40m Dipole Construction and Troubleshooting (

[@mikesmith5139]

Hi Dave. Thanks for the great video. Firstly, I hope that your breathing difficulty eases soon. Making a dipole is a great project for new hams. Indeed it's likely very useful for all hams. My take on the dipole, and what I always recommend to anyone that asks me is this: Don't use coax for the feeder. Use open wire line, or ladder line instead. i.e. Balanced twin feeder. This is for several great reasons. Coax is heavy, expensive, easily damaged, can readily suffer water ingress rendering it useless, but perhaps most importantly from my point of view, is that it makes a dipole a monoband antenna due to extremely high losses in the coax feeder when attempting to use on other bands. I make my own ladder line with pvc covered stranded copper antenna wire and 4 inch spacers. But I have also used commercially available 450 ohm or 300 ohm ladder line (twin feeder) with very good effect. This will be a much lower loss feeder system to the dipole antenna allowing it to be used on multiple bands between 40m an 10m (even 6 metres for me). If possible take the feeder all the way back to the shack and match ("tune") with a good wide ranging balanced ATU, or feed a more typical unbalanced ATU via a good 1:1 choke balun. Some hams use a 4:1 Current balun (guanella type) . It may not, of course, be physically, or electrically (due to EMC) practical to take the feeder all the way back to the operating position, so I have instead placed the balun outside the shack and run a few yards of coax back to the ATU at the operating position. Even better, and what I have also tried, is to locate the balun and an auto ATU outside the house in its own weatherproof housing and run the few yards of coax back to the operating position in the shack. This is a very efficient set up. It's often called a "Doublet" antenna, and for those hams with restricted space who might only be able to put up one antenna why restrict it to just one band by using coax feeder? Use balanced line and have a Multi-band antenna! - Having just watched your latest video presentation on SWR (Fun with SWR, 21st September 2019), it's immediately apparent why high impedance twin feeder is so much better at handling high SWR with lower loss. Maybe one for a future video? Thanks again Dave. 73, Mike. M0MTJ

[@davecasler]

You are completely correct. But feeding dipoles with coax is common and successful. I have a choke balun on order to add at the feed point.

[@leeharrell67]

I appreciate your honesty very much! Most people would edit out any mistakes. Thanks for another great video!

[@rossbassette7518]

Dave, Very worthwhile information on debugging a dipole. Thank you for the time spent sharing this info. I would have never thought of re-calculating the length calculation using the resonant frequency to figure the calculated length

[@bigyellek]

Hope they can fix the breathing problem, I've been watching for 2 or 3 yrs now and do enjoy your channel.

[@kristinabliss]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, even while dealing with being short of breath. Your willingness to show difficulties of your life & this hobby make your videos very accessible & relatable. I appreciate the lessons. Also I want to compliment the many "mother-hen" hams on here expressing concerns and offering advice and best wishes for good health. Ditto to that and the congratulations for shedding some weight. I know it is generally easier to accumulate pounds so good for you!

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Dave, Glad your back on 40 again even though you had a few struggles there. I will be putting up a 40 vertical made from DXE telescoping aluminum tubing. I don't have enough room for typical 1/4 wave radial system, so will make about 30 or so 1/8 wave radials. Will add more if needed. 73 WB3BJU

[@digital4282]

Great video Dave, and I hope your medical troubles get solved soon!

[@paulhastings3109]

Glad to hear that your breathing is better. FB on the 40mt dipole. Surprisingly it works that close to the ground. So it would be NVIS get better with your health 🙏

[@steve6690]

Thanks Dave, very informative. I hope you get your health difficulties sorted.

[@jimmccusker3155]

Dave - Thanks for the info about you being short of breath. I've always noticed that about you in your videos. Hopefully losing weight and exercise will help you. We all need many many more years of your ham radio insights. I give you a lot of credit for motivating me to upgrade from Tech to Extra. Stay healthy, and don't be afraid of checking other doctors. You shouldn't be out of breath. Something is causing that, so don't settle on the non-answers. All the best! KC3FFX

[@Littlelewie151]

Hoping you have made progress with your health since then!!!

[@bobbolam4020]

I like the rope knot for supporting the coax will look for the video on how it is made. Do you do anything for weather protection? I always worry about water getting into the coax. I like to put a dab of silicone dielectric grease in my connections and wrap with self-sealing tape.

[@davecasler]

Yes, I need to waterproof it prior to winter.

[@thuff3207]

Hi Dave and thank you for another great video. You did a great job proving the fun of antennas!

[@rbc1225]

Great video. Can you let us know what antenna analyzer you use? Thanks again.

[@chewmanfoo]

could you wrap some tape around the wire rap-arounds on the end, to prevent them from coming apart? Or, maybe some heat-shrink tubing?

[@Rogerunion]

Nice video!! I hope you are feeling better!!! Take care of your health. God Bless.

[@Aussat]

Great video Dave, always nice to do some homebrewing.

[@donaldsmith3048]

I have found sanding around the hole that you solder the wire helps. Most of the SO 239 are plated brass and the plating is not the best to solder to.

[@SteveKN4POP]

Hope you find out what's going on with you Dave. I have been worried about your shortness of breath for some time. Keep up the good work spreading that education. You do a wonderful job of it and I have learned so much from you. Love ya brother. KN4POP

[@nvrumi]

Would you comment on why you did not put a balun at the feed point, please? Also, I keep a soldering gun handy for heavy connections, such as your wire connections to the SO-239, and other wire connections. It makes the soldering process go very quickly. The idea of putting a little extra flux on the connection is a good one. Thanks and 73 de AG7TX

[@nr3rful]

Why ? It doesn't need one. SWR is perfect

[@smadajoe]

I'm a noob but isn't this dipole unbalanced to an unbalanced feed line? Which equals everything out?

[@davecasler]

I've been making dipoles without baluns for years. This one gives me just a little RFI problem, so I may go ahead and install a choke balun.

[@davemitchell116]

Dave, I went through the same short-of-breath issue you describe. At first I thought it was the altitude here in central Utah (a bit lower than yours). However, it turned out to be my weight. Let me ask you, does it get worse when you bend over? It appeared my paunch was pressing my diaphragm against my lungs, shortening their ability to get a full capacity of air. This happens quite often to overweight men of my age (I'm almost 72). My weight was quite high, even for a man of my height (I'm 6' 7") at 320 lbs. When I lost 80 lbs. the shortness of breath went away. I congratulate you on losing 20 pounds, but it might not have been enough to completely help. By the way, I'm not a physician, just a friend and fellow ham with a suggestion. 73 de Dave AJ5F.

[@davecasler]

Yes, the weight seems to affect the minor restrictive lung defect, but the obstructive defect seems a bit more obtuse. My goal is to lose another 40 lbs.

[@davemitchell116]

@@davecasler I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[@robertjones5395]

Dave, I'm interested to know if you have seen any effect on the dipole element lengh being effected by the excess wires at the ends of the dipoles being wrapped around the element. I might have expected that the effective length had been shortened by this practice? ie the tips of your dipoles have been modified by the overlapping wire. I've not measured it my self, but your video has prompted me to consider doing some experiments. Great channel. bye. Rob

[@kelpfl]

Dave, I have learned so much from your videos. Thx. But as usual I still have questions. You never expanded the view on you analyzer and I am curious if your 40 meter was resonant on any other bands? and if lower gauge wire loses any of the effectiveness at 100 watts? Specifically, I am building a 40 meter dipole for portable use. I am making from 26AWG stranded steel coated copper wire (I intend to have a center support). Am I making a mistake on the wire gauge? And can I expect (hope for) it to be resonant anywhere besides 40 meters? Thanks again. KC3ITL Andy

[@generator73]

I live in New York City . I have no trees here . My roof is restricted and its all metal there anyway. I have no place to put it out. What is the other choice I may have with simple wire like speaker wire antenna ? Can I use that ?

[@k2icc]

Do you count those turns of the wire around the insulators on the total length of the wire? Now, I see on the video later on, where the knot slipped while you pulled. So, that part of the wire wrapped like that doent count, because is wrapped around the antenna, so the length then is from the SO239 to the insulator then?

[@davecasler]

Yes

[@joeltangunan]

Hope the doctor will find out the soonest why you're short-of-breathing. Take care Dave and thank you for all your tutorials. DW2KBF.

[@TheGhungFu]

I'm using 12.5 ga high tensile electric fence wire for all of my long-wire antennas. It's available at Tractor Supply and good feed stores. It doesn't stretch and the spring ratchet assemblies that go with this stuff make getting it up and tight quite easy. The springs also help with expansion and contraction due to temperature changes. Heavy duty insulators just for this stuff are available wherever it is sold. Made to run miles of high-tensile electric fence, and it's tough stuff. Quite affordable. There are crimps that hold very well. To make my connections I stub off a piece of 6 ga copper ground wire with an electrical clamp, sand my fence wire to remove the galvanizing, wrap my copper around that, and use a torch with silver solder to make the connection true. I can then attach my connectors, baluns, or whatever.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip.

[@eliwilson3714]

Dave... It's not reassuring anecdotal information, but my father-in-law suffered from the same thing for years. Seems the radiation treatments he took to beat cancer 11 years ago damaged the pericardium wall around his heart. He was slowly building up fluid. Doc's for years didn't know that. Said there was nothing wrong with him. It wasn't till they did an angiogram. They scheduled him for surgery to cut the pericardium to relieve the fluid. They did and it was a success. However, his heart just couldn't take it anymore. He was taken off the drips and the ventilator two days after surgery and he passed. I hope you get better Dave. 73 KI5ADM

[@davecasler]

Sorry to hear about losing your father. Thanks for your concern.

[@jolebole-yt]

Great video. Im looking to get into HF soon and dipoles are going to get made:). What brand/model is that Antenna Analyzer?

[@Capt_Duffy]

Hi..Dave thanx for a nice video...strangely same day when you were building up 40m dipole, i was doing the same only difference is i ve build a shortened dipole of 49 feet with loading coils (8.6 micro h) in the middle. Now after trimming its reasonably tunned, what i wanted to know...roughly how much efficiency i ve compromised by shortening it...thanx

[@davecasler]

You don't lose much. The bandwidth of the antenna will be less, possibly not covering the entire 40 meter band.

[@ProperLogicalDebate]

Does the antenna see the return wire that is twisted around the main wire going out to the end insulator as being part of the total length or should it be soldered together to make a very "thin" loop?

[@davecasler]

I've never heard a definitive answer to this question for insulated wire, but in my dipole, wrapping it back made the overall electrical length shorter. No need to solder it, but do make a good mechanical connection.

[@sailcaptain]

Do you have enough room for a full wave skyloop? It's more omni-directional then a dipole. that would be 140 feet for the lower portion of the band. I'm going to put up a 80 meter skyloop using four 20 foot flag poles, & make it that the poles can tilt to the ground to do any work on the loop. I'm also going to use guy wires. Each side will be 67 feet. 268 total. BTW: My call is N3OPI

[@davecasler]

I once had a full-length 80m horizontal loop that I used on all bands. After I refurbished my vertical, it worked so well that I took down the loop and cut it into more radials for the vertical.

[@mikeklemens8970]

Back on 40 meters........ Very nice Dave. Congratulations on the antenna and losing 20 pounds - a great accomplishment. I always feel short of breath as I accumulate weight. Mike N6IMY

[@davecasler]

Just counting calories. I count them during the day and ration myself to 2000 calories a day.

[@davecasler]

In theory, yes, at least a choke balun.

[@borayurt66]

Dave, it is age and weight combined. I am 54 and I used to be 128 kgs (282 pounds) with a height of 170cm (5 feet 7 inches). I started dieting and exercise after even a two floor stairway became to tiring for me. Not much of a strict diet, I only eat half of what I used to and stay away from sugar in any form. Also I eat a good breakfast, skip lunch and have an early dinner at 6pm (mostly grilled meat, fish, chicken with salad) And eat ABSOLUTELY nothing till I go to bed around 1 AM. My exercise is just walking, started with 3 kms (1.9 miles) with no uphill, now I can walk 10 kms (6.2 miles) everyday, still no uphill. I lost 18 kgs (39 pounds) in just over 3 months time. I will increase the walking to 12 kms next week, and when I am under 100 kgs (220 pounds) I will start a little uphill too. Have every kind of check-up to see if there is anything else, but I am sure your short-of-breath situation is weight related. Eat less, eat regular and walk my friend. It will work.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tips. I've lost over 20 lbs so far and have been exercising and do feel better.

[@MrRyanplyler]

Hi Dave, if your dipole is resonate where you are transmitting do you have to use a 1:1 balun?

[@davecasler]

Lots of people like to use 1:1 baluns at the feed point. I've never had good luck with that, so I feed dipoles directly.

[@don_n5skt]

Dave, thanks for the video. It is always great when someone goes through there issues and shows how the debugged and solved it. One quick question, have you tried connecting the AA-230 and use the Ant Scope software with it. That is a great tool that i believe sets it apart from other analyzers.

[@davecasler]

I haven't tried the software yet.

[@bradcfi2]

High take off angle but you got Hawaii. Pretty cool.

[@bjenkins7168]

@Dave..those stakes are what they call round steel stakes and are used for concrete forms. Hope that helps someone.

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

i got 500' of it and made a lot of antennas and a lot of mistakes experimenting lol I like to use the 14 awg branded stuff it is easier to pack away.. and i hope you figure out whats up i would say losing weight is the biggest factor

[@karlmoser6529]

I was short of breath as well and they found that my aorta valve was bad along with copd but I am now on oxygen 24/7 but have then check they aorta valve

[@johng7rwf419]

Very good Dave.

[@mikemcdonald5147]

congrats on the 20 lb weight loss. Any weight loss is good weight loss and I imagine like myself most hams could loose a few pounds and it wouldn't hurt LOL :) We unfortunately have a large group of us who are older, retired, and sit at a desk and talk. So we tend to add weight as we have a sedimentary hobby. So again congrats and wish you many more. :) do enjoy our videos.

[@kc5lvz]

Great video Dave thanks for sharing

[@mikemcdonald5147]

I looked on Home Depots website for 2 foot stake but of course nothing came up. Do you know what its called or where to look in the store? Doesn't look like rebar looked smooth. Thanks so much.

[@davecasler]

I think these may not be on the Internet because of the size and weight. They're in the lumber department. They also sell rebar stakes.

[@kenedmonds7599]

Did you seal the so239 to keep water from working it's way into your coax, or is this not really an issue? KE8HZZ

[@kenedmonds7599]

I hope to make a contact with you someday.

[@davecasler]

Not yet. I need to do that before winter.

[@kenedmonds7599]

How do you normally seal the so239? Caulk? Coax seal? Something else?

[@scottbuttrick-w8skb396]

Thanks for the video Dave. Was hoping you were going to build the coax dipole from the plans I sent you. I noticed that you didn’t use a 1:1 balun to go from the balanced dipole to the unbalanced coax. I have been led to believe that a balun should be used. 73 de W8SKB

[@davecasler]

Lots of people do add a balun. I may add a choke balun. I do plan to try those plans you sent me.

[@rickeaston3228]

For me, I found out high blood pressure and too much weight (fluid in the lungs) caused shortness of breath which I found to be very scary and annoying.

[@dennisgolding449]

I see that your recording was in 2019 and hope that your breathing problems have reduced. I'm in the UK and find your videos very useful as I'm (at 73 years old) taking my full licence at last. By way of interest, my breathing got pretty bad in 2010 and that resulted in a triple heart by-pass. As you've had all the tests and they've found zilch, blocked arteries won't be a factor for you I hope. Dennis 2E0BPL

[@MichaelALoberg]

Not much of a comment guy, but I've been worried about you for a while. The breath thing seems to be getting worse and COPD is no small matter. I hope you get this sorted. 73 de VA6AZZ

[@davecasler]

Thanks for your concern. I'm actively working it.

[@clems6989]

Dave, I noticed tbe difficulty seems to be exhaling, very indicative of COPD. I suffer with the same. Good Luck friend..

[@davecasler]

Yes, COPD for sure. It's a smoker's disease, though I've never smoked in my life. I did have a brush with tuberculosis while on my Mormon mission in the Philippines.

[@RB-cz5jn]

Thank you

[@ML-cr7ds]

what is the meter you are using to measure VSWR?

[@davecasler]

RigExpert AA-230 Zoom. I did a video about it recently.

[@johnckerner1007]

Hello Dave. Thank you for a great video. John K. KB4SGA

[@MyTube4Utoo]

Thanks Dave!

[@Bacongrease00]

Hear great things about Zero Five antennas

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip

[@joestark9236]

Thanks again Dave, Your the best

[@jordanclarke2996]

Fantastic video thank you. Subscribed

[@MoTown44240]

Nice video.

[@commanderia58]

Muy buen trabajo Sr. David, saludos lu1xal.

[@davecasler]

Thank you!

[@nazmi3126]

Excellent detailed video Dave. Thanks! -W3NSH

[@lyfandeth]

Dave, some, probably all, of us worry about your health. Competent doctors are damned hard to find, but the sharp ones can solve a year long mystery in fifteen minutes. If you need to, take a week off. Go to a major institution known for being leaders, or if you are using the VA try to get to a major center. Whatever the breath problem is, you & the mrs. both deserve a solution to the problem. Please.

[@davecasler]

Thanks.

[@sailcaptain]

I would have soldered the coax directly to the wire at the feed point, & water proofed it with RTV, & use tie-rap the coax to the dogbone. I would also shorten the wire at the ends, strip the wire, loop it through a walnut insulator, & solder them at the end. That way it won't slip.

[@davecasler]

I have a balun on order for the dipole and will do a video on it after it arrives. It's backordered.

[@robertk4vl412]

Audio only on left channel. I usually only use my right earbud and I thought there was no audio fo a minute.

[@davecasler]

Weird. I record mono and it goes into CyberLink PowerDirector as such. It should be in both channels.

[@robertk4vl412]

@@davecasler sorry Dave I figured out the problem later. For some reason that night my ear buds would only turn on one at a time. Your video was not the problem. 73

[@garage_logician]

I hope you find a resolution to your breath issue soon. I really enjoy your videos and being a new Ham I find them very helpful. I have a few HT and am setting up a DMR radio right now (the Anytone that you recommended). I am studying for my general and want to get into HF. I have a radio in mind but I have been struggling with what to do for an antenna. I like the simplicity of the dipole in this video and would like to build or buy one that would work well with 10, 15 and 20 meter bands. I would like to have a better idea of how to attach a ground to a dipole and the proper deployment. I appreciate that these are rather broad questions and I suspect I should do more digging. Any recommendations thought would be welcome. I look forward to crossing paths on DMR. :-) Thanks! -Gary KE0WQA

[@davecasler]

I always recommend that a new General's first antenna should be a 40 meter dipole. Next, put up one for 20 meters. There's very little activity right now above 20 meters because of the sunspot cycle.

[@tommycheshire5508]

A very helpful video. I have learned so much from you. I am thankful for you. N4KBM.

[@PatrickDickey52761]

The Campus QSO party might have actually been the Kansas QSO party, as it was going on at the same time as Ohio's. Lorraine and REN might be the counties.

[@davecasler]

Thanks for the tip!

[@baraaabbas]

I miss Colorado

[@BobHolowenko]

Congratulations on dropping 20lbs

[@EricTJorgensen]

Hi Dave, Regarding 1x1 calls from "Campus QSO Party", those may have been Kansas QSO Party, run the same weekend as the Ohio and Hawaii parties; they run 1x1 event callsigns spelling out keywords as a hunt and among their three-letter abbreviated county exchanges, "REN" would have been Reno County. You can find info including who was operating the individual 1x1s at ksqsoparty.org. I had an Ohio QSO Party hit myself that weekend from just north of Seattle to inaugurate a recent General upgrade on a FT-891 and Wolf River Coil vertical. Enjoying the videos (hat tip to the General study videos while I was also tutoring electronics students), and hope the out-of-breath issue improves. I, too, am in the weight struggles, and my father had lung clotting causing his shortness of breath. 73, KD7BFM

[@davecasler]

You're totally correct. I looked it up on QRZ. It was part of the Kansas QSO party.

[@rickeaston3228]

You need a laser measuring device. They are pretty cheap now.

[@view05nys]

I didn't see a provision for lightening protection in your setup.

[@davecasler]

I reused the cable that used to go to the vertical. It runs through a lightning protector before it enters the house.

[@psychofu420]

Another info packed video! Thanks Dave! Also, thank you for your tech class videos. I'm now a tech, thanks in part to you! 👍 John KJ7ISU

[@sailcaptain]

My Brother had shortness of breath. He had to have a triple bypass, plus have the fourth straightened, because it was bent. They call it a "Widow Maker". Have your Doctor Check that out. ASAP. My Brother was told, if he waited another week, he could of died.

[@billryland6199]

I have had better results with a 1:1 current mode balun in the center.

[@davecasler]

Yeah, I'll probably do that or put in a choke balun.

[@kittykat999a]

KB0VWW? Very Wise Woman? Like!

[@loughkb]

Hey Dave, check your email. I'm setting something up for Quartzfest.

[@davecasler]

Got it. Sent you an answer. Sounds like fun!

[@skippickens1843]

Ask your doctors about COPD, I am out of breath most of the time, don' t smoke, don't do drugs, don't drink, I was diagnosed with COPD and they can work on it to get your breath back. N7HSI Skip, ( great code call sign)

[@juliocesargarciamahillo8409]

Good video, Congratulations. EB1BSV

[@jasontwynn7356]

Dude, it's your channel! Slow down and breath in and out slowly. I should go in for a physical. I'm not trying to be funny. It sounds like you might be in need of some kind of help???🤔😐😷Let us know how it goes if you could? If not,that's fine,just get checked out please 🙏.

[@generator73]

it's too complicated. I thought its just take regular speaker wire and hang it on the roof thats it. I may have to sell my radio.