7-band OCF dipole (new QTH)

80m 7-band off-center-fed dipole bought from gniklat1 on eBay.

Advertised to work on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 12m, 10m, and 6m (tuner needed to cover all of 80m and 10m), with max power 300W PEP, 150W CW, 75W Digital. Advertised to work best in an inverted V configuration with the center at 25-30ft and ends at 8-10ft above ground. Includes 4:1 voltage balun.

Suspension

About 10m up. Suspended from pulley attached to top of ~10ft bamboo pole, attached to top of 3rd segment of 3-segment steel antenna mast designed to be ~10m long, but set to be only ~25ft long. Mast a few inches into ground, guy wires tied to spiral ("dog") stakes.

Wiring

(MORE HERE SOON)

Info on the choke at page for antenna at old QTH.

- - Current status*** (2025-05-21): Feed line ready to go into shack; need to drill hole and figure out entry.

Measurements

2m SWR measurements below just for fun :)

Measured with Antuino with remote control script (firmware and scripts available on GitHub)

Initial SWR measurements, 2025-05-17

Antenna in air, rope of short end tied taught to fence, rope of long end tied loosely to tree.

After tightening and raising, 2025-05-18

Rope of short and long ends tied taught to different trees, both ends higher than before.

The short end went from maybe 5' or 6' above ground to around 9', and the long end is now at ~6'4". The long end goes several feet further and is *much* less droopy.

The long end needs to be increased still.

Under antenna

Connected directly to coax.

Other side of lightning arrester, nominally grounded

Connected via lightning arrester, which was nominally grounded (ground stake only a few inches into ground—need to find a good position before driving it further into ground).