Can’t go wrong with a dipole! When I first got into ham radio way back in 1976 I had a couple of dipoles up. They worked great! And for portable ops, they are easy to set up and work well! 73 de K2CJB
Hi Tim, An excellent presentation. It just shows what can be achieved in a relatively compact space, with some thought and good planning! To take the idea a step further, I would make this mono band dipole antenna into a multi-band Doublet antenna. Then it could be used on any band between 40 metres and 10 metres. Possibly even 6 meters too. Just replace the coax with twin feed or open line and use a good, wide range antenna matching unit (ATU). Brilliant work. Thank you for your time and effort in making these videos! Encouragement for all! 73, Mike. M0MTJ.
A project every new Ham should try. I built one soon as I got licenced in 2011. It worked very well for local stuff around Europe and I had it up for a couple of years. On DX it was poor In comparison compared to a 1/4wave, I was able to switch between the 2. If I could only have 1 it would be the dipole.
Thanks for this, good information and like the argument as to why it doesn't need to be high. I also like what seems to be a calmer more laid back style. Now you are going to tell me you were just tired! LOL . It works very well and was an enjoyable watch.
Good advice! 40 meters is always open to somewhere 24 hours a day. The dipole is probably the best antenna for both the beginner and someone like me who has been on the air 60 years. I have put up low portable 40 meter dipoles as low as 3 feet high up to the height of my permanent dipole at almost 50 feet. They all work better than any vertical! I will note that I never needed a balun in 60 years. I did wind one a few years ago but would not do it again. A dipole fed with coax coming off at a near right angle should not need one. A balun is a good idea if you have a highly directive antenna and want to preserve the symmetrical radiation pattern. I always suggest beginners start with one band and learn the fundamentals. Most people work during the day so they need a band open at night (160, 80 or 40). I suggest 40 as it is both day and night. Single band dipoles are about as good as you are going to get with wire antennas. I connect more than one to my coax sometimes and get a great multiband antenna. I presently have a 20 meter dipole and a 10 meter dipole on the same coax. That’s easy to handle. I have had 40/ 20 and 10 on one feedline. Great antenna ( I worked 100 countries on each of 4 bands in one contest on it) for 40, 20, 15 and 10. That’s if you cut the 40 meter dipole for the CW band of 40 so it works on 15 meters. That is a bit more difficult to build than just a 2 band dipole but I have built several. Spacers can be 1/2 pvc pipe. Keep up the great videos!
Good video Tim and It’s surprising what can be fit into limited space. The HF bands are up and down at the moment but as you say there is nearly always something on 40m. Keep up the good work. 73 Chris M0RSF
It can Brian, you can bring the legs back in with some cancellation of your signal and a change to the impedance, but a minor length of this would be ok
I am certain that speaker wire would work. Any wire really, as long as it is physically strong enough. The first antenna I made when I was first licensed was a wire dipole for the 10 metre band. I used some old, fairly nondescript loudspeaker wire. The first contact I made was straight into North America. So yes. It works! 73, Mike M0MTJ
Hi Tim,don't suppose you checked swr on 80m using the 66ft?? Just curious as want to do same sort of thing for nvis on 80m but very tight on space and currently don't have an external tuner.many thanks 73
Hi Andy. Unfortunately a quarter-wave dipole (which by definition would be center-fed) has a very high feedpoint impedance. Feed it with coax and you’ll get (a) a difficult match and (b) massive coax losses. The only way to get a reasonable performance on 80 with this size of antenna is to feed with ladderline and then of course you’ll need an external tuner. 73
The other way if you are tight on space is to use a 66ft efhw with an additional 110uH coil at the end and a further 6-7 feet of wire. It’ll give you 80 (all be it a narrow swr bandwidth) and 40,20,15,10 into the bargain. If you don’t want to build your own coil then check out uk antennas who sell one for I think less than 20 quid. Just add a 49:1 and your own wire.
@Tim G5TM that's what I've got up mate but 80,40m are very noisy n not that great.just bought a nice big 1:1 balun so gonna try somehow to gey something sorted for 80m weather permitting
thanks for the info tim shame i cannot use one of those type dipoles due to two issuses one my garden is litrally only 11ft by 10ft and i have 4to 5 telefone cables crossing over my backyard at roughly 20 to 25 ft above ground which is a major pain also i live in the basement flat of a four storey building mid terrace i do have a vertical i use for 20mtr 17mtr 15mtr 12 mtr and 10 metr but it wont stretch to 40 or 80 mtr iv tryed using the X80 verticle in back yard but the noise lvl i get just doesnt make it worth using on 40 or 80 mtrs even invested in an mfj1026 delux noise canceling signal enhancer which works wonderful on most bands except 40 and 80 as noise levl is still strong enough to make those two bands virtualy unusable for me too much local noise that i just cannot cancel out with secondary antenna ( you have to use 2 antennas for noise cancelers to work ) no matter where its placed to bring most noise into it its shame cos id love to give 40 and 80 mtrs a try
Ah yes you have your work cut out for 40/80. I suppose the ONLY thing that springs to mind is a hamstick dipole for 40? Can you accomodate about 16 feet across?
I watch all these new ham limited space videos and none really help. the instant anything over 6m high or 7m per side is mentioned, I sigh. I'm renting and council says no more than 6m high without having to get approval. Which means asking my landlord. the back yard has a space of 14m from the side gate to the back fence and another space 14m along the back fence. an inverted V won't fit with a 6m pole (needs 8m X2). so I'm looking at a loaded dipole or centre load vertical for 40m. 40m being the only dxIsh band for foundation licences. I'm half thinking to forget about it until I can do my standard licence for 20m.
Hi Tim, hope your well. Nice explanation Of the dipole, yes it's great for local qsos. I do have a 40m dipole, but only for rx, but for other qsos my vertical is way better for getting me round the world and fits nicely in the corner out of the way. Enjoy your ants and your summer wx, frost and 0c here hi. 73 zl3xdj. Check out my qrz, I have a new radio pet hi.
thank you Tim once again for your contribution to our Hobby.
That’s very kind Brian, thank you.
Thanks Tim the antenna looks good I am looking to put up an antenna soon been off the air for 25years and want to get back into it.
Thanks Paul, welcome back to the hobby!
I love the chilled out Tim look. You looking great mate and the videos equally so :D
Thank you Al that’s very kind! 73
Can’t go wrong with a dipole! When I first got into ham radio way back in 1976 I had a couple of dipoles up. They worked great! And for portable ops, they are easy to set up and work well! 73 de K2CJB
Totally correct! Hard to beat a dipole!!
Hi Tim, An excellent presentation. It just shows what can be achieved in a relatively compact space, with some thought and good planning! To take the idea a step further, I would make this mono band dipole antenna into a multi-band Doublet antenna. Then it could be used on any band between 40 metres and 10 metres. Possibly even 6 meters too. Just replace the coax with twin feed or open line and use a good, wide range antenna matching unit (ATU). Brilliant work. Thank you for your time and effort in making these videos! Encouragement for all! 73, Mike. M0MTJ.
Thank you Mike! Yes the good old multi band doublet. A very useful antenna. Appreciate your kind comments and support. 73
A project every new Ham should try. I built one soon as I got licenced in 2011. It worked very well for local stuff around Europe and I had it up for a couple of years. On DX it was poor In comparison compared to a 1/4wave, I was able to switch between the 2. If I could only have 1 it would be the dipole.
Totally agree Colin, nice one
Had great success with mine last year. Now running a EFHW.
EFHW are super single wire antennas for sure 73
Very motivating. Make the best of what you got on low budget.
Absolutely!!
Thanks for this, good information and like the argument as to why it doesn't need to be high. I also like what seems to be a calmer more laid back style. Now you are going to tell me you were just tired! LOL . It works very well and was an enjoyable watch.
Im always tired! But thanks :) 73
@@timg5tm941 O know that feeling! LOL
Good advice! 40 meters is always open to somewhere 24 hours a day. The dipole is probably the best antenna for both the beginner and someone like me who has been on the air 60 years. I have put up low portable 40 meter dipoles as low as 3 feet high up to the height of my permanent dipole at almost 50 feet. They all work better than any vertical! I will note that I never needed a balun in 60 years. I did wind one a few years ago but would not do it again. A dipole fed with coax coming off at a near right angle should not need one. A balun is a good idea if you have a highly directive antenna and want to preserve the symmetrical radiation pattern. I always suggest beginners start with one band and learn the fundamentals. Most people work during the day so they need a band open at night (160, 80 or 40). I suggest 40 as it is both day and night. Single band dipoles are about as good as you are going to get with wire antennas. I connect more than one to my coax sometimes and get a great multiband antenna. I presently have a 20 meter dipole and a 10 meter dipole on the same coax. That’s easy to handle. I have had 40/ 20 and 10 on one feedline. Great antenna ( I worked 100 countries on each of 4 bands in one contest on it) for 40, 20, 15 and 10. That’s if you cut the 40 meter dipole for the CW band of 40 so it works on 15 meters. That is a bit more difficult to build than just a 2 band dipole but I have built several. Spacers can be 1/2 pvc pipe.
Keep up the great videos!
Thank you! I agree, dipoles are simple and are the benchmark for a reason. 73
Hi Tim, I really like the video and the captions; it's a great video on "Dyke balls" :D 73
Ha! I'm glad you like it 73
Excellent Video Tim. Mark, 2E0MSR
Thank you Mark! 73
Good video Tim and It’s surprising what can be fit into limited space. The HF bands are up and down at the moment but as you say there is nearly always something on 40m. Keep up the good work.
73 Chris M0RSF
Cheers Chris and likewise - love the SOTA stuff!
Nice one Tim 👌
Would it work instead of each leg opposing each other, coming more together to save space again ?
It can Brian, you can bring the legs back in with some cancellation of your signal and a change to the impedance, but a minor length of this would be ok
Wonder how well it performs on 15. Tnx for videos and 73
Not that well. A bit deaf. A vertical half wave is much better
very interesting Tim, yes im actually looking to do this myself for 80mts, im curious, would speaker wire be suitable i wonder?
I am certain that speaker wire would work. Any wire really, as long as it is physically strong enough. The first antenna I made when I was first licensed was a wire dipole for the 10 metre band. I used some old, fairly nondescript loudspeaker wire. The first contact I made was straight into North America. So yes. It works! 73, Mike M0MTJ
@@mikesmith5139 thanks so much for that Mike, brilliant I'll do that 🙏🏻
Absolutely Mark 73
Agree Mike nice one
@@welshbikepackingadventures Have fun with your version Mark! 73, Mike M0MTJ
Hey Tim, Is there any chance to build 40 and 20m dipole in similar setup you are presenting ?
One day.
Hi Tim,don't suppose you checked swr on 80m using the 66ft?? Just curious as want to do same sort of thing for nvis on 80m but very tight on space and currently don't have an external tuner.many thanks 73
Hi Andy. Unfortunately a quarter-wave dipole (which by definition would be center-fed) has a very high feedpoint impedance. Feed it with coax and you’ll get (a) a difficult match and (b) massive coax losses. The only way to get a reasonable performance on 80 with this size of antenna is to feed with ladderline and then of course you’ll need an external tuner. 73
@Tim G5TM thankyou Tim much appreciated 👍
The other way if you are tight on space is to use a 66ft efhw with an additional 110uH coil at the end and a further 6-7 feet of wire. It’ll give you 80 (all be it a narrow swr bandwidth) and 40,20,15,10 into the bargain. If you don’t want to build your own coil then check out uk antennas who sell one for I think less than 20 quid. Just add a 49:1 and your own wire.
@Tim G5TM that's what I've got up mate but 80,40m are very noisy n not that great.just bought a nice big 1:1 balun so gonna try somehow to gey something sorted for 80m weather permitting
Hello Tim can use FT82-43 on EFHW antena with 10W SSB ???.
I will need to check. You can also look at G3TXQ (sk) excellent website and information on chokes.
thanks for the info tim shame i cannot use one of those type dipoles due to two issuses one my garden is litrally only 11ft by 10ft and i have 4to 5 telefone cables crossing over my backyard at roughly 20 to 25 ft above ground which is a major pain also i live in the basement flat of a four storey building mid terrace i do have a vertical i use for 20mtr 17mtr 15mtr 12 mtr and 10 metr but it wont stretch to 40 or 80 mtr iv tryed using the X80 verticle in back yard but the noise lvl i get just doesnt make it worth using on 40 or 80 mtrs even invested in an mfj1026 delux noise canceling signal enhancer which works wonderful on most bands except 40 and 80 as noise levl is still strong enough to make those two bands virtualy unusable for me too much local noise that i just cannot cancel out with secondary antenna ( you have to use 2 antennas for noise cancelers to work ) no matter where its placed to bring most noise into it its shame cos id love to give 40 and 80 mtrs a try
Ah yes you have your work cut out for 40/80. I suppose the ONLY thing that springs to mind is a hamstick dipole for 40? Can you accomodate about 16 feet across?
@@timg5tm941 just about my back yard is roughly 17ft by 18ft maybit little bit smaller but not much
@@sniperchaz111 might be worth a try then?
Hi Tim again. Could you tell me the distance between the two outer end leg poles please. Thank you.
Hiya the distance between them was 29 feet (about 9m)
@@timg5tm941 Thanks Tim. Vary useful information right here. Many respects.. 73 from Vince.
@@yorkshirebikerbitsnbobs my pleasure Vince 73
Why no a helium antenna works great for contesting 160 meter 1/4 wave with radials lifted by a weather balloon
Maybe one day
I watch all these new ham limited space videos and none really help. the instant anything over 6m high or 7m per side is mentioned, I sigh. I'm renting and council says no more than 6m high without having to get approval. Which means asking my landlord. the back yard has a space of 14m from the side gate to the back fence and another space 14m along the back fence. an inverted V won't fit with a 6m pole (needs 8m X2). so I'm looking at a loaded dipole or centre load vertical for 40m. 40m being the only dxIsh band for foundation licences. I'm half thinking to forget about it until I can do my standard licence for 20m.
Why not try a shortened 40 20 10 half wave? 11.85m long - inverted V or L?
👋👋👍🍀🍀
Thanks!
So, would a 40m half wave dipole be full wave on 20m ?
40m is the snob band, troll city, try a different band for newbies. 40m is not mewbie friendly.
I think all bands have their idiots. 40 I find 99.999% of ops just fine
Thanks Tim from TweezoNZS.
My pleasure! 73
Hi Tim, hope your well. Nice explanation
Of the dipole, yes it's great for local qsos.
I do have a 40m dipole, but only for rx, but for other qsos my vertical is way better for getting me round the world and fits nicely in the corner out of the way.
Enjoy your ants and your summer wx, frost and 0c here hi.
73 zl3xdj. Check out my qrz, I have a new radio pet hi.
Thank you Brian! Keep warm !!