How To Build A 10 Meter Dipole 

+wesley mccurtain Yup, same thing

Glad to hear that you made this for 20 M. Have fun.

+william chamberlain thanks

Thomas Lufkin I get tongue tied sometimes.

Sounds good

I haven't been active for quite a while, but I recall seeing projects that would convert CBs into 10 Meters. I recall seeing several projects that would convert AM CBs to FM including the repeater offset. I do not recall how long ago it was when I saw this, but I know I saw it in print. The internet did not exist then.

Basic antennas are easy to build. Have fun and be radio active.

K7AGE, I'm becoming more & more active everyday! I'm learning Skywarn, DMR Active, now thanks to you, HF!!

Thanks for sharing??

+Richard Kelly good idea

I drive through there once in a while!

Do like am radio tower builders and use guy wire insulators called Johnny balls those support weight of swaying towers in a pull type measure

The 50 ohm load would measure 12.5 ohms through a 4:1 balun.

Chris Kelling 2) a 4:1 or a 6:1 balun can be used to make an off-center fed dipole. This way you can make multi-band dipoles. The impedance, depending on how long you cut your wires, of the antenna will be around 200Ohm (where you use a 4:1 balun to match it to a 50Ohm feedline (coax)) or 300Ohm (there you use a 6:1), ...

Chris Kelling A 1:4 balun is desirable if you want a 1:1 SWR since a 1:1 balun is a bad match and will give you about 1.6:1 SWR.

+bsdguy You can tune the antenna with the AT230. Cutting the antenna to that length should be good for the tuner.

retrogamefox I am going to try for my license. If I use 10 meter can I only talk on 28.300-28.500 cw and ssb or can I also talk on 28.000-28.300 cw rtty and data.

Indrid Cold Closed up? Really? I will let those guys in Canada that I worked a couple of nights ago know that we really did not have a QSO so they can take me out of their log books and I will do the same. I am sure it was something I dreamed but it sounded real.The hobby is not for everyone and if poor conditions keep you away it may not be for you. It is what you put into it and if you put nothing in then don’t look for much in return.

Dan Long Before I got my antenna analiyzer I used the SWR meter built into my FT-817. It's pretty simple to do. Hook up the antenna to the radio. Set the radio to an unused frequency and pick a mode that will give you full output power. CW is a good mode if you have a key. FM will also work but it's technically not legal in the US to use FM on HF except the top end of the 10 meter band. But If you are using low power and keying up for just a couple of seconds I don't think it really matters. You can also use AM if CW and FM aren't an option, but AM doesn't put out full power when you key up. Anyway. Once you have a mode and frequency picked key the radio. You should see a reading on the radios SWR meter. If the antenna was made right the SWR should be a bit high since you want to make your antennas long so you have room to adjust. Make a note of the SWR. Take the antenna down, shorten each leg of the dipole a little making sure each leg is the same size. Hook the antenna back up and key up again. You should see a lower SWR. Keep doing that until you get the lowest SWR. On a dipole without a balun you can't go lower than 1.5 SWR unless you have feedline losses. So once you get to 1.5 you are done. I hope that helps.

purplemutantas OK but, tuning up at full power is fine on an FT-817 but unwise on higher power rigs.

That becomes an end fed dipole. I believe the balun used this is a 9:1 or so. Google end fed antennas.

Thats what I thought, thats what I use myself. Would be interesting to see the swr results side by side if cut same length.

+Michael Katt It is a 1:1. It helps to balance out the antenna to the coax and helps prevent any RF from coming back down the coax to the shack.

@@K7AGE I know that I am late to this video, but, yes it is a 1:1 balun. But, is it a voltage or a current balun? If it is a current type then it is a common mode choke and those are the ones that help prevent the coax shield from acting as part of the antenna. And at 1:1 they really should be called line isolators as they do not do any impedance transformation that makes any difference as a dipole antenna's characteristic impedance is around 72 ohms and poses very little of an impedance mismatch and a matching transformer is not needed.

Don't hang it really close to the gutters. Give it a try

ok, il hang it half way from hse to end of the eves il see how that works.

+Walt Prescott need to know this as well

+Walt Prescott The balun helps to balance out the antenna and reduce RF coming back down the coax into the shack. You don't need to use the balun.

Nope. That can from the FCC. Years ago I was WA2AGE. When we bought our land I change to K7AGE.

Stranded will hold up better to the flexing from the wind.

Probably in the mechanical components. The commercial guys hopefully have researched and chosen quality and strong parts. You can certainly build a dipole that will last many years. If it comes down, build a stronger one. You can save a lot of money by building your own dipoles.

Yes and most importantly, we learn. Thats the whole I do radio. SO far, loving your series. Excellent work. Thanks for your time and thoughts put to your channel. @@K7AGE

If you don't have a balun, just connect the coax with the center in one wire and the shield on the other wire.

Is a balun necessary?

@@kevinshieldsw1kps785 No, a balun is not necessary on a dipole. A dipole's characteristic impedance is around 72 ohms and is close enough to the 52 ohm characteristic impedance of coaxial cable.

low SWR is a good match www.eham.net/article/23802

468 is just starting place to figure out the length. Always cut the wire longer and trim back.

that's probably smart haha, I'm just in the theory part of things and will make sure to follow that advice as soon as I get the real estate to practice :D

Hi Jonathan. The 468 formula INCLUDES the generally accepted velocity factor of 0.95, so Randy’s starting point calculation is correct.

Yes

Hi Raymond. There’s no problem with folding excess wire back at the end insulators. As electrons run along the surface of a conductor (i.e. the antenna wire), by folding and twisting back, the electrons “see” the cable as a single cable, terminating at the insulator. 73.

Yes, 10 isn't what it used to be. The propagation has been poor. 10 does open, but you may have to listen around.There have just been a couple of 10 meter contests, and the guys are complaining of poor openings. Here is a good site that covers 10 meter beacons. These are good to check to see if the band is open. swling.com/blog/2016/02/guest-post-listening-to-10-meter-radio-beacons/

I'd love to check but my moron lawn guys mowed over my 80m dipole that I had on the ground overnight to perform modifications, i spliced it but i know it's going to mess everything up, so i guess a new 80-10m dipole is what i'm getting for Xmas

That's true to an extent but it DOES open during the low part of the cycle so keep checking it! You never know when it will pop open. HAVE FUN!

Not really. Needs to strong enough to hold it up. Stranded is better than solid to prevent breaking.

​@K7AGE what size coax cable are you using for the 10 meter ? Thx

steve c A 1:1 is the correct for a resonant dipole that is using coax. The dipole should be around 50-75 ohms or so. If I was building a non-resonant dipole it would be closer to 200 ohms and fed with open feed line. Then a 4:1 would be needed and a tuner. I found that balun for $5 at a swap meet. New, they are around $30.

K7AGE I realize you can use a 1:1 balun or just connect the coax directly to the dipole and it still works in a pinch but neither one was a good match in my testing. I tried using a 1:1 balun, 4:1 balun and direct connection with just an SO-239 and tested each one with my antenna analyzer. The direct connection was naturally the worst with over 2:1 SWR. The 1:1 balun gave me 1.6:1 SWR and the 4:1 was the best with about 1.04:1 SWR. I tried that on 2 different dipoles, one for 10M and one for 40M and got the same results! Wonder why that is?