80m Off-Center-Fed Dipole
This is my Main Antenna
Used onALL bands 80 thru 10m.
The top of the antenna is lower than the house. :-(
It works on almost all bands without an antenna matchbox, though I do need the ATU to cover the full 80m band.
EXCEPTION: It does not work on 17m unless I use a matchbox and even then I must reduce power so as not to burn up the balun.
I KNOW THIS IS NOT THE GREATEST ANTENNA, but IMO it is the best I can do under the current circumstances. You have to know the situation at my QTH in order to understand that:
- I am renting the house. It's not my house.
- My landlord lives in the appartment above me and when he looks out his living room window, he sees my antenna.
- My landlord has allowed me to have just one single antenna anywhere near the house.
- He does not want to see ugly wires running through the air (which rules out openwire feedline).
- I wanted a single, coax-fed All-Band antenna.
As a result, I have developed "this" version of the OCFD (which also works on 15m), using thin wire and running the coax along the ground, out of site.
Until I can find time to add more details here on this page, you can get an overview of this antenna
here: 80m OCFD Antenna