ery fe of us thooe days have gardens that wil allow the ‘traditional 40m Tong cipal or the .5MELx band tbe erected, Fewer ll have space for the doubled tized dipole for Top Band. So, neentilly, this means for many of us that 3.5MHz is totally out of PR are guevtion Ov each a fall-ized "antenna has to be bent into ‘arin conortions to get to ft in te avaleble spce "Te antenna Tn decrbing here ia ae OT TUR eat both 3.5 and 7MHzin less than haf the space ofa taditional Alpoke, However i wil in most instances, give a performance equa oor greater than is fall Te descrte mysel os a lary five-band . inverted-L for g DXer, and by that Imean ‘take small ‘ gardens. It : Z Bite ianoik on cat may be just America, North Africa and the Midele Rast on 3,5 and or TMH, ‘something Teould never achieve the job for witha GRY antenna ue i = Kilowatt Scrum too! aS g's general find that i can hear fa station - [can work it, provided it’s not part ofa ‘kilowatt scrum’ Se} The antenna will also give good account of itself on 14, 21 and © Fig. 1: The overall 28MHz being electrically similar layout ofthe Five fi to the WaD2Z trap dipole. band inverted. ‘The standing wave ratio 6.w) 0 1g antema, its ¢ (A Chih of the antenna system on the mourted in afar 1) upper hf. bands, is higher than come of the reading on either 3.5 or 7MHz, GMOONXs garden Dbut ifs no worse than the Monofilament TMs trap Earth red 2 Practical Wireless, February 2004traditional W3DZZ trap dipole. The antenna system will almost certainly require some impedance matching to suit rigs with solid state power amplificrs- again, this is just like the WSDZZ antenna, Antenns purists will often tell you thet an antenna of this type requires radials, ora sophisticated earth system for optimum performance. But in praetice the antenna vorks very well with a modest earth system, although this is dependeat on scil conditions. Fortunately, for me in the south western area of Scotland we're “blessed? with more than our fair share of rain, together with a very lay-rieh soll, usually just below the surface, Because of the rain and clay soil blessing, agood rf. earth is assured with only « single one metre long earth rod. But should you have & rather more sandy soil in your area, ‘you may requite to install longer ‘earth rods or an earth mat to achieve an acceptable rf. earth, I's very much ceases of eke it and see - though not literally ofcourse! ‘The prototype antenna was constructed from a heavy enamelled copper wire (2mm diameter or 14s wg.) obtained free as an endof- rol gift from a local armature winder, ‘There’sa single 7MHz resonant trap to make it more efficient on that band General Layout "The general layout of the antenna and the theoretical lengths of the antenna, are shown in the illustration Fig. 1 "The antenna is fee with 509 coaxial cable, with the coaxial sereen connected to the earth rod. This connection is secured using a “Tenby” earth clamp intended for earthing ‘water pipes and available from most diy. centres, Prectical Wireless, February 2004 eee ee iw covering to waterproof the on. Thejoiniselfand the Tenby cp are seen, Photograph, ‘Thecentre core of the coaxial cable is but itis imperative that itis done in connected to the antenna wire visa the correct order. Firatly cut both single 15A hocolate block’ connector. _seetions of the antenna about a hal a ‘After double cheeking these ‘metre longer than dimensions shown re awnctier re nc rie ae area is covered with Denso tape, Fig. ee : Fea es eal fa Tuning Operation tnd TMHiz asthe antenna’ fed-point To lat the tning operation, begin Be ee Fe feito erescant oe Mie MErtaay ycoustiuced om the col sears the ert cameeton Itt of G68 casi abloweand Omer at atime wat te owen oe Mie eA anette” etioed. Uspaged trond plastic drainage piping as shown in _s.wir of less than 1.21 over the whole tho illustration Fig. 3 and the of 40m, photograph Fig. [Link] this type oftrap ‘Then moveto 3.5MHz and repeat the coaxial eable acts as both the process, but this time trimming capacitor and inductor and is capable the side of the antenna furthest. of working at power levels in excess of away from the earth i. the side a kilowatt. nearest the house in Fig. 1. The [Link] It’s imperative that sereen and ‘on the 3.5MHz band should be less centre cores of the coaxial cable are than 2to 1 over the whole ofthe band parted as close to the point the cable falling to about 1.2 to 1 at the point of passes through thehole inthe pipe as resonance, So. i's worth setting the Possible. This is to ensure the correct lowest s.w.r. a the section of the band value of capacitance and inductance. you normally use, if you have a ‘The centre core of preference one end of the ‘The antenna coaxial eable is ‘can be made in soldered to the my ‘weekend with sereen at the other VV plenty of time left end. over to work that ‘As with the elusive DX. ‘antenna feed-point, Having « very low the ends of the coaxial trap and other visual impact most Local Authorities Joints must be weather proofed. The Planning Departments ean be capillary effects of axial cable are convinced that itis a‘minimalist? legendary and water ingress will installation not requiring planning: totally ruin your trsp. Anysealant _permission, however this should be ™ustbe of the non cetic acid type, _ confirmed with your local (i.e. doesn’ smell like vinegar) 9 planning office, prevent cable corrosion Tve had a lot of fun using the ‘The height at which the antenna _ antenna and thorougiily recommend folds over from vertical to Forizontal it to anybody not having enough is not critical but generally the higher garden room to ereeta fullsize dipole it isthe botter. Extra height, not only in the optimum direction, So, why not aids the DX performance of the chat up your local electrical motor antenna butalso significantly reduces rewinding company for the wire to ‘the amount horizonial space required. make your next antennas? ‘Tuning the antenna is quite simple Practical Wireless Downloaded from [Link]! je reproduced by kind préthi bd © Fig 58 Of the 7aHz trap made froma lenathot liam, last pipe RGSS coma! cable, See text for more deta. erg aA Photograph ofthe finshee trap, before sealing moisture Ingress (See text for more deta. n of 33 [Link]