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Fan Vertical Antenna

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by VK6FLAB, Jan 11, 2019.

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  1. NN4RH

    NN4RH Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

  2. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    It's not.

    Onno is not well informed on this 'foundations of amateur radio.' IMO.

    My sense is that Onno writes stuff up for himself, 'blogifies' it, and then poses it as a podcast. This is what writers do to learn their craft, sometimes. The problem is it is missing an editor (!) The facts are either wrong or not well posed, on more than one occassion.

    Nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is , with rare exception, his opinions do not jive well with facts pertinent to 'foundations of amateur radio'.

    For example, he is pushing running QRP moonbounce--on CW.....a horizontal fan dipole as a vertical, etc.

    And of course, such are not 'amateur radio news'.
     
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  3. AK5B

    AK5B XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    As Chip (who beat me to it already) said; it's not. The self-promoting clown who is apparently inept enough to drill holes in his own hand posted this highly erroneous "article" in the wrong forum and even included the wrong chart depicting a horizontal fan for starters.

    As I may have already pointed out in previous posts, fan verticals are great antennas that take up little space, can be multi-banded with one common feedline and are capable of very good performance when elevated above ground and include a good radial field---and unlike horizontal fans---do not need to be at least a half wave length above ground on the lowest frequency of operation for optimum results.

    As you wade your way through many confused replies in this thread you will find a few that refer to a vertical fan dipole, that, unlike Santa Claus, does actually exist.
     
  4. WJ0B

    WJ0B Ham Member QRZ Page

    why not just buy a ALPHA DELTA fan dipole for 10 to 160.
    Had mine up for 15 years no problem.
    John
    KB0HAZ
     
  5. WJ0B

    WJ0B Ham Member QRZ Page

    YES good plan.
     
  6. AF6SA

    AF6SA XML Subscriber QRZ Page

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  7. AK5B

    AK5B XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Why not?

    Because many of us do not have the capability of raising a horizontal fan to sufficient height for dx; a fan vertical is often a viable option for those who prefer low-angle radiation from something that can be erected at or close to ground level.
     
  8. AK5B

    AK5B XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    That is certainly another way to do it but I suppose the tradeoff with this variation is the potential for loss in the capacitor matching. If the fan vertical is only for the higher bands (even 40m) it can be done without any matching or switching involved.
     
  9. KA4KOE

    KA4KOE Ham Member QRZ Page

    All the hype about drills....what about soldering irons?
     
  10. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    Did you (that is, anyone) BURN a HOLE in your hand???

    How long did you have to hold it in position?

    [​IMG]


    OM, it used to be worse: wood-burning soldering irons were more common 50-60 years ago, and they had long, fat working ends with short grips. That's what my summer camp had out to solder knight kit walkie talkies....some looked like this....they were inefficient and needed the gawdawful mass to thermally maintain a constant temperature.

    [​IMG]

    I still have the scars ....

    but there is NO WAY you could hold them long enough to burn a hole in your hand.

    You should never be applying PRESSURE to the point of contact with a soldering iron. Touch and heat.

    Any injury invoking a hole in your hand means the injured party didn't learn/use basic safety steps.

    73,
    Chip W1YW
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2019
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  11. WN1MB

    WN1MB Ham Member QRZ Page

    [​IMG]
     
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  12. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    That image is part of a training document on how NOT to hold iron...and how NOT to choose the wrong tool....(a heat controlled system is required on such PCB's not a straight 'iron-plugged-into-the- wall').

    So the people seeing it are actually training themselves to prevent injury.

    No one in a professional setting would be allowed into the fabrication or assembly lab you see here, without such training.

    Why?

    Because over a dozen employees and OSHA rules apply big time.

    T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G.
     
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  13. N4PSK

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  14. AK5B

    AK5B XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    On page 5 of that article it clearly states, "It (TFCM) also suffers from the lower gain and pattern asymmetry associated with the terminated folded dipole antenna it is originally derived from."

    So, after reading that juicy tidbit of revealing information, I must ask, "Why not make a fan ground plane instead?" Multiband capability, one 50-70 ohm feedline, no induced loss to begin with and with a few feet of elevation using 2-4 (or more, if desired) tuned radials---is quite likely to outperform the TFCM.

    I found my 10-15-17-20m fan vertical to be easy to set up and tune initially and it gets the job done (I like to chase dx). No tune, instant bandswitching is such a joy!

    To each his own; but just a thought from a fan vertical fan...
     
  15. WB6TOU

    WB6TOU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I would like to hear from hams who have built this design. It looks fabulous and his reports are amazing. The construction is not simple.
     

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