Some of you may undoubtedly remember my “bullet proof G5RV” that I constructed and erected in 2007 with help from Neil, Brad and some gin and juice, amongst other friends. It had recently started acting a little squirrely and would not load on 15, 12 or 10 meters. Not a terrible dilemma, but one that I wanted to get a handle on before the winter hit.
I decide to basically just replace the entire thing, and put it in the same place. I referred to Brad’s article on how to build the G5RV, verified my math and went out and purchased the correct stuff. I really bumped it up a notch and bought excellent stuff. I had TV 300 ohm twin lead up in the air for almost 4 years, and that wasn’t going to cut it this time through. I also added a ladderlock that is designed to interface between wire and ladder line. I chose to paint mine with some rubberized paint to protect it even more from the elements. I replaced all of the coax as well, as the squirrels had a good time with it (that was probably my main issue, from my testing, but I wanted to go all out). I added a nice balun from the Radio Works to handle the balance between 400 ohm and 50 ohms, and all new black coated wire. No PVC home made insulators this time around.
Here are a few pics of what it looks like…See if you can spot it up in the tree. Also included is one picture of what the old antenna looked like at the center insulator, as well as Doug playing ground monkey.
Nice work. No fence or mature trees here, so outdoor and clandestine will be a huge challenge. I’ll have to be thankful with the attic install for now.