Off Center Fed Dipole

Over the past week I constructed a 6 through 40 meter OCF. I had just a standard 40 meter dipole previously. I had heard that this antenna design allows you work the above bands without a tuner but I decided to run my LDG 100+ with this antenna.

After hanging it today with the balun at 35ft. and the ends at 12feet, I hooked it up and WOW! This piece of wire is a talker! It also is a very quiet antenna and tunes up quickly and with low SWR on every band but 10 meters. Although a little high on 10 my FT 857D does not show the SWR caution signal so I am figuring it's good to go. The mean SWR overall is 1.5-7 to 1. on 20 and 40 meters is flat but I figured that would be the case. In addition to the 4-1 balun I wound a large dirty choke balun and suspended it about 3 feet under the current balun. The wire was heavy gauge copperweld with one leg 45ft. and the other at 22ft.

I received excellent signal reports from Alabama to Indiana this evening on 40 meters. Most said I was S-9+10 to 20 over! And all this with only 75 watts from the radio. I would imagine factoring in the loss for the 125feet of 213 cable, I was getting about 60+/- watts out the wire.

UMMMMMM UMMMMMMM GOOOD!

Try one you will like it! 73

 

I have a 265' OCF dipole for 6-160M. A real killer on 40 and 80. Almost as good as my 2 ele cubical quad on 20. Very good on 6-17 and good on 160. A great all-around antenna.

 

Yep. Works for me too. I have one suspended about 30 feet with the ends at 7, connected with about 60-70 feet of vintage RG-8X. I've worked as far as Argentina and Venezuela on 20m PSK31 with 4 watts.

 

I have limited space so i purchased the Buckmaster 4 band OCF, advertised for 6,10,20 and 40 with no need to tune, yep it does that. It wil also tune 12 and 15 with the rig's internal tuner, at least I don't get any high SWR warning from it. At 68 feet overall I was able to get it up 30 feet with the ends around 10. Purchased it this past May and have 109 country's on it so far. Not sure what else you could ask for in a dipole, 68 feet, 6 bands no problems in tuning, with good signal reports from all over. I love the thing.

 

You didn't memtion how long yours is. I'm guessing 66'.

Mine is a 135 foot and I been trying to talk people into trying one of these antennas for years now. But the experts say that it is around 3 'S' units worse than a dipole. Mine beats out my dipole by 2 'S' units, and it beat out my G5RV by the same amount too. You will hear people say that it puts out as good of a signal as a loop, which isn't hard to believe with me since I saw a 2 'S' unit better signal on a group that was talking from Texas. I was listening to them on my dipole. I'm up here in Minnesota, and when I tossed up my off center, they came up, and one that I couldn't hear at all was a 3.

If you want only one antenna that does a good job on the bands, This one is it !!

 

You are right, W0UZR, this antenna "does" really do more than a standard dipole! My former 40 meter dipole was very well made with good wire but it certainly didn't receive or talk as well as this OCF plus I get the other bands as a bonus!. I used it to call our clubs 10 meter net on 28.360 last evening and although I was running only 75 watts, most check-in's said it was a good clear signal. Local nets are tough to do on 10 meters what with most of the transmissions ground wave and also the differences in polarization. I believe that the inverted "V" is the best configuration for this type of antenna.

 

Inverted "V" ?

What is meant by inverted V?

/\
/ \
/ \ Is this what you mean?

Bill KD8IGK

 

Yes, that's the ticket!

 

I don't claim to be an expert, but I have three OCFs and am pleased with all three. My 160-6 is up about 80' with a 5:1 balun and the ends are at about 50', sort of a flattened inverted V. I did wind about 20' of coax on a form about 20' below the balun, and wound another 20' just as the coax comes into the shack. So far, no common mode current problems and I get good signal reports. SWR on 160 and 80 is under 3:1 and I haven't got around to trimming the ends yet. The other bands are under 2:1, all easily handled by my FT-950 internal tuner.

There is lots of good info on the Yahoo Group under Windom. Just be careful of the "gain" claims that some make. To me, this is a big part of the fun of ham radio, playing with antennas with fairly low cost. I think my 160-6 cost me less than $200 including the RG-8X.

Have fun and 73,
Howard
WB4GUD

 

I love my 40m Windom! I have a new Carolina Windom coming tomorrow for 80m-6m that I cannot wait to get up. With the reports I get, the states I have worked, and countries I have worked I have no need for a tower, with beams or a vertical at this point.

Nothing against towers with beams, but its hard to get all the bands I have with 2 Windom Antennas on a tower. I am literally only missing 160m which could be tuned with an outboard antenna tuner. Everything else I have on the Windom's! If I get an amp and pput out 500-800 watts which mine are rated to handle I could do just as good a fella with a tower and beams with amplification.