choke all up and over top of all the dang brush that's between the 2 tree's...I still haven't got it setup, been working on it as I can...that LMR400-UF is some heavy stuff, hanging this on the LL has been a pain so far......just using it because thats all I have and this is a long run back to the shack, not sure yet how far, coax is all still on the hill....been doing this project all on my own and it has been fun I'll tell yea, lol.....but I'll get it....

 

[KD8NIV]

This hasn't been a easy move since I moved the G5RV, on the upper side of the power lines, which is on a mountain side, one leg is 45' off the ground, and the other leg is about 20' off the ground since this end of the mountain is higher in elevation, which I thought would be enough to get the LL off the ground, but nope, didn't work, so had to take a piece of rope and tie the coax choke, and balun all on a tree limb, just to keep it off the ground, so it is now, about 8' off the ground, this will do until fall is here, then I'll put it in a different tree...

I have about a 140' run of coax going to the shack, and the coax runs a long the ground, and comes into the shack, and there's no rf in the shack, my computer works fine...and it does tune for 10-80m easy..

This has been a fun move, no doubt, because the steepness of the mountain on one end, and long as the dipole is, I ended up going further back in the tree line that I wanted too...and didn't use the tree I intended to, because the limbs was rotten, so, I'll change all this, in the fall, this end anyways..

Tried it out last night and this morning, and can hear stations I never could before, and the noise level I used to run, I don't have it now, my receive is quite, and I'm able to hear alot of stations now, this has been the biggest improvement so far I have seen on the move, but still checking it out, hope to work you guys in dx...

 

[KE0GXN]

This hasn't been a easy move since I moved the G5RV, on the upper side of the power lines, which is on a mountain side, one leg is 45' off the ground, and the other leg is about 20' off the ground since this end of the mountain is higher in elevation, which I thought would be enough to get the LL off the ground, but nope, didn't work, so had to take a piece of rope and tie the coax choke, and balun all on a tree limb, just to keep it off the ground, so it is now, about 8' off the ground, this will do until fall is here, then I'll put it in a different tree...

I have the same issue at my place. I got mine only 35-40 feet in a tree in my backyard and the ladder line can not stay off the ground at that height. So, what I have experimented with today, is hooking the ladder line over a tree limb so my air wound balun and ladder line is about 7 feet off the ground.

After doing this, I worked a 20 meter OMISS net today and made contacts coast to coast, but band conditions were rough for everybody it seemed, so I can't say if I gained/improved anything yet.

My plan is to get the entire antenna higher in the same tree in the fall, when I can better see what limbs I have to work with. Prior to today, I had been able to work pretty much any stateside and DX stations that I heard with the ladder line and balun on the ground.

 

[wb6uqa]

You could look at the Cobra Ultra lite. 70 feet long and comes with 100 feet window line Can be used as an inverted V. 10-80 meters. Great DX antenna.

 

[KD8NIV]

Here's a update, got to try it out for a couple weeks and it seems to talk really well, the 2nd day after I moved it I worked VK4BR Thomas in, Queens, Australia, on 20m, and last night worked LY5A Jonas in Lithuania on 20m, and all I have is a 100 watt radio...
Haven't done anything else to the dipole, don't think I need to, lol..

 

[KE0GXN]

Sounds good! I saving for a 450D myself, can't wait to get it and use the filtering. Also can't wait to get my G5RV up higher too. Made my first 10 meter contact today with a Curacao station, so its working, but I know I can get it work better if I got it up higher and had some better filtering....

Probably need to upgrade my coax eventually too, running RG8X right now.

Have fun and 73!

 

[KD8NIV]

If you watch the sites GigaParts.com - Home, you can get a rebate on that radio, there a good radio I like mine really well have been running mine little over a year now and so far has done a good job.....good luck and hope to catch you on the airways John

 

[Yagi]

I know I'm jumping on an older longer thread but I agree with the guys that suggested the ZS6BKW. I was in a hurry and rather then build it , I ordered the W8AMZ version of the 92 foot dipole. The center feed point it about 30 feet above the ground and I routed the ladder-line down and then it runs a few feet above the ground adjacent to the (non metallic) side of the house.

In my experience it tunes fine for 12, 17, 20 and 40 meters. With an antenna tuner it can work OK on 10 meters. 15 as designed and expected is a no go. 80 meters even with a tuner is funky so I don't use the 92 foot dipole there.

I am happy with a good no tune dipole for 4 bands and like having it as an option to go with my ground mounted hustler vertical.

 

[KE0GXN]

John, how does yours tune on 15 meters?

I have only made one contact on 15 so far it was a DX contact to Curacao a while back. The other day I tried to tune 15 and I couldn't get it to tune at all.

I am using a LDG IT-100 external tuner....what do you use, the your radio's internal tuner or an external tuner?

 

[KD8NIV]

Hello guys, if I had to do this again, I would have went with a ZS6BKW, one reason due to it been a shorter length of wire, but I used this G5RV because a friend gave it to me.....had my share of fun getting it to work while I had it up in the yard, and I have very little room here......since I moved it up on the mountain side it has worked really well so far anyways...

I haven't been on the air for awhile been working out of state, but just hooked it back up this morning and it still seems to work well, 15m tunes just fine, as well as 10-80m band......I'm using a LDG AT-100 Pro2 auto tuner on my 450D, and so far has done a fine job..

 

[prcguy]

The ZS6BKW is known to have a bad match on 15m but the internal tuner in my K3 and an LDG tuner works fine there. A local friend recently contacted me to get on 15m to join him in a DX QSO and my ZS6BKW tuned fine and put out a great signal there.

Same with 80m, the match is probably in the 7:1 range but my K3 and 1KW LDG tuner have no problem and it radiates very well on 80m. EZNEC calculations show its not that far down in performance from a full size dipole on 80m since its right about 70% the size of a 1/2 wave 89m dipole.
prcguy

I know I'm jumping on an older longer thread but I agree with the guys that suggested the ZS6BKW. I was in a hurry and rather then build it , I ordered the W8AMZ version of the 92 foot dipole. The center feed point it about 30 feet above the ground and I routed the ladder-line down and then it runs a few feet above the ground adjacent to the (non metallic) side of the house.

In my experience it tunes fine for 12, 17, 20 and 40 meters. With an antenna tuner it can work OK on 10 meters. 15 as designed and expected is a no go. 80 meters even with a tuner is funky so I don't use the 92 foot dipole there.

I am happy with a good no tune dipole for 4 bands and like having it as an option to go with my ground mounted hustler vertical.

 

[Yagi]

The ZS6BKW is known to have a bad match on 15m but the internal tuner in my K3 and an LDG tuner works fine there.

I've also been able to use the ZS6BKW on 10 and 15m with a tuner. But because of the bad match I had to work a lot harder to make contacts - especially on 15.

I prefer to use it on the 4 bands that don't require a tuner.

In general it seems like a fair amount of misinformation floating around on the Internet about using G5RV's on "all bands". I supposed if you feed the antenna with long enough coax you can get it to kind of work.

In today's world where many of us live in HOA neighborhoods or deal with other restrictions I think there is a good value in having a wire antenna that can work pretty well on multiple bands.

 

[prcguy]

I think its very cool that "Mr. Yagi" is endorsing a wire antenna.
prcguy

I've also been able to use the ZS6BKW on 10 and 15m with a tuner. But because of the bad match I had to work a lot harder to make contacts - especially on 15.

I prefer to use it on the 4 bands that don't require a tuner.

In general it seems like a fair amount of misinformation floating around on the Internet about using G5RV's on "all bands". I supposed if you feed the antenna with long enough coax you can get it to kind of work.

In today's world where many of us live in HOA neighborhoods or deal with other restrictions I think there is a good value in having a wire antenna that can work pretty well on multiple bands.

 

[Karl-NVW]

The original G5RV is a monoband antenna design

Agree with your comment about the so-called "All-Band G5RV." Those who have read the inventor's original design documentation will see that it was built solely for the 14 MHz / 20M amateur band, not as an 80-10 multiband antenna system. The physical dimensions can be scaled to operate in a different single frequency band.

 

[KE0GXN]

Hello guys, if I had to do this again, I would have went with a ZS6BKW, one reason due to it been a shorter length of wire, but I used this G5RV because a friend gave it to me.....had my share of fun getting it to work while I had it up in the yard, and I have very little room here......since I moved it up on the mountain side it has worked really well so far anyways...

I haven't been on the air for awhile been working out of state, but just hooked it back up this morning and it still seems to work well, 15m tunes just fine, as well as 10-80m band......I'm using a LDG AT-100 Pro2 auto tuner on my 450D, and so far has done a fine job..

Thanks John. Yeah I don't know what the deal is here, it obviously tuned it at one point to enable me to get that DX station. We'll see, I am not worried it works good on all the other bands I have tried so far.

I too have been looking at the AT-100 Pro II. Any cons in your mind so far? If I get it, I plan on using the YT-PRO-1200 interface cable with it too with the 450D I am also saving for.

 

[KE0GXN]

I am starting to eye a ZS6BKW myself, however I don't have anywhere near the expertise to build one yet, so I have been eying one on ebay.

ZS6BKW G5RV 6M 10 80M Antenna by Hfwireantennas ZS80 | eBay

Anybody know of any reputable makers a guy can buy one from?

 

[Yagi]

I am starting to eye a ZS6BKW myself, however I don't have anywhere near the expertise to build one yet, so I have been eying one on ebay.

ZS6BKW G5RV 6M 10 80M Antenna by Hfwireantennas ZS80 | eBay

Anybody know of any reputable makers a guy can buy one from?

I believe that the one you linked to is built by the guy that previously had been involved with building the ones sold under the W8AMZ name. Those were generally regarded as well made.

Obviously a wire antenna can be built for lower cost. But if you aren't confident in building yourself it can save you the build time. I have built a number of single band & fan dipoles over the years, but I ordered an W8AMZ just to save time.

Any G5RV or ZS6BKW is a compromise antenna. But both allow you to fairly quickly have a decent antenna on several bands.

To me the bottom line is to not let things like HOA's, neighbors or other restrictions keep you from having fun on the radio. Any antenna is better then nothing. So put up the best antenna you can and start enjoying HF now rather then wait until you can have a tower and a tri-bander.

By the way if you buy the antenna you linked to, I would encourage you to still go ahead and get some experience building something like a single band 15m dipole. The process of building & tuning it will help you better understand how they work.

 

[AK9R]

If you are considering an LDG tuner and plan to operate long duty cycle digital modes, be aware that LDG publishes two power ratings for their tuners. For example, the AT-100 Pro II is rated at 125 watts on SSB or CW, but only 30 watts on PSK (and, I assume, RTTY). You might want to step up to the AT-200 Pro II which is rated for 250/75 watts. The price difference is about $80.

 

[AK9R]

To me the bottom line is to not let things like HOA's, neighbors or other restrictions keep you from having fun on the radio. Any antenna is better then nothing. So put up the best antenna you can and start enjoying HF now rather then wait until you can have a tower and a tri-bander.

Bingo! I know so many hams who use these same excuses to not get on HF. I say "baloney". I speak from personal experience that there are ways to work around these restrictions.

 

[KE0GXN]

I believe that the one you linked to is built by the guy that previously had been involved with building the ones sold under the W8AMZ name. Those were generally regarded as well made.

Obviously a wire antenna can be built for lower cost. But if you aren't confident in building yourself it can save you the build time. I have built a number of single band & fan dipoles over the years, but I ordered an W8AMZ just to save time.

Any G5RV or ZS6BKW is a compromise antenna. But both allow you to fairly quickly have a decent antenna on several bands.

To me the bottom line is to not let things like HOA's, neighbors or other restrictions keep you from having fun on the radio. Any antenna is better then nothing. So put up the best antenna you can and start enjoying HF now rather then wait until you can have a tower and a tri-bander.

By the way if you buy the antenna you linked to, I would encourage you to still go ahead and get some experience building something like a single band 15m dipole. The process of building & tuning it will help you better understand how they work.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, so far I built a 6 meter dipole, but it was at a club meeting with plenty of Elmers around to guide me. Not so confident yet to go it alone, but I will get there, I agree it will only help me in the long run.

No worries here with HOA. I live in an unincorporated area of my county on 1.7 acres. Plenty of room and zero restrictions to do whatever I want on my property.