Do I Need a Balun ( 

Dave, you are a natural teacher. Thank you.

Another great explanation by a wonderful sage. Thank you, sir! My goal when I'm on the air is to work mentors, like you, that have influenced my passion in this hobby. Hope to hear you soon, Dave!

Thanks for the explanation. I was taught the radiating wires of the dipole "see" each other. In a perfect center fed dipole the wave traveling out along the wire sees a reflection of itself in the other wire and the impedance stays the same, but in an unbalanced situation the wave traveling out from the center conductor sees itself both in the other half of the dipole and in the outer sheath of the coax and now the impedance is not the same because the outer skin of the coax has become part of the dipole. This results in RF flowing along the outside of the coax. The BALUN is there to hide or remove the electrical RF connection between the radiating dipoles and the coax and make the coax 'anonymous'.

Fantastic video Dave. You answered a question I have never found the answer for. Great informational video. Thanks so much.

Thankyou. I learned something new today! Great explanation of what a balun is, clear and concise without opinion-mongering or trying to sell anything.

Finally, after days or month of searching i found a very good and quick explanation of Balun. The other videos from other people talk a lot. Now i have understood what balance antenna and unbalance cable mean. Thanks you man for this video.

Nice Video Presentation! I was not educated in this particular topic, BUT now I am after watching this video. I think I got 95% per cent of what was said reasonably understood. I think if I REPLAY this video along with some practical hands on experience, I will have all concepts and theories down pat. THANK YOU! This was Very Helpfull to me because I will soon be putting up a 20 Meter Di-Pole Antenna, and I want to do it right the FIRST TIME!

Thank you for this explanation!

Very good information. Thanks for sharing all your wisdom!!

Dave, I started watching your videos about 6 years ago while I was studying for my technician license. I now have my General and just bought my first HF rig today! Here I am again years later, doing research while trying to build my first dipole. The information is as solid as ever and easy to follow. Thanks for these videos, Dave! They have been an invaluable resource as I learn more about the hobby.

Thanks, David great explanation.

Good discussion, long time away from ham, retired now and need lots refresh of stuff i have forgot over the years thank you for sharing.

well done Dave, thanks!

I love your videos Dave. I first discovered your channel when I was studying for my exams. 2 years later as a General license holder, I still find myself coming to your channel for advice. Thanks Dave. 73 de KQ4AYG

This is the first time someone has explained this topic in a way that I halfway understand. And I have searched for a LOT of explanations here on RU-vid for baluns.

Great video, Dave. I wish my EE profs would have explained it that well.

Thank you Mr.OG. Cheers.

Really informative, thanks Dave (:

love your content. you explain things really well. have you done a video on how toroidal ttransfoerms work and how you wind them?

That pretty good. I am in Boston NY and with center fed dipole no balun found a 3rd reason to use 1:1 balun transformer. it's rain and snow. causing static build up on antenna making lot of noise or a voltage Hazard to radio. the balun makes a DC path to ground discharging static build up . also nearby lightning strike makes a EMP that can make a voltage spike that can damage radio.DC ground does a lot to help with this. I had the noise so bad when snowing my recieve was well over S9 on radio. just the 1:1 alone dropped noise to S3 or less. 73's

Good question. Great 👍 answers.

Thanks for this.

Great video! Do you have any videos explaining what a balun would do in comparison to a unun ? and the difference between them? Again, great explanation on above video, well done Dave, Thanks!!!

Thankyou,now I understand !! Xxx

That was very helpful Dave given I will soon be purchasing an 80M antenna.

I spent the last few weeks trying to decide what wire antenna to put up. Found the old box of radio stuff and used the "Remote Balun - 4:1", used on of the Zepp that is a dipole of 132' long, climbed the two towers which are about 160-70 feet apart and attached new rope and pulleys. The height is about 40 feet up at a wnw and sse compass reading. hadn't been on the air in many years, made a contact on the Rag Chewers net. No tuner and SWR almost 1:1.2. I'll be 73 on Dec. tenth, Thanks and 73's. n5qdm

One point that is rarely raised is the fact that a straight section of feedline forms a Balun due to it's inductance per unit length.

I still don't have a complete understanding of what a balun does or if I need one. I need it explained in three sentences or less. I'm familiar with forward and reflective power of a transmitter and antenna. Thank you for sharing this video and your knowledge. I will watch again.

As always, Dave can explain complex ideas for all to understand. This is totally off topic, but to all hams please take some time away from the shack for fresh air and exercise! God bless and 73!

excellent!

Thanks!

Dave, do I need to install a Balun if I’m making a simple dipole antenna (using wire only) to only receive FM radio stations? Thanks Dave. Very educational video!

I live in Hawaii and now that we don't have a radio shack (R.I.P.) i don't have access to a lot of components. I've been tearing apart every bit of recyclable gear I can get my hands on and I can't find a single ferrite bead other than the ones that are already epoxied together and far too small (ie inductors) with the way tech works these days and the fact that I can't get my hands on components that used to be readily available, bugs the Hell out of me. Can I make an air core balun? I have a couple of radios that are analog but I don't want to sacrifice anything in the name of the next foxhunt in a couple of weeks. I want to thank you for bringing your knowledge to the table because we're a dieing breed. If you have any advice I'd love to see a video covering a diy balun that doesn't require an Amazon shipment (or ferrite) that'll take far too long. I miss the analog days when we could do everything without blowing out a crappy radios front end. At the very least I only need to receive and I've seen some ideas. I'll never transmit on some of the crap ideas I've found, but I know to at least ask someone who's been at this longer than I have for advice before i start blowing out components. Thank you for your time and the content. When I am no longer poor I'll gladly donate and perhaps buy you a beer or whatnot someday. 😅🤙🏽

I have a halfwave end fed vertical for 27MHz., on the analyzer, the SWR is no more than 1.3 through the band. Problem is, when I use a linear amp at low power around a hundred watts, SWR is below 1.5, but on high of around 150 watrs, the SWR is only reseonant 10 channels in middle of the band and it's 2:1 on lower and upper channels. What could be the problem and the solution?

We try to stop RF from coming back to the shack with no luck with everything you said in this video !

OK, so if I'm doing an off-center-fed dipole I should (presumably) use a balun or an unun, but which, or does it matter?

i bet half my qso are made from my coax, the other half from the antenna.. balun just turns power to heat rather than on the air

I understand that circuit balancing can get noise to cancel in a load of done properly. How would you balance a source/load if one were trying to balance a circuit for common mode rejection in the load/differential amp? I imagine a balun would be used to get a twisted pair or shielded twisted pair to an amp but how is the unbalanced signal source balanced? How does this look?

Yes, when I get thrown in the pokey, I need a balun.

You're a good teacher my friend, God bless, be well. from sTePhEn - FOO WAS HERE

For the outside RF can't you use a radial to remove that reflected RF? Or would this rob you of power to form the radiation pattern. I guess the ferrite choke would be cheaper but would it make your antennas hotter? Not an electrical engineer, sorry if the Q is in the left field...

I always use choke baluns

Why does the RF take two different routes in the shield? Skin effect has always referred the outer most diameter, yet you're saying that "departing" RF is conducted on the inside of the "skin"?

Like it I'm just wondering if the same principle could be applied 11 M BAND a 49 to 1 Transformer on the 11 band I heard is better however when I was looking at the coil you were doing 9 in candy Spears is well on the 11 band or does the coil have to be smaller you're talkin about the 80 M BAND can I use the same principle I know it's an odd question I do believe in pushing the limits of my equipment getting a bit more range doing dxing as a 200m wattage can turbo 1000 km on a single Crystal that will roughly emanate less than a quarter of a wattage signal well Chapo 1000km I know it's a long shot question however I rather ask get a partial answer than not having an answer thank you for the videos and 73

Baluns =balanced antenna, UnUn = Unbalanced antenna! Simple enough.

I've noticed many professional VHF and UHF folded dipole arrays have no RF chokes on the feed harness. They do use coax impedance transformers, but no balun and no choke. Why?

Could I use a 1:1 inline current balun and ferrite beads?

If you choke the return RF, where does the energy go? Is it dissipated as heat in the choking component?

If the SWR is 1:1 there will be no RF on the outside conductor without a balun. But, that limits your operating bandwidth and in the day, few even had an SWR meter and below a 100 watts, not often an issue. Baluns do have some loss but, they do provide a DC to broadcast band, or so short reducing static buildup and overload.

I have not used a balun. I did a lot of work mostly 80 meters with an old tube rig. Watched the SWR and kept the antenna tuned to frequency. N0QFT

In most cases, no. The difference will be very slight, insignificant.

Is it possible to have too much coax coiled up to act as an ugly balon? I have about 25 feet of Messi and Paploni UltraFlex 7 coiled up just below the antenna on my 10 meter dipole. KQ4OFQ, 73s.

What are you referring to? The term balun is now used by everybody for everything.

💯👍👍👍🙋‍♂️🙏

Hi Dave A typical 1:1 current Balun is NOT wired at all like what you drew. What you showed in your drawing was similar to how an audio or power transformer is usually wired. I refer you to the works of Jerry Sevick, W2FMI especially his book Understanding, Building, and Using Baluns and Ununs

im working 5 THOUSAND MILES on DEAD BANDS with dipoles, vertical and ONE TO TEN WATTS. And doing it regularly. My antennas dont need toy baluns. Baluns are NOT FOR ANTENNAS. .They are for coupling Transmission lines together Stop playing popularity and Maker games and learn to make and tube a proper dipole.

Less than a 100 watts, I don't see the need for a Balun.

Coax cable is a -two-- conductor cable, not a single conductor. This post is not accurate. For a/c to flow there always have to be two conductors. RF is a/c. The shield of coax cable is the other conductor, like it or not. You goofed Dave.

What the heck does R+/-jX mean, Dave? It means R + an Xc + an XL where hopefully the X's cancel. It means these 3 comps are in series. What do we know about a series ckt? Current is equal across the series. This garbage you are saying contradicts physics. You all do this.

the video has no mathematical explanation or electronic formula

baluns are a direct short on your radio. never use them. always tune your antenna or use ATU.

I'm a CBer, and there are few inaccuracies and factual problems with this video. I'm very surprised, for one, that fellow hams need help with the very basics of this topic and theory. Second, I'm shocked that more hams are not picking up on errors in this vid. My advice to anyone publishing videos on RF theory, be sure you know what you're talking about. If you're unsure, don't pretend and publish anyway. Lastly, sir, I suggest you go back to the text book and study closely this time. You may wish to look at transmission lines, common mode current and a refresher on your dipole theory while you're at it. Some would argue that it should not take for a CBer to be educating hams, but that's just a prejudice that doesn't make any sense, as someone operating on the Citizen's Band could have any education or intellect. You could be Albert Einstein or Nikola Tesla for all I care, it is irrelevant. It would seem that many hams are in question though, because they have a license based on the fact that they've supposedly studied and understood this simple 101 theory, which would suggest they're a phoney.

Thanks Dave, very well explained, in a way I understood. Jim KB8PET

Thank you, Dave. N0QFT

Thanks!