After much reading I decided a few weeks ago to construct a 20m Bazooka antenna for deployment in the loft. Built it using RG59/U co-ax with 300 ohm ribbon end pieces and later realised I had insufficient 75 ohm co-ax for the feeder. A company close to me (KENABLE) stocked what I needed at a very reasonable price, 100m was purchased.. Arriving home I set about connecting the feeder to the antenna - The solder would not take on the 75 ohm coax, so out I went again for some 'chocolate block' connectors. None in stock in Screwfix, but Tool Station had them in at 29p. Yahoo.
Connected up then set about fixing it in place. An hour later, covered in dust, I emerged from the roof space victorious. Little bending of the ends was needed and it lies approximately North-South.
Another hole drilled through the wall, coax fed through, and PL259 employed.
Aerial connected to the rig's #2 input and I trolled the band.
Seems to have an S-Point or so gain over the long wire , and picks up less static. This letter point was to be expected as the Bazooka is supposed to be a quieter aerial noise wise.
As I use PSK via HRD and DM780 software I left the Propagation monitor running over Wednesday to see if there was any discernible difference between antennae. Result - bazooka seems more efficient and more signals seem to be clear of the noise.
Rest of Wednesday spent constructing ZL-Special for 2m.
Also thinking of bazookas for 15m and 10m now. Probably folded dipole for 17m.
No comments:
Post a Comment