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vidanay

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So, I have a problem.....I have a beautiful tower (old windmill) but no antenna!

OK, so really I have a couple of problems. I also don't have an HF radio yet. :cool:

My current choice for my first HF setup is an ICOM IC-7300, but I am still in the planning stages, so that could change.

What I do know is that I have what appears to be a prime mounting location for a nice antenna. I am mostly interested in general HF communications, not necessarily extreme DX'ing or contesting. My initial thought is to put a multi-band vertical on the tower. I am not really interested in having a giant beam antenna as I don't know that the directionality will be what I am looking for. Obviously things can change, but as I said, this is my first set-up.

An omni-directional vertical is simply my first thought, and there are dozens if not hundreds of different antenna options available to me.

Space available....15 acres
Budget....$1000 (not including radio)
Purpose....General HF send/receive.

I am open to all opinions and suggestions.

73
Dave (KD9GZV)
 

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WA0CBW

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Most multi-band vertical antenna's require some form of RF ground plane at the base. Adding an RF ground plane at the base of the antenna at the top of that tower will be a little difficult. You might want to investigate simple wire dipole antenas. There are some that would provide multi-band capability and are relatively low in cost.
BB
 

mm

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https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ean-r2010420


While The tenadyne logs are very nice, adding in the price of a suitable rotator you will probably be above your 1K budget so you may want to consider a traditional 20/15/10 directional antenna.

Even With the declining solar cycle I would still consider a small sized beam antenna for something like 20 ,15 and 10 meters.

20 and even 15 meter will be usable for the low part of this cycles end and for the beginning of the next solar cycle.

Even 10 meters, while though it appears to have dropped in activity considerably, the 10 meter band will still have some openings at select times of the year for instance spring and summer E season and fall and winter TEP openings into South America and the South Pacific.

The EAantennas 3 band Moxon/yagi above, for 20/15/10 meters, is a very reasonable priced beam antenna with good directivity.

This antenna along with a medium sized yaesu G450 or similar rotator would be right under or close to your budget.
 
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AK9R

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How old and rusty is that windmill tower? I'd be very cautious about adding to the wind load on that tower. It might be a good support for the center of a dipole or inverted-V wire antenna, but I don't think I'd put any kind of beam and rotator up there.
 

vidanay

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How old and rusty is that windmill tower? I'd be very cautious about adding to the wind load on that tower. It might be a good support for the center of a dipole or inverted-V wire antenna, but I don't think I'd put any kind of beam and rotator up there.
The tower will be fully inspected prior to anyone climbing, long before any equipment is mounted.

My current thought is a half wave end fed 80m wire going from the tower to one of the other buildings on the property. This would be much less expensive and less complicated than most other options.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 

vidanay

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Dave ,
I like the dome in the picture.
I have questions on how you like it.
The dome is an indoor riding arena for horses. It is a Cover-All brand truss arch building.

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prcguy

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I've used a number of HF vertical antennas that don't require ground radials and most are not that great. The best performing one for me was a Cushcraft R7 series and one of the biggest disappointments was the GAP Titan.

Since you would normally use a vertical for low angle DX its best to get it in multiples of 1/2 wavelength above ground and doing that for 40m will also work for other harmonically related bands. In that case you wold be looking at around 65ft, otherwise why not just ground mount it.

I would also make good use of the tower for dipoles to fill in for closer range stuff via NVIS. If the tower is higher than about 35ft you could put a 160/80m dipole at the top of the tower and something for 40 or 60m down lower at a right angle to the top dipole but at around 32ft or 1/4 wave off the ground for the best upward gain on 40m.

I wish I had room for a higher tower like that at my place. I also think your choice of the Icom 7300 is good, in my opinion its the best performing HF rig with the most features for the price.
prcguy
 

n5ims

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One thing that would concern me is the power pole (with street light) that appears to be near the windmill. There are power lines on at least two directions that may interfere with any wire antennas you place on that tower. Don't think that using insulated wire for those antennas will make much difference if they fall (or the power lines fall) and go across each other. You should stay well away from them when placing your antennas. In addition, they (or the street light) may cause a fair bit of RF noise that will be hard to eliminate if they're too close or cross, so this isn't just a safety thing.
 

N0IU

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I am not really interested in having a giant beam antenna as I don't know that the directionality will be what I am looking for.

73
Dave (KD9GZV)

You do not need a "giant" beam because pretty much any beam will work better than a vertical.You do not need to know the "directionality" because beams can be rotated in any direction depending on what part of the world you are wanting to work.

73,
de Sott N0IU
 

prcguy

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If your considering an 80m end fed I can recommend this one from experience: EFHW-8010 - MyAntennas.com These are true resonant half wave end feds and not the random wire fed with a 9:1 balun types, which don't work nearly as well.

The only problem I see with this type of antenna is when all bands above 80m are tuned it leaves 80m resonant down around 3.6Mhz. I've made many home brew versions of this antenna and since I don't do 80m CW I placed a 40m trap about 63ft down the wire from the transformer, which isolated the 80m section and allowed me to tune it to the phone portion around 3.9MHz. It works great over 3.8 to 4.0MHz with less than 1.5:1 match and doesn't need a tuner.

MyAntennas will sell you just the transformer and you can use your own wire and a commercial 40m trap if you wish, just make sure you have an antenna analyzer handy.
prcguy


The tower will be fully inspected prior to anyone climbing, long before any equipment is mounted.

My current thought is a half wave end fed 80m wire going from the tower to one of the other buildings on the property. This would be much less expensive and less complicated than most other options.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 

k6cpo

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Most multi-band vertical antenna's require some form of RF ground plane at the base. Adding an RF ground plane at the base of the antenna at the top of that tower will be a little difficult. You might want to investigate simple wire dipole antenas. There are some that would provide multi-band capability and are relatively low in cost.
BB

There are multi-band verticals that have radials as part of their construction so they don't need a separate ground plane. The ones that come immediately to mind are the Cushcraft R series. (I have one.) The current model is the R9 (covers 9 bands) but you might be able to find a used older model.

Cushcraft Amateur Radio Antennas
 
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