my question is mainly about the feed point — i just twisted the coax braid and center conductor to the two legs and wrapped it in self-amalgamating tape. is that gonna be an issue long term? i was kinda worried about moisture getting in there eventually. also the whole thing is gonna be kind of an inverted V shape since i only have one decent tree to hang the apex from and the ends will slope down to fence posts at maybe 10 feet. ive read that changes the radiation pattern a bit but i dont really understand how much it matters for general HF use.

anyway planning to get it up this afternoon if the weather holds, just wanted to sanity check before i do something dumb

anyway my question is about the feedpoint. when i measured SWR it was around 1.8:1 which isnt terrible but i was expecting something closer to 1.5 or even lower since everything online says a dipole should be pretty close to 50 ohms. im using RG-8X to the shack, maybe 60 feet of it. i did NOT put a choke balun or any kind of current balun at the feedpoint, just connected the coax braid to one leg and center to the other. could that be causing current on the outside of the coax messing with my readings? ive been meaning to wind a 1:1 choke but havent gotten around to it yet. the antenna is about 25 feet high at the apex which i know isnt great for 40m but its what i have. just curious if anyone else has gone through this and what you found made the biggest difference, the balun thing or just trimming the legs.

SWR is actually pretty decent, sitting around 1.4:1 at 7.200 which i can live with. my tuner handles it fine anyway. but im getting this weird thing where the pattern seems really wonky when im trying to work stations to the northeast, like theyre coming in weaker than i'd expect given the reports im getting on other bands. not sure if thats the low height causing high angle radiation or something else going on. anyone built something similar and noticed this? wondering if raising just one end would help or if i should bother.

also used a 1:1 choke balun i wound myself on a FT-240-43 toroid, about 8 turns of RG-8X through it. hoping that's enough common mode rejection but honestly not sure i wound it right, the info online varies a lot on turn count.

here's my thing though — when i put the antenna analyzer on it the resonant point came in a bit high, like around 7.4 MHz instead of down in the phone portion. i trimmed maybe 6 inches off each side and it barely moved. do i need to take more off or is there something else going on? its an inverted V configuration if that matters, apex is about 30 feet up in a pine tree and the ends droop down to maybe 8 feet off the ground. SWR at 7.2 is reading about 1.8:1 which honestly isnt terrible but id like to get it a little lower if i can.

also wondering if the PVC feedpoint is going to cause me problems long term, i live in the midwest so we get some weather here. didnt do anything special to seal it up yet.

the SWR at 7.150 is sitting around 1.8:1 which i guess isnt terrible but i was kind of expecting it to be closer to flat, like 1.2 or something. also the resonant point seems to be closer to 7.4 MHz which doesnt make sense to me because i thought you cut long and trim down but at 7.4 its showing like 1.1:1 and at 7.150 it climbs up. im using a cheap nano VNA to check this so maybe thats part of the problem but i dunno.

the wire runs through some tree branches in a couple spots and i wonder if that affects things. also i soldered the feedpoint connection but didnt use a balun or anything, should i have? ive read conflicting stuff about whether you really need one for a basic dipole.

heres the weird part — swr is like 1.4:1 right at the resonant point which is sitting around 7.150 but then on the low end of the band around 7.020 it climbs to almost 2.8:1. i kind of expected some rise but not that much. on the high end around 7.250 its maybe 2.1:1 which seems more normal to me. is this asymmetry typical for inverted V or did i screw something up with the feedpoint? the legs arent exactly the same angle because of how my trees are positioned, one side drops steeper than the other.

using an SDR to check the swr curve, not a fancy antenna analyzer, so theres some margin for error i guess but it seems pretty consistent.

anyway got it up in an inverted V config, apex is maybe 30 feet up on a pushup mast in the backyard. SWR is sitting around 1.8:1 at 7.150 which honestly isnt terrible but i was expecting to get closer to 1.3 or so before i started trimming. the thing is im not sure if its the feedpoint connections causing issues or if i just need to keep shortening the legs. i soldered the coax braid and center conductor directly to the wire ends at the PVC insulator, no balun or anything like that.

should i be worried about the lack of balun here or just keep trimming first and see what happens? i can get SWR down to about 1.5 at 7.200 if that helps narrow anything down. havent tried to really tx much yet, mostly just listening and checking the SWR across the band.

my question is about the feedline situation. i ran about 50 feet of RG-8X from the center down to the shack and im getting a decent SWR around 1.4:1 at my target freq which honestly i was surprised by. no balun yet, which i know people are gonna jump on me for. does it matter that much if im just doing casual SSB, like am i gonna have RF issues or is it more of a noise/pattern thing? also the antenna is only about 18-20 feet up which i know is low for 40m but thats the best i can do right now with the trees i have.

overall though im pretty happy with it, the wire cost me nothing and it loaded up fine on my 7300. just wondering if i should bother with a choke balun before my next session or if i can wait til i have time to wind one properly.

i ordered a bunch of 14 AWG stranded copper wire from the hardware store and grabbed a SO-239 chassis connector to make the center piece. my question is about the length — the formula is obviously 468/f but do i cut exactly to length and then trim, or do i cut a bit long first and work my way down? i feel like i know the answer but i want to make sure before i waste wire. also not sure if stranded vs solid matters much at 40m, ive seen both mentioned online.

the other thing bugging me is the feedline. i have about 50 feet of RG-8X laying around, is that going to be a problem without a balun? i know some people say you absolutely need one and others seem to skip it. running an IC-7300 if that matters.

swr at resonance is sitting around 1.4:1 which i know is fine, the radio is happy and i dont have the tuner kicking in. but something just feels off, like the signal reports im getting on 40 are maybe slightly better than the vertical but not the huge jump i was expecting. worked a few stations in the midwest from the northeast and they were giving me 57-58 which is decent but i was hoping for more. maybe my expectations were just too high? or maybe 30 feet isnt really enough for a 40m dipole to shine. the legs are each around 33 feet and i oriented it more or less east-west which should favor north-south paths theoretically.

feedline is about 40 feet of rg8x going into the shack, no balun currently which i know some people will yell at me for. thinking about adding a 1:1 choke balun at the feedpoint but wanted to see how it performed first. anyone built similar setups and have thoughts on what to tweak first?

fed it with RG-8X down to the shack and when i check it on the analyzer it shows SWR around 1.4:1 at 7.150 but then it climbs pretty quick toward the band edges, like 2.8:1 at 7.000 and maybe 2.5 at 7.300. resonant point seems to be around 7.2 which is close enough i guess but i thought it would be flatter across the whole band. is this just what a dipole does or did i screw something up with the feedline length or maybe the height is hurting me. the antenna is also slightly sloped because one tree is taller than the other, not sure if that matters.

overall though it actually seems to work, made a bunch of contacts yesterday including one into ontario which felt pretty good for a wire antenna ive never made anything before.

Wire is cheap and proven but requires guy lines and careful support. Looking at a fiberglass pole setup similar to what I've seen in POTA activations. What's been your experience with both approaches?

• Weight for backpacking
• Setup time in field conditions
• Performance differences

my question is really about the feedpoint. i bought a SO-239 chassis connector and i was going to just solder the two wire ends directly to it, center pin on one leg and the shell on the other. is that all there is to it mechanically speaking? like do i need any kind of strain relief or is just soldering it solid enough? im hanging this between two trees in the backyard so theres gonna be some wind load and i dont want the solder joints pulling apart after a week.

also not sure if i need a balun here or if i can just run coax directly to it. i read like three different things on three different sites and now im more confused than when i started.

I thought EFHWs didn't need counterpoises? What am I missing here? Running coax perpendicular to the wire for the first 20 feet to minimize coupling.

• Ground losses: Measured 2.1 ohms at antenna base with 8-foot copper ground rod
• Radial current distribution: Using RF ammeter shows fairly even current split
• SWR below 1.5:1 on all bands with relay-switched stub tuning

Question: Would going to thirty-two 8-foot radials vs sixteen 10-footers improve efficiency significantly? Space constraints limit me to about 320 feet total radial wire.

problem is the SWR at the calculated resonant freq is like 2.1:1 which i guess isnt terrible but i expected closer to 1.5 or so, and it gets worse the further up the band i go which i know is normal but the whole curve seems shifted up in frequency by like 30-40 kHz from where i expected it. trimmed a little off each leg thinking i was long, but that just made it worse. antenna is at about 25 feet at the center, slopes down on both ends to about 10 feet, not a flat-top. im wondering if the inverted-v configuration is throwing off my numbers since most of the calculators assume a flat dipole

also the feedpoint impedance — is 2.1:1 just what you get with an inverted-v because the impedance drops below 50 ohms? i read somewhere the legs being angled down lowers the feedpoint Z but i cant find a consistent answer on how much

the swr at what should be resonance is sitting around 1.8:1 which isnt terrible i guess but i expected to get closer to 1:1 or at least under 1.5. the resonant point also seems to be about 150kHz lower than i calculated for. antenna is in kind of an inverted-V configuration, apex maybe 30 feet up on a push-up mast, legs going out at roughly 45 degrees tied off to some stakes. coax runs straight down from the feedpoint for maybe 10 feet before going horizontal.

is the high-ish swr because of the inverted-V angle pulling the feedpoint impedance down from 75 ohms? i read somewhere that steep angles can do that but wasnt sure if that really matters at 45 degrees. or is it more likely the coax acting as part of the antenna messing with the reading? i didnt put a choke or balun at the feedpoint because i dont have one made up yet. anyway any thoughts appreciated, trying to figure out if i need to trim or if its something else going on

hung it up in an inverted V config off my chimney, apex is maybe 28 feet up and the ends droop down to about 8 feet off the ground. used a cheap PL-259 connector i soldered on myself, which honestly might be where things went sideways because my soldering has always been kinda mediocre.

problem is the SWR at resonance is sitting around 2.1:1 and the resonant point is way down around 6.8 MHz, not where i wanted it at all. i trimmed a little off each leg and it came up to 7.0 MHz but SWR barely moved. antenna analyzer is an old MFJ-259 that i borrowed from the club. the feedpoint is just the center insulator i made out of a piece of PVC, twisted the two wires through holes and soldered to the coax center and shield.

not sure if this is a feedpoint impedance issue or if the inverted V angle is doing something weird or if my PL-259 is just garbage. any thoughts would be appreciated, been scratching my head on this for a few days now

i have some leftover 14 gauge stranded copper from an old project and i was going to use that. the formula is pretty simple, 468 divided by frequency in MHz, split in half for each leg. so for 7.150 thats roughly 65 feet total, each leg about 32.5 feet. thats what i got anyway. my question is whether the 14 gauge stranded is actually okay or if i need something different. i also dont have a balun — do i absolutely need one or can i just connect the coax center to one leg and shield to the other and call it good enough for now.

planning to run it as an inverted V off my chimney, apex maybe 30 feet up. i know thats not ideal height but its what i have. running 100 watts from an ic-7300.

got it up in an inverted V configuration, apex at about 30 feet off the roof peak, ends tied off to some fence posts with paracord. fed it with 50 ohm coax through a 1:1 choke balun i wound myself on an FT-240-43 core. SWR came out around 1.4:1 at the frequency i was shooting for which honestly seems pretty good for a first build.

my question is about the feedpoint connector. i just twisted the coax braid and center conductor to the two legs and taped it all up with self-amalgamating tape, then wrapped that in regular electrical tape for UV protection. is that good enough long term or should i be doing something different there. ive seen people use SO-239 chassis connectors mounted to a little piece of lexan or cutting board material as like a proper feedpoint housing. wondering if thats worth doing or if im overcomplicating it.

my question is more about the feedpoint. im planning to use 50 ohm coax to the shack and i keep reading about how the impedance at the feedpoint of a dipole is around 73 ohms so theres a slight mismatch but most people just deal with it and the swr is still low enough that a modern radio wont freak out. is that right? or do i need a balun at the feedpoint, and if so what kind. ive seen people say 1:1 current balun, some say voltage balun, some say just choke the coax with some ferrite beads and call it a day.

also planning to hang it in an inverted V config because i only have one good tall support (a pine tree thats maybe 40 feet up). the ends would only be about 8-10 feet off the ground. is that gonna be a problem for the radiation pattern or should i just not overthink it and try it

my question is about the feedpoint connection. i soldered the coax braid and center conductor to the two wire halves but im getting kind of a weird SWR reading — like 1.8:1 at the calculated resonant frequency which i guess isnt awful but i expected to get closer to 1:1 without a tuner. the antenna is only about 25 feet up in kind of an inverted V configuration if that matters. wondering if the height is what's throwing things off or if my feedpoint connection is just bad. i did wrap the coax around a piece of pvc a few times as a kind of ugly balun thing but not sure if i did that right either

also the wire lengths ended up being like 33.1 and 33.2 feet because i ran out of wire on one side and had to splice a little bit, could that asymmetry cause problems?

cut each leg to about 33.5 feet going off the standard 468/f formula, soldered up the feedpoint to a SO-239 i pulled off an old dummy load chassis, and hung it up inverted-V style with the apex at about 30 feet off a tree branch. center support is just a piece of PVC with a hole drilled through it, nothing fancy.

SWR at the bottom of 40m is around 1.4:1 which honestly surprised me in a good way, but up around 7.250 it climbs to like 2.8:1 and my rig starts complaining. i havent put a choke on the feedline yet, which im guessing might be part of it? or do i just need to trim the legs a little? the wire is insulated if that matters, i know that changes things slightly compared to bare wire.

also wondering if anyone has strong opinions on using a 1:1 balun vs just a coax choke at the feedpoint for a basic dipole like this. ive read like 50 different forum threads and opinions seem all over the place on this one.

the math worked out to about 66 feet total, split 33 each side, which i know is the standard half wavelength calc. got it up in a rough inverted V shape, apex maybe 25 feet up tied to a tree in the backyard. ran about 40 feet of RG-8X down to the shack.

my SWR on 40m is sitting around 1.4:1 at the bottom of the band and creeps up to maybe 2.2 or so at the top, which seems reasonable to me but im not sure. also curious if i should be using a choke balun at the feedpoint — right now theres nothing and i realize that might be a problem. ive read conflicting stuff about whether it matters for a basic backyard setup. using an FT-891 if that changes anything.

my question is about the feed point. i just twisted the wire ends through the holes i drilled in the PVC and soldered them to the connector. its been raining since i finished so i havent raised it yet but im wondering if i should be putting some kind of sealant over the solder joints or if thats overkill. also using 50 ohm coax obviously but wondering how much of a mismatch im actually going to see in practice, i know dipoles are theoretically 73 ohms but everyone says just use the tuner anyway.

the other thing is i originally wanted to do an inverted V because my only real support is a 30 foot mast in the middle of the yard. the ends would end up pretty close to the ground on 40m, maybe 8 or 10 feet. is that going to kill the takeoff angle too much or should i just go flat top and run the ends to fence posts at like 6 feet?