About Me
- Steve, KJ4KKI
- Welcome to my little piece of the cyberworld. I am an Amateur Extra Class ham radio operator from Kentucky. In addition to ham radio, other interests include paddling kayaks and canoes, camping, flyfishing, shooting and photography...I am a major Jimmy Buffett fan (fans are known as Parrotheads). But, location, work and finances sort of got in the way of being a beach bum as a career. I am also an animal lover and have several pets. I also have a Facebook page at steve.kj4kki.
Friday, June 10, 2011
My New Balun Arrived
Well, I got my new balun in today's mail. It's a Balun Designs 4:1 OCF balun. It has dual cores and a lot of features that set Balun Designs apart from competitors. Yep, I paid $96 plus shipping for it, but it is nice. Having used their 1:1 QRP balun for a while, I can say that this one is a lot heavier. The thicker NEMA box, combined with another core really added the weight. Fortunately, my antenna rope is rated at 420 pounds! Now, if the tree company would just cut down the broken limbs from the storm, so I could get the 80m OCF up and working. Anyway, check out Balun Designs and look at the comparison page which shows their models vs. another company's baluns. It's amazing what differences you can see when you take the covers off. Bob Rumsey is a great guy who will help you in any way he can.
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I am sure you will have good results with the OCF
ReplyDeleteand assume you will be running a support rope the full length of the antenna to support the weight of your new balun. My OCF is attached to my tower at the feedpoint/balun on a halyard..greetings John
Thanks! The ocf box is about the size of a double outlet plug box, and with 2 cores, it is a bit heavy. I have antenna rope, a pulley and a 40 foot tower. I'm going to put it at about a 3 foot standoff by using a chain link top rail, with probably a dowel rod inside it for reinforcement against bending.
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