The 40-80-160 Meter Coil-loaded Inverted V Dipole Antenna
Траповая антенна Inverted V на диапазоны 80-160 метров
You're going to really enjoy this antenna! Three HF bands in one space saving compact inverted V antenna design means that you no longer need five acres of land to put up a 160 meter antenna. The amount of space that you do need is about the same amount required for an 80 meter inverted V antenna which can usually be mounted in the average size backyard.
This coil-loaded inverted V dipole antenna is a resonate antenna that does not require the use of an antenna tuner. It will work all of the 40 meter band plus a portion of the 80 and 160 meter bands. An antenna tuner can of course be used to increase bandwidth.
This antenna was first tested at a height of about 37' with good results. Mounting the antenna at a height of at least 39' or higher should yield even better results.
Construction
There are four previous videos that lead up to making this antenna. These videos explain mounting and tuning the antenna as well as teach construction techniques. After watching all four of these videos you should then be ready to build this antenna.
Parts List for Loading Coils -- All #6 Stainless Steel Hardware
2 ea. 1-1/4" (43 mm O.D.) Schedule 40 PVC Pipe, 4-1/4" (10.8 cm) long. 2 ea. 1-1/4" (43 mm O.D.) Schedule 40 PVC Pipe, 7-1/4" (18.4 cm) long. 1 ea. 18 Gauge (AWG) magnet wire, one pound spool. 8 ea. #6 x 32 x 3/4" (20 mm) Machine screw. 8 ea. #6 x 1/2" (13 mm) Pan head screw. 24 ea. #6 Flat washer. 8 ea. #6 Split lock washer. 8 ea. #6 External tooth lock washer. 16 ea. #6 x 32 Nut.
Tuning the Antenna
This antenna can be tricky to tune but is easy to raise and lower in frequency. An SWR analyzer is a huge help in adjusting an antenna like this but with some patience tuning can also be done using only an SWR meter. Making a chart and keeping notes is the best way to tune the antenna.
Changes made to one band will affect all three bands. Adjusting the 80 and 160 meter lengths should only change the 40 meter resonate frequency just slightly. Shortening the 80 meter wire section to raise the resonate frequency will also increase the resonate frequency of the 160 meter section. The same is true when lengthening either of the 80 or 160 meter wire sections.
In my notes I had written, adding 3" to the 160 meter elements decreases 160 meters by about 20 KHz and decreases 80 meters by about 10 KHz.
I had also noted that shortening the 80 meter elements 8" increases 80 meters by about 54 to 57 KHz and increases 160 meters by about 17 to 18 KHz.
Below are my notes from experimenting with this antenna. The lengths are approximate. Add 20" (50.8 cm) of extra wire to all the lengths given. Use 10" of wire at each end of the wire sections for connecting the feed-point, coils and insulator. The 40 meter sections were eventually lengthened to 35' 10". The 160 meter lengths can be lengthened to lower the resonate frequency but my goal at the time was to be resonate at about 1.958 MHz.
My Tuning Notes
A tuning stub was not used and the insulator was attached at the end of the elements. Again, add 20" (50.8 cm) to these lengths for making connections. Mounting height will also affect tuning. Results shown below are with the antenna mounted at about 47' (14.3 m).
