I suggest that you use stranded no. 14 copper wire for your HF-dipole elements. This wire is easily available and it does not cost a great deal of money. It is sufficiently flexible to endure under the stresses of wind and moderate icing, assum- ing it is supported properly. If the span of the dipole is greater than 130 feet, try to have a center support where the feed line is attached. RG-8 coaxial cable is quite heavy, and this places considerable stress on the dipole. RG-8X, on the other hand, is smaller and lighter, and may not cause too much stress at the center of the dipole. RG-8X will safely handle up to 1000 watts of RF power if the SWR on the line is less than 2:1. It is approximately the same diameter as 75-ohm RG-59 cable.
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Dipole Conductors
I suggest that you use stranded no. 14 copper wire for your HF-dipole elements. This wire is easily available and it does not cost a great deal of money. It is sufficiently flexible to endure under the stresses of wind and moderate icing, assum- ing it is supported properly. If the span of the dipole is greater than 130 feet, try to have a center support where the feed line is attached. RG-8 coaxial cable is quite heavy, and this places considerable stress on the dipole. RG-8X, on the other hand, is smaller and lighter, and may not cause too much stress at the center of the dipole. RG-8X will safely handle up to 1000 watts of RF power if the SWR on the line is less than 2:1. It is approximately the same diameter as 75-ohm RG-59 cable.
The Noise Bridge
The reactance controls on the noise bridge will be at zero when this null occurs. The bridge will provide a resistance reading when fully nulled, and this will indicate not only antenna resonance, but allow you to read the feed-point impedance (resistive) of the antenna. In order for this instrument to be accurate, you must use an electrical half wavelength of coaxial feeder between the antenna and the bridge.
The instrument generates white noise, and this is heard in the receiver output (speaker of phones). The bridge controls are adjusted for minimum noise to indicate antenna resonance. You will need to tune your receiver to various frequencies in the ham band of interest in order to locate the resonant frequency of the antenna.
The noise bridge is readjusted for a null at each of these frequencies until you find a frequency that yields a deep null with the reactance controls at zero. This may seem complicated now, but if you study the operating booklet for your noise bridge, things will fall into place easily.
source : Novice Antenna Notebook by DeMaw, Doug
Finding the Correct Dipole Length
We have discussed the standard formula for cutting a dipole to length [L = 468/f(MHz)]. First, you may wonder why 468 is used instead of the free-space factor of 492 for a half wavelength. This is a good question: If our dipole was in free space and with no feed line, the length would be greater than that obtained from the 468 factor. The end effects of the insulators and guy lines, plus antenna proximity to trees, the earth and other influences, causes the antenna to have stray-capacitance effects that tune it lower in frequency.
You may think of the dipole as an inductance, and stray capacit- ance appears in parallel with it, just like in other tuned circuits. These effects are compensated for by changing the length factor from 492 to 468.
Let's assume that you have cut your dipole wires in accordance with 468/f, as discussed earlier. How can you be certain that this is the correct length (antenna installed) for your chosen frequency of operation, say, 3.7 MHz?
First, you need to know that the lowest SWR occurs at the resonant frequency of your antenna. It may not be the ideal 1:1 ratio we seek. Rather, it may be 1.5:1 or even 2.3:1. If the SWR is high at the reson- ant frequency of the dipole, you will know that the feed line is not matched to the antenna feed point. The SWR will rise either side of the resonant frequency as you change the operatYou will need an SWR indicator or bridge, as they are called, in order to check your antenna resonance and SWR.
The SWR indicator must be designed for the impedance of your feed line, such as a 50-ohm bridge for 50-ohm coaxial line. The SWR instrument is installed between your transmitter and the feed line.
Next, check across the amateur band for which your dipole is cut, observing the SWR reading every 25 kHz or so. Note the frequency at which you obtain the lowest SWR reading (minimum reflected power).
This will occur at the resonant frequency of the antenna. If the lowest SWR occurs lower in the band than your design calls for, remove small amounts of wire from the ends of the dipole until the lowest SWR is noted at the preferred antenna resonance point. If the lowest SWR reading is observed higher than your chosen frequency, you must add a small amount of wire to the ends of the dipole. Continue this process until the lowest SWR occurs at the chosen operating frequency.
You may use a dip meter for checking the resonance of your antenna. You may do this by connecting a three- or four-turn small coil between the shield braid and inner conductor of your coaxial cable (antenna erected, and feed line attached). A solid-state or tube type of dipper may be used. Insert the dip-meter coil into the small coupling coil on the feeder. Adjust the dipper through its range and locate the frequency at which a deep dip is noted on the meter. Listen to the dip- meter operating frequency by means of your receiver, and note the frequency. Adjust the dipole length until the dip meter indicates resonance at your preferred operating frequency.
We will discuss methods for mismatch correction, later in in this notebook. A minor mismatch (1.5:1 SWR or less) is not of concern to us for routine operation, provided the trans- mitter is designed to deliver normal output power at low values of SWR.
The Folded Dipole
A folded dipole has two conductors in parallel, as you can see in Fig-3. This antenna has a high feed impedance (300 ohms). You may use a 4:1 balun transformer (see later chapter on baluns) to convert the 300-ohm balanced line to 75-ohm coaxial cable. A folded dipole may be used in the same manner as the single-wire dipoles in article Building and using Dipole Antennas .
The advantage of a folded dipole is that it provides slightuiy greater bandwidth between the 2:1 SWR points (most modern transmitters have a protective circuit that reduces the power as the SWR increases) than is characteristic of a single-wire dipole. For example, an 80-meter single wire dipole might have an SWR bandwidth (2:1 SWR boundries) of 75 kHz.
BUILDING AND USING DIPOLE ANTENNAS
A single dipole antenna has no gain, but it does exhibit a bidirectional radiation pattern if it is a half wavelength or greater above ground, and if it is erected for horizontal polarization (parallel to the earth). The radiation pattern for this type of dipole resembles a figure below. Maximum radiation is off the broad side of the antenna.
We learned that a dipole antenna loses its direct-ional characteristics when it is placed close to ground (less than approximately 0.5 wavelength). The resultant radiation pattern for a dipole that is, say, 1/20 wavelength above ground (e.g., 53 feet for 3.7 MHz), is pretty much circular. In other words, the signal is radiated almost equally in all directions. Also, the radiation angle will be very high, which is not ideal for long-distance communications.
Dipoles may be erected horizontally or vertically. They may also be configured as inverted Vs. This is a popular format because only one tall support pole or tower is needed. The center of the dipole is held aloft by the tall supporting structure, and the halves of the dipole droop toward ground at approximately 45 degrees. You may also use your dipole as a sloper (sloping dipole). In this example , see figure 1, we tie one end of the dipole to a tall mast or tower and slope the entire antenna toward ground at approximately 45 degrees. The lower end of the antenna (as with an inverted V) is just a few feet above ground-in a typical case where the tower or mast height is 50-60 feet.
Radiation angles and patterns vary in accordance with the manner in which we erect our dipole antennas. A vertical dipole, for example, has an omnidirectional radiation pattern, and it exhibits a relatively low radiation angle. Sloping dipoles and inverted Vs with an enclosed angle of 90 to 100 degrees will also radiate a vertically polarized signal. The sloper will have a unidirectional pattern off the slope of the antenna (directivity rather than gain) if it is supported by a metal Mast or tower: