OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
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OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
 
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I just picked up a dipole fed with ladder line. Plan to use it for FD.
The antenna has 100 feet of parallel feed (window ladder line) and there is no way I'll need that much. I don't want to cut the feed line because next time I use the temporary antenna I may need more. So what do I do with the excess? If it was coax, I'd just pile it up on the ground. Maybe I should park the Element further away so I can stretch the feed line out straight from the rig to the antenna. I could maybe use tomb stones to hold the feed line off the ground ... :-) - Keith KD1E - - K2 5411 - _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
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I would cut it to the length needed and save the left over piece. Ladder
line is very easy to splice back together. 73/72 - Mike WA8BXN _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
RE: OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
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In reply to this post by Darwin, Keith
Keith KD1E asked:
I just picked up a dipole fed with ladder line. Plan to use it for FD. The antenna has 100 feet of parallel feed (window ladder line) and there is no way I'll need that much. I don't want to cut the feed line because next time I use the temporary antenna I may need more. So what do I do with the excess? If it was coax, I'd just pile it up on the ground. Maybe I should park the Element further away so I can stretch the feed line out straight from the rig to the antenna. I could maybe use tomb stones to hold the feed line off the ground ... :-) ---------------------- That sounds like a "doublet" or "center fed" antenna intended for use with a tuner for multi-band operation. (It's a "dipole" only on the frequency where it's 1/2 wavelength long.) A good rule of thumb is to *never* use more feedline of any type than you need for the job. In some cases (as in when the feedline is low-loss and well matched) it doesn't make a huge difference whether you have 50 feet or 200 feet of line, so smart operators don't chop coax up, especially for temporarily installations. However, open wire line or window line is unaffected by neatly-done and soldered splices. There's really no reason not to cut that stuff to length, then simply splice the rest back on later if needed. The one situation where you might want to use (or splice back on) a little more feeder than is needed to reach the rig is if your antenna tuner won't handle the impedance it presents on some frequencies. In that case, don't bunch up the extra feed line. Run it wherever there's room so there's 2 or 3 times the width of the feeder from other objects. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
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In reply to this post by Darwin, Keith
Keith:
If it is physically practical at your site, the best thing to do is to have the long feed line meander (suspended in the air) along the path from the antenna to the rig. Laying it on the ground is not a good idea. 73, Steve AA4AK At 09:53 AM 6/21/2006, Darwin, Keith wrote: >I just picked up a dipole fed with ladder line. Plan to use it for FD. >The antenna has 100 feet of parallel feed (window ladder line) and there >is no way I'll need that much. I don't want to cut the feed line >because next time I use the temporary antenna I may need more. > >So what do I do with the excess? If it was coax, I'd just pile it up on >the ground. > >Maybe I should park the Element further away so I can stretch the feed >line out straight from the rig to the antenna. I could maybe use tomb >stones to hold the feed line off the ground ... :-) > >- Keith KD1E - >- K2 5411 - >_______________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Post to: [hidden email] >You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
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In reply to this post by Darwin, Keith
In message
<[hidden email]>, "Darwin, Keith" <[hidden email]> writes >I just picked up a dipole fed with ladder line. Plan to use it for FD. >The antenna has 100 feet of parallel feed (window ladder line) and there >is no way I'll need that much. I don't want to cut the feed line >because next time I use the temporary antenna I may need more. > >So what do I do with the excess? If it was coax, I'd just pile it up on >the ground. > >Maybe I should park the Element further away so I can stretch the feed >line out straight from the rig to the antenna. I could maybe use tomb >stones to hold the feed line off the ground ... :-) I would go ahead and cut to length then, if you need to reconnect, either solder or possibly use a chocolate block connector strip. (Not sure if thats the name used in the USA) Dependent upon the size of connector block, unscrew and discard any intermediate unused screws. This method will allow you to connect and reconnect 'in the field' just with the aid of a screwdriver. Hope this makes sense :-) Trev G3ZYY -- Trevor Day UKSMG #217 www.uksmg.org _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: OT: Stupid question about excess ladder line.
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One can dress the excess feeder over bushes, low tree limbs or most any
other support method to take up the excess feeder, if you do not want to cut it. However, cutting will in no way create a problem if later you need the cut off length restored. You simply solder, or twist the ends, put a bit of tape, or use a terminal strip with screws, or whatever works for you. The usual antenna used with parallel line requires a tuner anyway, thus; you simply tune out any minor bump in the line caused by the splicing, with your tuner along with the other matching it does to your rig. The whole works as a system to be tuned by the tuner. Any splice that is a miniscule fraction of a wavelength in size will not make an iota of difference in your feedline performance! 73, and GL, Stuart K5KVH We regularly dress window line across extra tree limbs taking a circuitous route to our station to "use up" excess line length at Field Day. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Darwin, Keith
Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
X-Mailer: Juno 1.51 X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-3,5-13,17-18,22-23,26-27,29-33 X-Status: Unsent oooops, once again I replied to the wrong list :^)) On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 09:53:31 -0400 "Darwin, Keith" <[hidden email]> writes: >I just picked up a dipole fed with ladder line. >The antenna has 100 feet of parallel feed (window ladder line) and >there is no way I'll need that much. >So what do I do with the excess? Hi Keith, A really neat scheme is to go ahead and cut the ladder line, but install a set of 3 Anderson PowerPole connectors. If you put a dummy third connector in the middle as a spacer the two outer ones are almost exactly spaced for the ladder line. You can put Anderson connector sets on each end of several pieces of line of varying lengths and can then mix-and-match when you get to a field location. I always carry a 40', couple of 20' and a 10' with me whenever I head to the field. Add an 80' run and you'd have BCD :^)) A short pigtail of ladder line with Andersons permanently attached to the balanced line terminals on a tuner makes it quick and easy to attach and remove feeders. If you worry about tension pulling them apart, just use a cable tie to secure the connection. 73 Jim, N5IB _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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