so i've been putting this off for way too long but i finally sat down last weekend and built a proper half wave dipole for 40m. used 14 gauge stranded copper wire i had leftover from some electrical stuff around the house, cut each leg to 33.5 feet based on the standard formula (468 / freq). center insulator is just a piece of pvc i drilled through and the feedpoint is soldered to a SO-239 chassis connector i pulled off an old rig that died years ago.

my question is mostly about the feedline situation. i've got about 60 feet of RG-8X to the shack and im seeing SWR around 1.8:1 at my target frequency which is around 7.150. i was kind of expecting to trim and get it closer but i'm wondering if i should bother or just let the tuner handle it. also wondering if i need a choke balun at the feedpoint - i didnt put one in and i've heard mixed opinions on whether it actually matters for a simple dipole like this.

antenna is currently just laying in the backyard about 8 feet off the ground across two stepladders while i test it. obviously gonna get it up higher once i know its working right. swr does shift a bit as i move around near it which i guess is expected at that height.

1.8:1 on 40 is honestly fine, most tuners will handle that no problem and the loss through 60 feet of RG-8X at that SWR is pretty negligible. i wouldnt obsess over trimming unless you really want a dead flat match. that said your measurement at 8 feet is basically meaningless because the antenna is sitting in its own near field and everything around it is coupling. get it up to at least a half wavelength if you can before you decide anything needs trimming, you'll probably find the resonant point shifts a few kHz anyway once it's in the air for real.

on the balun question - yeah just put one in. even a simple choke made from a few turns of the coax through a FT240-31 core will keep RF off the shield and stop it from messing with your SWR readings and potentially causing RFI in the shack. i made mine from about 8 turns on a single toroid and it's done the job for years. not technically required but you'll be glad you did it.

nice work getting it built, that's the hardest part honestly. i went through this exact thing with my first 40m dipole like two years ago and the balun question drove me crazy reading about it online because everyone has a strong opinion. i ended up putting one in just because i kept getting RF feedback on my mic at certain frequencies and it cleared it right up. might not be your issue but still worth it.

also the 33.5 feet per leg is a good starting point but real wire has velocity factor and stuff close to it affects resonance so your actual trim length might end up being a little different once its up properly. mine ended up closer to 32.8 per side at my height.