300 Ohm Twin Line: The Secret Ingredient for Antenna Magic?

[@kylongrifle]

While not exactly the same folks here in Appalachia have used ladder line for years to make Mountain lines. Mountain lines are long, often 1000'-1500' long runs of line up a mountain so you can mount your CB/Radio antenna on the ridge top. Many of us live in deep hollers and are surrounded by mountains on all sides. A mountain line lets us get ou antenna up high and over the ridge line....

[@TheSmokinApe]

Didn’t know that, thank you 🙏

[@techguy9023]

I remember some ladder line with copper wire and plastic insulators about one inch spacing used for tv years ago. About to make some 600 ohm for a doublet when the weather gets better.

[@audiobrian1]

Makes sense! You need a really low - loss balanced transmission line like ladder line or TV twin lead for that long a feeder. 300 ohm TV twin - lead is CHEAP compared to the windowed ladder line.

[@kylongrifle]

@@techguy9023 thats what ours looked like, white plastic spacers, copper wire

[@dougdaniels]

Back in the day, Archer 300 Ohm was the go-to TV antenna wire. Our antenna line went from the living room, down to the basement, out a window and up two stories to the roof antenna attached to the chimney. Brittle doesn't even begin to describe it. Even as a kid I was constantly cutting and stripping broken pieces. Good times!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info Doug 👍

[@ralphnunn3]

I've had a Doublet antenna up for about 5 years now. The legs are 67' long, and fed with 300 ohm ladder line all the way into my shack. It connects to a MFJ-941E manual tuner, which has a 4-1 balun on the inside. I then have a short coax jumper which goes to the radio. Unfortunately, the feedpoint is only up about 20 feet. But, I've worked the world with it. It's been a great antenna for me.

[@TheSmokinApe]

That’s awesome, thanks for watching Ralph 👍

[@N2EWSRadio]

Back in the '60s when I first got my license, 300 ohm TV antenna line is what I used for feed line. I connected it from my match box to a 40m dipole that ran from the back yard to a tree in front of the house. The 300 ohm feed dropped down to a window on the side of the house, where I pulled it in. We lived in a row of duplexes, so each house was close to the neighbor. The antenna ran along the side of my parents' house, about 30ft high. Seems like there was a lot going against it performing well, but it was great at the time.

[@TheSmokinApe]

We’ll see how this one works out, I really don’t know what to expect 🤷

[@jamesbrown-m5q]

I converted my 160m, coax fed dipole, into a 160m doublet, by replacing the feedline with 450ohm ladder line.... 300 ohm ribbon will pretty much do the same. What I immediately noticed was the receive was much better on all bands. I totally would recommend the doublet antenna for anyone. 73

[@paulmadsen51]

Doublets are fantastic! I have actually used both 450 ohm ladder line, and 300 ohm twin lead with doublets. Both work very well.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks James 👍

[@WECB640]

OMG, I'm "foaming" at the mouth! Thank you Ape!!!!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Haha, thanks for watching Hollywood 👍

[@WECB640]

@@TheSmokinApe Just a suggestion: Try a few different baluns and see how they play. You're using a good 1:1 current balun in this design. I would also try a 4:1 current type (two toroid's in the box), a 4:1 voltage type (typical of most ATU's), and lastly a 1:1 voltage type (used in the very OLD ATU's...somewhat akin to the majestic Johnson Viking Matchbox. It's a good multi-part series and a real eyeopener for the viewer. 73 OM PS. You know how to reach me. 🎙

[@Siskiyous6]

I have used 4 to 1 on a number of doublets, I am convinced it is not the right choice despite theoretically being correct. The tuner doesn't need 50 ohms on the antenna side. And, it creates the 50 ohms on the radio side. ​@@WECB640

[@WECB640]

@@Siskiyous6 I agree. It's the combined total of both the ATU and the balun ratio that transforms the load impedance. Always best to share the transformation between them so that one isn't doing all the heavy lifting. I think it would be a good series for Mr. Ape to show how each affects the other. As they say, "one size does not fit all". Also important to measure the actual antenna current and not rely solely on the SWR. Again, another great "teaching moment" for those who are LL challenged. 73 OM

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@WECB640 This will sound terrible but I’m using this choke because it’s already wound 😮

[@HOAHamRadio]

👀Can't wait to see how this turns out! Thanks for letting us tag along for the experiment.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for checking it out Bob 👍

[@MikeN2MAK]

It's a horizontal Poseidon! I just realized that 7.5 meters is basically the Rybakov vertical length, but it's a non-resonant random wire length, so it makes sense. I still haven't made or tried a doublet yet, so I might have to give this a shot.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Very observant 👍

[@redstickham6394]

That RS TV twinlead actually worked well for ham radio when it was available. I had a doublet fed with it and worked the world with it. I normally ran less than 100 watts(never owned an amplifier) and never had problems.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Awesome Red, thanks for the info 👍

[@KK6USYHamRadioAdventures]

Can"t wait till you upgrade!

[@TheSmokinApe]

lol, thanks for checking it out Chuck 👍

[@bland-b7e]

Thanks again for yet another awesome video!!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching Bland 👍

[@PD4GB]

Nice video! Twin lead is also good stuf for making a portable Slim Jim for 2 meters 👍 Thanks for your detailed effort ! 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

I’m gonna have plenty left so maybe I will do a 2m as well.

[@DavidJohnstone-hi9kr]

Thanks for another excellent video. If you are looking for more flexible house wire, try THH (without the nylon coating). You may have to go to a real electrical supply house instead of a big box store. About THHN, the last letter N stands for nylon. That is a nylon coating to make it easier to pull thru conduit. The nylon coating also makes it stiffer. I buy 300 ohm twin lead whenever I find it at flea markets or yard sales. Not the fancy foam shielded type like in your video, just the old fashioned stuff. One local EOC uses a 2 meter J-Pole made from plain 300 ohm TV twin lead. The EOC has good elevation, so the antenna is thumb tacked to the wall. Works good for over 40 years! BTW: There is a "Smokin Ape" cigar store in town. Since I'm in Torrington CT, I don't think it's you.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info David! And no, that’s not my shop 😮

[@Andrew-yx7sf]

I made a doublet out of that exact wire. 140' with 75' of that feed line. Works great.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Awesome man, thanks for watching!

[@robertmeyer4744]

I haven't used 300 ohm twin lead since the 1970's . I still have some radio shack twin lead. My MFJ tuner has balanced line jacks . Their is a 75 ohm twin lead as well. not common . 100 watts should be fine. More power and you may have a heating element . This may be handy if you get ice build up . The last one I did years ago worked great ! But rain,ICE,Snow would change SWR . Need a tuner anyways . Just remember re tuning as weather changed. Keep metal like 3FT from twin lead. Some use a 4:1 some use 1:1 it depends on tuner. I have seen something like you making with RG11, 75 ohm after Balun. They used a certain length of RG11 into the shack. Have fun. They can work well ! 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@robertmeyer4744 hey Robert. I am looking forward to the build, hopefully it turns out OK 👍

[@HamRadioPortableOperations]

Good stuff, looking forward to seeing your results. I made a 2m / 70cm (Slim Jim) antenna out of this stuff, its a super light weight roll up great for portable work. 👍

[@TheSmokinApe]

Making a 2/70 antenna sounds like a good idea 👍

[@Capt_Duffy]

Hi! If I’m not mistaken, this twin lead might be quite lossy due to its foam dielectric. Traditional 450-ohm or 300-ohm twin leads typically avoid foam dielectric for this very reason. Ideally, it’s better to use a homebrew open-wire feedline by simply using household electric wire with 4-inch spacers. The impedance would be roughly between 400 and 600 ohms, and it’s nearly lossless. There’s no doubt that no multiband antenna can outperform a doublet antenna. Wishing you all the best with the project! 73

[@P.SeanCoady]

You're mistaken foam is usually found in low lose coax. Here's the issue when used in coax you must be very careful not to bend as the center conductor will migrate through the foam to the outer conductor. Whipping in the wind bending around sharp corners exposed to high heat that makes the foam even softer are all big no nos with foam. Treat it correctly it's great stuff

[@johnwest7993]

Nothing compares to ladder-line for low loss, but foam dielectric twin-lead is less lossy than the solid dielectric twin-lead, (which is why they went to the trouble to make it,) and also a little less lossy than most of the RG8 coaxes out there.

[@Capt_Duffy]

@@P.SeanCoady this is what chatGPT says about it "Open wire is less lossy compared to foam dielectric twin lead. The main reason is that open wire has air as the dielectric, which has much lower loss than foam or any solid dielectric material. Foam dielectric twin lead, on the other hand, suffers more loss due to dielectric heating and higher capacitance. Open wire also has better impedance matching and lower signal attenuation over long distances, especially at higher frequencies. But it’s more vulnerable to environmental factors like wind and rain unless carefully installed. Foam twin lead is more convenient and compact but comes with a performance tradeoff. 🤔"

[@P.SeanCoady]

@@Capt_Duffy where did i claim that ladder was less superior than coax. My statement was all about foam as a dialectic and it's tendency to migrate to the shild if not treated properly period.

[@Capt_Duffy]

@@P.SeanCoady You are correct; it was foolish of me. I misunderstood your point, and I apologize for that. 🙏

[@KD0RC]

I had some of that Radio Shack 300 ohm foam-filled cable years ago. It was so hard to work with and the stiffness kept breaking the 18 Gauge wires that I got rid of it after just a few trips. I found a large roll of plain 300 ohm twinlead at a hamfest for a few bucks and am still using the same portable antenna that I built from it over 40 years ago. I am finally going to replace it this coming camping season. I plan on using 450 ohm ladder line like what you showed early in your video, but I will get the stranded wire version (solid wire tends to break and is hard to handle). It is a little more expensive, but way easier to deploy and roll back up. The 450 ohm cable is typically lower loss than the 300 ohm, but I don't know how it compares to the foam-filled stuff. I used 75 foot legs on mine, and it works great on 80 - 10, but it takes a bit of space to deploy. It also takes a good tuner to make it work. 18 gauge wire for the legs works great, but can be easily broken. I will go with 14 gauge Flexweave (168 strand ultra-flexible) for the legs to make it super easy to handle while retaining reasonable strength for hanging in trees. I found that a 4 to 1 balun gives me better matching than a one to one, but that is with my longer antenna legs. For a permanent installation I would use the 1/4 x 20 bolts and wingnuts. For a portable antenna I would go with the 5-way binding posts. They are quicker, no tools required and have more options for connection to the feedline. I had banana plugs for many years on feed end of my twinlead. A friend tripped over the feedline a few years ago, breaking the plug. I was able to quickly repair it by just sticking the wire into the 5-way binding post. Has been that way ever since. Laziness is the mother of more operating and less messing around... 73, Len, KD0RC

[@TheSmokinApe]

Great info, thank you 🙏

[@bobberube9401]

Have a doublet up 35 ft fed with Radio Shack 300 ohm TV twin lead. It was an experiment 20 years ago and it’s been there ever since. Works quite well. I talk all over the world with it. I regularly put 200 watts through it and have had no issues. It won’t fall down. Pretty tough considering the weather here in NH -Bob / AB1EO

[@TheSmokinApe]

That’s awesome Bob, thanks for sharing 👍

[@KO4AYE]

Ape use a heat gun on the twin lead. Don't melt it just put some heat into it. You will get the feel of it pretty quick. Makes stripping it a whole lot easier and cleaner.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thank you for that 👍

[@JReed305]

Love the Bntechgo wire. I have used it for a bunch of antennas, and it is so easy to work with.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah. That word is great, thanks for watching JReed 👍

[@l.a.2646]

I had excellent results using a doublet antenna cut for the lowest operating frequency around the low end of 80 meters. Fed with the cheap 300 twin lead ( the paper thin stuff). An Icom AH-4 coupler fed the twin-lead, then coax (8x) and the couplers control line went through the wall . Worked great with my Icom IC-746PRO or Icom IC-7000

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info and for watching La 👍

[@RichHuff]

The first antenna I made was a 6 meter folded dipole with 300 ohm twin lead like you have. I used it for lots of local contacts with a Heathkit lunch box.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Awesome, thanks for watching Rich 👍

[@brentludwick213]

Feed it off-center. The impedance will more correctly match your feed line. Then, your tuner will be just matching for the short length of coax to your transceiver. (1/3x2/3).

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks

[@todd.mitchell]

When I was a kid I once worked Poland from Louisville, KY on 15m with my HW-8 using a little doublet made of that stuff, taped to the wall of a second-floor bedroom with scotch tape. Dad made it with a capacitor just the right distance from the back of my rig, no tuner, no balun.

[@TheSmokinApe]

That’s awesome, thanks for watching Todd 👍

[@ElDiabloLocoPoco]

In older versions of the arrl antenna book there is a good cookbook folded dipole design based on this 300 ohm line in the chapter on "Portable Antennas". Used one on 80m for about 10 years. Folded dipoles don't radiate very well on the second harmonic, which can be useful.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info EID 👍

[@stevet7522]

The center piece for my doublet is cut from a kitchen cutting board. Works great

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching Steve 👍

[@thuff3207]

Way back in the 80’s we used them for TV antenna and they worked well. Now for ham yes they work well. I would go with the 1/4 20 bolts.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info, pretty sure I will use the 1/4 20 👍

[@jeffdyer2393]

I use a delta loop cut for 30 meter's held point up with a 40 foot Spyder been pole feed with 300 ohm tv twin lead about 2 feet up one side with a Manuel tuner work's great from 10 to 40 will tune 6 through 80. The tuner has a balun already.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Jeff 👍

[@de_w8tam]

I believe you have 75 ohm feedline. I have a spool of that same feedline. The space between the conductors sets the impedance. The higher the impedance the lower the loss at high SWR. I use a lighter weight version of TV 75 ohm twinlead for a QRP portable doublet. I'm using 30 gauge wire for the radiators and supporting it with a Sotabeams Carbon 6 mast. Ultralight is necessary for the Carbon 6. I use 300 ohm (which is window line, but smaller than the 450 ohm you showed) on my doublet at home. I can tune 6-160 with 108' of wire radiator. You need a balun, not a choke to convert from balanced (twin lead), to unbalanced (coax). I used to use a 4:1 designed by DG0SA/sk, and a couple years ago I switched to a 1:1, and seem to have better luck with tuning the low bands (specifically 160m). Check out Thewireman, they have photos of the different sizes of twin lead. Good luck with your doublet project!

[@forgetyourlife]

Why would it say “300 Ohm” right on the package label then?

[@de_w8tam]

@@forgetyourlife Because radio shack.

[@de_w8tam]

@@forgetyourlife Also, it might be 300 ohm with the foam. Not too sure. The spacing looks more like 75 ohm than 300 to me though.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching W8tam.

[@N9YSQ]

Yes, it's the best stuff for anything 100 watts or less. Need more power handling or higher power to loss ratio? Use 450 ladder line. You need a good antenna design, for either. You also need a tuner, and 4:1 balun for connection to 50 ohm coax to the radio. Balun goes between coax and tv line. A G5rv i have doesn't have a 1:1 balun in that position and for 450 ladderline impedience at this point with 35 ft of ladder line it match's 50 ohm at this point.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info and for watching N9YSQ 👍

[@robduncan599]

I'm a big doublet fan . Think total length ant and feeder ? A g5rv total length one side + feeder is 51' +34' = 85 feet . A variation is zs6bkw 42' + 40' = 82 feet very similar. I went with double size but slightly different. So 82' and around 80' open wire around per side and 4 ' apart. You may have to adjust slightly then straight onto a very short coax then rig . If you get it right by adjusting feeder length you can get a spot on match and bypass atu . My match is focused on 40m (extended double zepp ) . It also is 2.5 to 1 on top band , just off on 80 . My doublet is 2 continues wires from one end to the short coax ×2 (2feet ) about as simple as you can get , works well all bands , some bypass the atu (like 40m ) . No joints just wire all the way through to window vent to shack . Trying to eliminate weak points .

[@TheSmokinApe]

That sounds great 👍

[@Swamp-Fox]

Looking forward to seeing how your antenna performs.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Me too. Thanks for watching SF 👍

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Ape, That CQ-532 wire is carried by The Wireman. 73 and stay safe WJ3U

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thank you Don 👍

[@Siskiyous6]

Mr Ape, that is a great choice of antenna. I hve the materials to put a 24 foot per side solid element rotating doublet up. It is the higher hf band antenna for my new qth. That length is not good for 6M. Why not add a fan element for 6M. That would be around five foot long per side. Use blue steel rope for the guying "wires". The thing is though, for portable use these kinds of antenna can become a rats nest. If you can make wires easier to detach, you can roll them up into bags separately. A big help over time.

[@TheSmokinApe]

If I can’t get 6m I’m not gonna be too upset with it…. This will be an inverted V so I expect it would be more omnidirectional that a flat top dipole for example 👍

[@Sylvan_dB]

Wow, that's some old Radio Shack wire! It's not the oldest stuff I've seen (the oldest packaging is mostly white with red and black printing, IIRC). I always found it to be good stuff - better than the old cheap, flat, brown vinyl insulated. (But more bulky.)

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah, I was glad to snag this and have some fun with a project 👍

[@jameyevans29]

I’m getting old. I remember this in radio shack 😆

[@techguy9023]

I remember drug stores having tube testers you could use. Radio Shack sold tubes as well. I am an official old tv repairman. Quasar works in the drawer color tv? Had one 17 years till a lightning strike.

[@earlgriffith3592]

Hell, I SOLD this at Radio Shack! 😉

[@TheSmokinApe]

Haha Jamey 🤣

[@Ed-vi6tg]

what about some sort of stain relief configuration for the feed line? Definitely stainless steel bolts. Maybe a bit smaller bolts/ wing nuts, and solder lugs for the transformer wires. it's a tight box and might need clearance. Can use flat and lock washers. The posts will not provide as much worry-free and positive connection and will oxidize. Ace Hardware has a wide assortment of SS hardware.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Not a bad idea, thanks man 👍

[@Ed-vi6tg]

Another brainstorm, for sealing the box penetrations, use plastic washers on the outside or the inside of the box pinched down somehow, or coax tape? If you want to get crazy going overboard, if you have taps, thread the box and use some sort of sealant. if the box is in a fixed location, maybe add weep /drain holes?

[@don_n5skt]

The Silicone wire is good because it doesn't tangle. I really hope you like the doublet. I have found mine to work better than I expected.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Tangle free is a good thing.

[@kv5r]

Look up DX Ham Radio Supply, they have 300 ohm window line in 18 gauge stranded copperweld, and polystealth wire, at good prices (way less than DXE). I used that and a 40' Spiderbeam mast to make great 80 meter doublet.. That poly-foam tv lead is as lossy as small coax, due to all that lossy dielectric around the wires.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info kv5r 👍

[@JxH]

Funny - I think that I have at least one (perhaps more) of that exact twin lead in my basement. It must have been on sale at Radio Shack 25+ years ago.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Time to make some antennas!

[@hughpatterson1480]

Great Video and Idea. I don't know about you, but I can become stuck using a specific type of antenna because it works, not trying other antenna designs because ofnthe old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I find I miss out on antennas that work better. That's why I'm glad you are trying this out. I've never been a dipole or doublet kind of guy, only because I haven't taken the time out to try a few of them. I've had such good luck with my end fed antennas, I didn't consider trying something different. Thanks for the inspiration...73...Hugh...KN6KNB

[@TheSmokinApe]

Glad you liked the video Hugh, thank you for watching 👍

[@Inkling777]

In my experience wire that's less flexible is less likely get tangled. Just store it in loops.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the heads up 👍

[@johnwest7993]

It's not called twin-'line'. It's only called twin-'lead'. The other parallel wire feed-lines are called 'open-wire lines,' or 'ladder-lines', or 'window-line'. I guess it was so popular for the consumer TV industry that it picked up a different name from the feed-lines used by hams, industry, and the military. You really picked the wrong twin-lead for portable operation. The non-foam dielectric stuff is much more pleasant and easier to use, in particular for portable operation. The foam stuff is just MUCH less convenient to use, though it is lower loss. Yes, I've tried to use it for portable opps. It's almost like running hardline for a portable application, though not quite. :) Double-check the velocity factor on the foam cable. I'm sure it's higher than on the standard, flatter, much more flexible twin-lead. The foam dielectric twin-lead was created near the end of the twin-lead era, when they were trying to make it more competitive against the other advantages of coax. 300 Ohm twin-lead was the standard for connecting TV's to outdoor antennas for a couple of decades at least. So it was probably the most popular RF cable on the planet until cable TV came along using 75 Ohm coax in order to meet the different needs of the cable TV industry, i.e. much better at blocking stray radiation, and more immune to interference, even though the 75 Ohm coax was more expensive and higher loss than twin-lead. If they had cabled apartment complexes with inexpensive 300 Ohm twin-lead a lot of people in apartments who weren't paying for cable could (would) have simply repositioned the rabbit ears on their TV's and received the cable broadcasts for free from the twin-lead running through the walls. Even so, I once put a big coupling loop with an inline pre-amp on the ground next to my alley fence and received the cable vision trunk-line signal running along the alley even though it was underground and probably reasonably well shielded coax. Of course that was many years ago before the signals were digitized and encrypted. Twin-lead would have bled all over, in addition to its high susceptibility to nearby noise. I suppose the cable industry picked 75 Ohms instead of 50 Ohms for their coax based on the need to produce the very cheapest suitable coax per foot that met the industry requirements, and their research indicated 75 Ohms was it. We're talking tiny fractions of a cent per foot difference. But when you need several billion feet of it those fractions of a penny really add up. But I'd personally never heard of 75 Ohm coax until cable TV became a thing. On HF, even the simple, non-foam twin-lead has little loss and there's no need to use the awkward foam dielectric stuff. You got a deal on it because the foam stuff is a pain in the butt to use, especially when its only advantages, low price, and low loss simply don't apply in very many applications these days. As is, these days it's so rare that it's not even low cost. If transmitter and receiver outputs were still designed for 300 Ohms, (or 450,) you'd probably still see it in use all over, at least by hams, CBers, and scanner listeners. 300 Ohm folded dipoles are a piece of cake to make to match to 300 Ohm twin-lead feedline. For mono-band use there will be no impedance matching required. No balun required. No transformers, no chokes. Just simple twin-lead for both feed-line and antenna. In fact, since I got a roll of twin-lead at a swap for next to nothing I plan on building a couple of 5 Watt and 100 Watt matching transformers to connect at my rigs so I can build small, simple, efficient folded dipoles and feedlines for solo portable use, since in that application there is little concern for radiated signal from the feedline or noise pickup from it. There will be that 1 matching transformer at the rig, but everything else will just be twin-lead, good for reliable portable use, and definitely not the foam dielectric stuff. Good luck with that for portable opps.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info John, much appreciated 👍

[@johnwest7993]

@@TheSmokinApe, ham radio is full of history and trivia. I'm trying to pass some of it on before I croak. Some of it helps explain things and keeps newer hams from repeating the same mistakes as the old guys made. :)

[@TheSmokinApe]

@ its appreciated

[@RJHElias]

Not a question about this movie, but can you make one about a broadband antenna (wich I know, does not exist) for scanners? Lots of people have a scanner and would like to use one or 2 antennas. In my case: I can not place a Discone on mu roof, and would like someting with the dimensions of a Diamond X30 or X50

[@StreakyP]

Funny how the wheel keeps getting reinvented in that the 4010-ROK looks to be basically the same radiating element as a half size g5rv just with 10m of budgie ladder feeder rather than the 5(ish) of the half 5RV but as both need an ATU anyway that is academic... the radiating sections are both the same so as long as your ATU eventually tunes it choose whichever feeder length option is easier for you.... the best option would actually be to go with a remote ATU that has a balanced i/p, feed the budgie ladder straight into it & entirely dump the need for an additional BALUN. I've actually been in contact with one of the Chinese auto_ATU manufacturers to see if they would do a waterproof balanced i/p variant of their current unbal so239 auto-ATU.... string this up directly on the end of a half size 5RV & you'd also get 40-6 & the balanced ATU simplifies things as it replaces the equivalent sized BALUN. Keep your eyes peeled to see if any cheap balanced auto-ATU appear on the market in the near future. For QRP I favour the half 5RV going straight into the 50 buck GQRP Sudden ATU which has the balanced capability (no other balun needed). For QRO portable, MFJ in the old days certainly had some BAL capable ATU. Using the 10m feeder 4010 ROK & a 10m fishing pole gets the antenna centre to an easy height & the budgie ladder then reaches perfectly to the bal ATU on the operating table at the pole base (dump the BALUN). Going off on a tangent, you know how for every balanced antenna there is a half unbal antenna (ie half wave dipole vs quarter wave whip) well disregarding the pre-tuning at the feed by budgie ladder or whatever what do you get if you cut the above 50foot(ish) of radiating metal in half to get around 25foot of un-bal metal & then clag a match built into a baked bean can on the base for the feed?... Gentlemen I give you the Comet CHA250-B... ... all basically the same reinvented wheel just with subtly different colours.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the infor Streaky, it’s helpful 👍

[@kv5r]

See also my ladder line and doublet pages.

[@TheSmokinApe]

👍

[@snow_keeper]

A cliffhanger!!! I wanna see how this comes out!! I have a small roll of that twin line and have been contemplating its use. I’m looking forward to seeing how this works out!! KL5VL ❄️

[@TheSmokinApe]

I’m hopeful but don’t know what to expect 👍

[@davidm.wilson3736]

Hi Ape, looks like fun, I might build it along with you using a different type of ladder line. We can compare the results to see how each build performs. I will start the build after the 4 of February and should complete the project by the end of the month. Chat soon. David VK2DMW

[@TheSmokinApe]

Sounds awesome Dave, good luck with the build 👍

[@KS0JD]

So you are putting that up with a carbon fiber mast? Asking for a friend from Alabama. Hi hi Looking forward to the results. 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

lol… no.

[@AndyAAzeroAM]

If it wasn't so stiff and sticky I was gonna suggest splitting it down the middle, enough for the leg length ya want, then you wouldn't need all the hardware and extra wire.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah, I’m gonna have to figure this stuff out. The next video for this will be making the choke 👍

[@videotrexx]

If you want something more flexible, you should buy the less expensive generic 300 ohm twinlead.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thank you for the suggestion

[@ericlevine420]

1/4 20 bolts, or you will have weight of wire issues

[@TheSmokinApe]

In the mount plate?

[@MVBriscoVolante]

Just curious why use a 1:1 and not something to get it down to 50 ohms to the tuner?

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey MVB, I cover it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/baHWnZJ6gpdraqssi=g_hShywwqvT7IGk7

[@Siskiyous6]

First, o yes you will hear from me after I watch

[@TheSmokinApe]

Haha

[@John_Ai9D]

Soldering the back of the SO239 center is always a challenge for me.

[@TheSmokinApe]

I’m sure it will be a chore. Thanks for watching John 👍

[@Sonicgott]

Loving your videos. Informative and utility. You’re an awesome KZbinr to watch, Ape. - KF0QNM ❤

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Sonic, glad you like the videos 👍