The Coax fed Fan
Di-Pole, Lot's of Bang for a few Bucks.
Tom Darabaris KB3PKB
The Coax Fed Fan Di-Pole can get you on the air
over 4 different bands with a single coax penetration into the shack. Even
better, there is no need for a tuner or the signal loss that a tuner
implies. How does this work and what bands are you talking about?That's
usually the next question I've been asked when I mention this antenna.
Well, how about 80m, 40m, 20m, 10m for the bands?
As for how this thing works...RF will
always take the path of least resistance (impedance). What does this mean?
Well if you have 2 di-poles connected to the same feed, one cut for 80m
and the other cut for 40m and when RF is applied to the feed point at a
frequency of 3.8MHZ (80m), the 40m di-pole is too short to provide a good
match and so presents very high impedance to the feed point. But the 80m
di-pole connected the the same feed point is cut to provide a very good
match for the RF at the feed point. The RF "chooses" the 80m di-pole
pathway when the frequency is 3.8MHZ. Let me say that again as it's the
core principal here. The RF "chooses" the correct
di-pole based on the frequency of the RF.
Think about that for a moment. I'll
wait.........
You want to make one, you say? OK. Here is a
simple plan to do just that.
First, You need to determine how long the
longest wire will be on 80m, so you know how to hang the antenna on
your property.
Use the standard formula for a1/2 wave
di-pole:
468 / Frequency in MHZ = Overall
length of di-pole in feet
This will give you the OVERALL length of the
di-pole. I used a frequency of 3.9MHZ which is the center of the SSB voice
(phone) General spectrum in the band plan.
My result : 120 feet.
Wait! Don't cut any wire yet. Run the
calculation for each band and total up the amount of wire you will need.
Patience here, I'm about to save you a bunch of cash and not an
insignificant amount of work :
|
Band /Mhz |
Di-pole length |
Adjusting length |
Total length |
| |
|
|
|
|
80m / 3.900Mhz |
120 |
8 |
128 |
|
40m / 7.237Mhz |
64.67 |
6 |
70.67 |
|
20m / 14.292Mhz |
32.75 |
4 |
36.75 |
|
10m / 29.000Mhz |
16.14 |
2 |
18.14 |
| |
|
Total Feet: |
253.56 |
Save some cash:
That's a total of 254 feet of wire! It's going to cost a lot of cash!
Nope. The di-poles can be made out of inexpensive 18 gauge stranded wire. Go to your
local Lowes, Home Depot, or home improvement center and look in the
electrical/outdoor section.
You want to find radio-dog fences. Yes.
Radio-Dog Fencing. The wire is usually sold in a 500 foot spool and guess
what? It's 18 gauge stranded wire intended for burial. I bought mine a few
years ago for $19.98, I last saw it a month ago for $22.89. Go buy two,
you'll thank me later. (Or use your preference of wire)
Now, we have our wire. We'll need some Coax to
feed this guy. I used some RG-8X that my local Radio shack had laying
around in the back. The 8X is much thinner and lighter than the usual RG-8
and is easier to work with for me. I highly recommend it for this
application. There is a slightly higher loss with it compared with some of
the more expensive types, but I don't think you're going to miss a watt or
two, if it means you don't have to wrestle with the Coax. Make sure you
get a PL-259 or two while you're out, with the proper adapter for
8X.
There is just one more component needed and to
get this one, you will have to make some coffee. Huh? Yep. Coffee. It's
sold now in 15oz (1lb is gone in my area) round plastic containers with a
convenient lid that snaps on and off and is pretty much air-tight. Go get
one. Empty it however you want but remember, we will be soldering later so
don't drink it all in one sitting if you want to build this antenna today.
OK. On to the build.
The feed point is constructed with the
coffee can using it as the housing and common-mode choke. What's a
common-mode choke? I will explain but I strongly suggest that you look
here: http://www.hamuniverse.com/balun.html
There
are many examples of the ugly balun construction
there!

Typical Balun
Construction drawing not drawn to scale using PVC
pipe.
A common-mode choke is also
called a 1:1 Balun, Ugly Balun, Choke Balun, Air Balun, etc. It is used to
eliminate currents that can develop on the outside of the coax shield when
the coax is used to feed a balanced antenna.
Well, a Di-Pole is
balanced and coax is unbalanced, so we would benefit from a Balun to
eliminate the currents that eat up power and distort the radiation pattern
of the antenna.
My idea on this is to wrap the coax around the coffee
can at least 8 times before its terminated at the centers of the di-poles.
Drill a hole in the center of the bottom of the
can.
Then drill another hole in the side of the can as close
to the bottom as possible.
Drill another hole in the side of
the can, 1.5" below the top and directly above the previous hole in the
side.
The coax is strung through the bottom of the can and then
out the bottom-side hole.
Wrap the coax around the can and send it
back into the can through the top-side hole.
Wrap the mess with
cheap electrical tape to hold it together.
You have an "Ugly Balun".
Strip the portion of the coax that is inside the can. This is where
the dipoles will be connected later.
The
di-poles.
If the two legs of your di-pole
are not EXACTLY the same length, you will drive yourself crazy trying to
tune it. Let me say that again: If the two legs of your di-pole are not
EXACTLY the same length, you will drive yourself crazy trying to tune
it.
Here is a good method to ensure that this does not
happen to you.
First, cut the dipole for the "Total Length" in the
chart above.
Then, fold that wire in half, tie the ends to
something solid and walk away while holding the wires. You will end up
with a loop at the end in your hand.
Cut that loop at it's apex.
Go back to the spot where you tied off the wire and measure out each
wire to the "Ideal Length" below.
Once you have the proper length,
twist the remaining wire back around the standing portion making a loop.
The apex of this loop should be at exactly your measurement.
|
Band |
Total Length
ft. |
Leg Length ft. |
Ideal Length
ft. |
|
80m |
128 |
64 |
60 |
|
40m |
70.67 |
35.34 |
32.34 |
|
20m |
36.75 |
18.38 |
16.38 |
|
10m |
18.14 |
9.07 |
8.07 |
Final
construction, Lets bring it all together.
Find a drill
bit that is just large enough for your 18 gauge wire to pass through the
hole it makes.
Drill 3 holes in the side of the coffee can just below
the rim where the lid snaps on. Space these holes EQUALLY.
Important! A di-pole must be symmetrical, each side
must be the same. We will be re-visiting this concept later also.
Drill an identical set of holes on the other side of the coffee
can, directly across from the first set. Wait! There are only 3 holes and
we have 4 di-poles! I know. The 10m di-pole will intersect the others at
90 deg. Just seemed to work out better for me that way.
Now drill
another hole 90 deg. from the first set and a corresponding hole directly
across from it for the 10m di-pole.
Since the longest wire is the 80m
di-pole, it will provide the support for the entire antenna.
Push the
80m legs into the top-most hole of the 3 hole sets on each side of the
can.
Tie a knot in the wires so that there is an equal amount of each
leg inside the can and the knot butts up against the inside of the can so
the wire will not pull out of the can.
I guess I could have used a
split-shot lead sinker like you would use when fishing but I was not sure
that it would stay put. Someone try it out and let know.
Now, repeat
this for each di-pole and remember to keep the part of each leg that stays
in the can equal.
Strip all the legs and connect
one set of legs to the center conductor of the coax, solder it well.
Connect the other set of legs to the shield of the coax, I peel
back the braid and twist it into a "wire" then twist it all together and
solder it.
When everything is cool and tight, snap the lid on the can
and use that cheap electrical tape to make a weather tight seal.
Di-pole
supports.
You will need some supporting material to keep the
legs of the di-poles from tangling together when its in the air. The
easiest thing to use I've found is hardwood dowels.
Cut 2 pieces
of dowel to 12" and place them on each side about 8-10" from the coffee
can. Cable ties hold the 80m di-pole to the top of the dowel and the 20m
di-pole to the bottom.
The 40m di-pole is secured in the middle of
the dowel with another cable tie.
Remember. Keep the distances between each leg the
same on both sides of the di-pole, along with the distance of the dowel
support from the can.
Put another set of 36" long dowels 1.5 ft.
before the end of the 20m di-pole. Cable tie each di-pole to the support,
keeping the wires tight and equally spaced on each side of the antenna.
Use a bit of nylon mason's twine to hang the ends of the 20m
di-pole from the 40m.
Do the same for the ends of the 40m di-pole
to the 80m.
Hang the antenna about 6ft in the air if you can by
tying off on the ends of the 80m di-pole.
We do this at 6 ft. so it's
easier on us to trim & tune later.
Solder a PL-259 onto the end of
the coax. You're on your own with that. My method is not ideal and I ruin
PL-259's by the score. Teaching my method would not be a service to the
reader.
Tuning. Tune the dipole by checking SWR on the 80m
Di-pole and making adjustments by un-winding the extra wire on the end and
reforming the loop. Do this the same amount on each side of the di-pole.
Only once the 80m is done can you move on to the 40m, 20m, and
10m.
Once each antenna is tuned to your satisfaction, go back and
re-check each one.
It's best to develop a chart to show the frequency
where the SWR "dips", I even plot mine on graph paper. What can I say? I'm
visual. This makes it easy to determine your best operational frequency
ranges and provides a reference for spot checking the antenna later.
When you are done tuning, send that fan di-pole into the air as
high as you are able and make some contacts! 73 - KB3PKB
Editors note:
The multiband
fan dipole is probally one of the most efficient multiband antennas you
can build due to the fact that individual dipoles are tuned for each band
of operation and fed by one single length of coaxial cable. The end result
is "one antenna" for multiple bands and a single feedline.
The biggest
problem with them usually is in the tuning and interaction between the
individual dipoles. But when the lowest swr is achieved with each dipole,
you have a very efficient antenna without the use of a tuner.
The
second biggest problem is in the construction and the attempt to keep all
the dipoles separated from each other on the ends which is a MUST.
If
this is your first attempt at building the fan dipole, and your still not
quite sure how it all goes together, you may like to see some more ideas
here in another project. 73
Questions? Email Tom here: KB3PKB at
gmail.com