Thanks for this video Deerslayer! I'm envious of your setup. Unfortunately I'm 73 years old and my state of health won't allow me to construct/ wrangle with/ otherwise handle something so big. I did make a simple PVC dipole and I use it to regularly talk skip. I've heard you on air many times and I'm located in eastern Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia131). Nice work!
I've got alot to learn about antennas. I just built a dipole and was under the impression that you didn't want to connect the center with the ground from the coax. But in essence that is what your antenna does through the lower slider tuning adjustment. Confusing but it works for you. Like I said, I've got alot to learn. Great video. Thanks.
It's DC grounded, but RF sees it differently (AC). You'll find that yagis that are not electrically connected to the boom, perform better than plumber's delight type yagis (all of the elements are electrically connected to the boom). I also prefer antenna with no matching network, like the LFA.
Pretty slick setup. I’ve been researching how to build and direct feed a beam. I’ve talked to you many times on the air. Great sounding station always! I found your channel through Kate in Englands channel. I just made contact with her last week. Hope to catch you on the radio soon. 277 West Virginia
It definitely will work as a balun. A balun will help with rf traveling back down the exterior of the coax. Depending on the frequecy, the coax, etc a balun can become more necessary or useful.
Hey Deerslayer, it was great talking to you last night in DX couldn’t believe the conditions we had up in Maryland 73’s To ya brother stay safe down there #1 man in Maryland
Ah......if we could only see RF ! Then we might witness the need for a Balun ! It's job, as I understand it, keeps the antennas pattern from being skewed, and Common Mode Currents off the Coaxial cable, so that it too, isn't transmitting RF back into the Shack and elsewhere ! And helps with RFI issues ! And I would encourage anyone interested, to searching up the information on Baluns, as there are a couple types ! Not saying your antenna won't play in it's current configuration, but after researching a bit, I think you may see where you can even get more power into the antenna, where it belongs, and likely keep your neighbors happy ! And who doesn't want that ? 👍😉
Maybe. I'm no expert but I've ran it that way for 12 years with no problems. My neighbors house are so close you barely fit a car between them and I don't bother any of them.
You could easily add an SO239 to your design, and eliminate the need for having the end of the coax exposed to the weather. I can't see any need for a balun as you said, it seems to work fine.
Hey Deerslayer,thumbs up on the video I think I could use some of that knowledge on my freestyle antenna building, I've talked to you on most of them so hopefully I'm going the right way so I can dust Bad News britches, alright Mr. Deerslayer 73s to you and yours, REAL DEAL RACE MOBILE GOT DOWN
Thx for posting info on your Really good looking & well designed 5 element Beam & Showing your antenna Analyzer measurements...The Beta Hairpin does a great Tuning & Matching job Proven by reports of your Strong signal....The Hirpin feed Does look Electrically intuitive kinda "Wrong" like a Short Circuit but deff works Really good.....Thank goodness the Hairpin Is so Easy to adjust for a perfect SWR.......Having to really Shorten the Dipole Driven Element for best tune (R= 50 & j= 0) & Swr looks very wrong & strange at first...Does your Driven Element run 'bout same length as the D1 director element lenght ?? ....Thx for posting....
Was looking at making a 2 element micro beam using parts from a maco BA1 antenna. I don't have a lot of air space to swing a large boom. So I was also going to use the boom the BA1 came with. 1" 1/4 × 5' boom. And using a old plastic cutting board in place of the star board. The trombone part of the antenna kinda has me baffled so I am going to try it with out and get the parts to try with and see what works. Thanks for the video and info. 1313 diesel wagon mobile. 73s
Hello deer slayer this 199 florida georgia line. We have spoked before . Just not about beams. I just found your video as i am looking into putting together a 4 or 5 element direct feed at 110 feet. Anyway i would really appreciate any insights/advise on this project since the warm weather is coming soon i wouldlike to finish before the summer heat kicks off. Thanks in advance.. 199 florida georgia line.
Thanks for posting that. Most operators won’t share the secret sauce . You are one of the loudest in the south , no questions asked . 73’s What kind of Coax are you running ? And is it the same coax from top to bottom or did you have to use something more flexible from the elements to the rotor loop ?
@@deerslayer816 Reason I was asking , I’m having to run some LMR-600UF , about a “nulled” wavelength worth from my driven element to the 1/2 inch Heliax ,, not that I’m running huge power at all , it’s my distance from the shack to the tower (160/170 feet) , so ,, the loss is the issue so I have to run that to make up for it . I’m not finished yet , it’s still a work in progress
interesting build. I'm thinking of building a beam antenna but that swr slide adjustment seems to me at least be shorting out the coax incoming signal? If I took an ohm meter wouldn't measure a short circuit? Or am I mistaken?
You should work with a vertical dipole antenna like the Sirio GainMaster which ia 10 - 11 -12meter antenna without tuning. When you set that antenna up your SWR is 1.0:1 on all frequencies! And the Fiber Optic structure will make you send your signal all over the world!!!
Sirio GP won’t hold the power or talk with that direct fed beam. The So239 connector is the weak spot on any antenna not to mention those Sirio GP’s have a weak matching network to start with. Direct fed with a hairpin match or a vacuum variable feed point is the way to go in my opinion.
1.0:1 on all frequencies, eh? If you just put a 50 ohm resistor on the end of your coax, you'll get that too. Or, if you use a long enough coax, any antenna will be 1.0:1 on all frequencies.
Hey buddy…. I haven’t heard ya out there hope all is well.. I think I’m going to steal your idea for my buddy’s beam I’m building for him how many watts do you think it will hold? Cause he has John DeLuna 955 in TX fixing his bread box as we a speak and it’s a 6 tube 3-500z box .. and where in Home Depot is this star board ? I’ve been using cutting boards from wallmart
It handle any amount of power. The star board is where the pieces of metal and ankle iron and aluminum are. If they have it. Last time I went to buy some, they stopped selling it at my home Depot so I bought a 8' long 1x6 plastic board. It's a little thicker and seems to work well.
So you can, and other have fed balanced antennas with an unbalanced line such as coax, but they actually make Gamma matches for a reason. It would be simpler for a manufacturer to just make a hairpin/beta match for a coax connection, but they recommend that you use a balanced twin lead, or choke, or balun for their hairpin/beta type match.......If you try to decouple the RF energy from an unbalanced coax line directly to a balanced beam such as yours you run a risk of developing unwanted antenna currents on the outer shield of the coax. RF is stupid in that it can't tell the difference between the conductive antenna element or the conductive braid on a piece of coax. If you use a Gamma that always keeps the shield at ground potential it's much much more likely that most all of the energy will be decoupled properly to the elements instead of the coax.
there's an easier way keep it as a dipole no hairpin. read the capacitance with an analyser use a bit of brain power. L = 1 / (2 × π × f × C then wind an inductor to the required size and place across the dipole centre. if your calculation and inductor are correct you'll have low swr.
Changing the length of the driven element will move the dip up and down in frequency, adjusting the hairpin length will change the depth of the dip giving you your lowest SWR.
