Monster Dipole Can Deliver Monster Signal
https://youtu.be/7ah95zW9-WM
This video shows how Gary Watson, ZL3SV, in Nelson, New Zealand, installed an enormous all-band dipole with each leg extending 320 meters (about 1,050 feet). The antenna is multiple wavelengths on HF, and on 20 meters it has a gain of more than 16 dB, Watson says. It hears quite well, too.
A huge 12:1 balun resembling a utility pole power step-down transformer converts the impedance from 50 W unbalanced to 600 W balanced. The wire he uses for each leg is aluminum-wrapped, power-line cable (10-millimeter cable with wrap), and he uses power-line fittings, because they’re designed to handle the wire. The line has a 60-ton breaking strength.
Watson said he made the 600 W ladder line himself and he uses the antenna on all bands, typically running only 200 W. The coaxial feed line goes to his house down a slope from the antenna via a conduit. His home is entirely off the grid, powered by solar power. The noise level is very low at his location, with power lines some distance away, although his solar power system’s inverter is nearby.
