Hamfest antenna

One of the bundles of wire I picked up at the Charleston Hamfest last weekend turned out to be a dipole cut for 10m, according to the paper tag that was tied to it.

Each leg of the dipole is about 2.8m (9.2 feet) long and there is what appears to be a trap near the end of each leg.

Antenna shortening coil
Antenna shortening coil

At the center is 6.9m (22.6 feet) of BNC terminated coax.

Dipole center
Dipole center

It appears to have seen a few seasons out in the elements, judging by the amount of oxidation on the wires and the condition of the coax. Still seems to work pretty decently. Using an old painter’s pole and some of the extra rope tying off the current antenna, I was able to measure an SWR of 1.3 at 28.5 MHz with the center about 2m off the ground.

SWR=1.3 at 28.5 MHz
SWR=1.3 at 28.5 MHz

I didn’t check to see if it was resonant anywhere else. Once I figure out how to suspend it a reasonable distance off the ground, I’ll check it out a little more thoroughly.


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