Turned my G5RV into an 80 meter loop...wow!

[kg6ena]

Thanks to the urging by W5DBG, I have recently converted my G5RV dipole into an 80 meter loop antenna. #Using the simple formula #Length in feet=1005/frequency #I added about 160 feet to my G5RV by simply soldering the added wire to the ends making the loop. #I left the feedline and feedpoint unchanged....just added wire to the ends.

Ideally, you want the loop to be a big square...my first attempt (just to see if it worked) was in the shape of a right triangle. #But since then, after i was amazed at how well it worked, I have put it into a squarish shape. #The supports, btw, are not at equal heights. #The antenna is not perfectally hung at equal heights around...it slopes and twists but boy does it work a lot better than the dipole. Noise is reduced, especially on 40-80m's.

So, if you have the space, leave your dipole exactly as it is, but add some wire to the ends and stretch it around. #What could be simpler!!!

[k9kjm]

YUP! More IS Better!!!!! Applies to lots of other stuff besides antenna wire also: Ground wire buried, Money in the pocket, Transmitter power, Antenna height, I could go on and on.........

[W7LAS]

I did something very similar with my G5RV antenna. I have had a lot of success with the G5RV antennas in the past and would have liked to use one for this location, but this time I came upon a real road block, so to speak. After moving to the Las Vegas desert I quickly found how difficult it is to establish a good ground. Oh it can be done, but it was not something I was willing to do in this neighborhood. The biggest reason was neighborhood restrictions and lack of space for a ground system, so I needed something a little stealthy. AND, to go down with an 8 foot ground rod was not in the game plan neither. There is a rock hard sublayer that would require drilling to get through. There are very few basements in this region because of it. It would take dynamite and about $50,000 to dig one. So, you can see the problem. There were limited solutions that could be used to place an antenna.

What I did was to convert the stranded wire portion of the G5RV into a triangular loop configuration. Then, I purchased one of the SGC antenna couplers and attached the loop to it. The coax from the G5RV is used for the feedline. I didn't have a use for the twin lead. It's the first time I have ever used a loop with or without a coupler. I wish I had tried them long before now. Anyway, the loop is only about 7 feet off the ground and is positioned vertically just below a wall on the side of the house. The snoopy neighbors don't even know it is there AND they probably don't care since it is not impacting them in any way. I don't use excessive power either so I don't interfere with their electronic household devices. The coupler was a little expensive, but overall the antenna works like a charm.

73s from the desert.

W7LAS
Las Vegas

[w5hw]

After many years of burying tons of copper, driveing ground rods and pipes so far down the water came up. Spending part of the family fortune on Engineering Marvels that had tos of DB,s of gain. #I took a coil of wire and started out from by fack porch railing, I ran it around, up as high as I could reach from my 15 foot step ladder, to the front cedar tree, around the back back yard, and back to my porch railing, I hooked it up to a lengh of (I think) 50 ohm co-ax after makeing a coil about one foot in diameter and five turns, I made it just long enuff to reach my home made antenna tuner and then to my Alinco DX-70. #Fantastic, less noise, both man and that made that way up in the sky, lots of it here in Oklahoma, less QSB, it is just plain better. #Too bad I got too late smart and too soon old. #Now after 68 years of hamming I got an anteenna that isnt a vertical it isnt a horizontal it isnt a square all I know it goes from here to there and back again and it works! 73 W5HW ED

[N3BIF]

Took my 40 meter dipole dog and added to it and hap hazzardly tossed it in a rough square up about ten feet, needless to say, the next day i put up an 80meter loop , 60 x 75 , worked it up between the dense growth in my yard to about 40 feet, feed it with twinlead and it has outperformed every thing else i have put up before or since, so simple 270 feet of 14 gge insulated, hook the two ends to 300 ohm twin lead and off you go,

[KB9ZCW]

THIS IS A GREAT TOPIC, I RECENTLY HAD A TREE THAT DECIDED TO DROP A LIMB AND DESTROY MY G5RV, AND BEING THE CHEAP MAN I AM, I DECIDED TO PUT MY MIND INTO ACTION AND BUILD ME A RUGGED ANTENNA ( DIPOLE ) MYSELF. LIKE THE REPLY BEFORE ME THE MORE THE BETTER, I TOOK A UNADILLA W2AU BIG SIGNAL 4:1 BALUN I HAD LAYING AROUND AND STRETCHED 90' OF #12 SOLID INSULATED WIRE OFF EACH SIDE AND MADE THE WIRE 180' LONG, PEOPLE TOLD ME NOT TO USE A 4:1 BALUN, BUT WITH THE APEX 52' IN THE AIR AND 180' FEET OF WIRE I CANNOT BELIEVE THE WAY IT TUNES 10-80 METERS, ( SWR 1:1 80-10 METERS AND EACH BAND TUNES WITHIN 3 SECONDS ), MY RECIEVE AND TRANSMIT IS AT LEAST 2 TIMES BETTER THAN BEFORE AND IT REALLY CUT DOWN ON THE NOISE ON 40-80 METERS. SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE AND A GREAT ANTENNA. IF I OWNED THE LOT NEXT TO ME I WOULD LOVE TO BUILD A CAROLINA WINDHAM. THAT WILL BE MY NEXT PROJECT. 73'S KENNY KB9ZCW

[m0els]

guys guys.........what can i do with my 1/2 size g5rv


john - m0els