Wow, the relocated, refitted, and repaired 40m and 80m antennas really sound a lot better than before.
The 80m folded dipole is also now almost perfect from an SWR standpoint. It is under 2:1 from 3550kc thru 3850kc, and the rig’s autotuner can easily match it across the rest of the band. The low SWR sweet spot is about 150kc wide, and centered on 3700kc. This antenna was constructed per cookbook dimensions from the ARRL Antenna book’s chapter on ‘portable’ antennas.
I’ve also worked out a switching arrangement for 20m and 160m, which both require an antenna tuner. 20m is a ladder line fed dipole, and the 160m antenna is a 160 foot long inverted-L with about 70 feet vertical. I have the inv-L routed through my jumbo homebrew tuner to an MN-2000, and the 20m direct to the MN-2000 through a balun.
I expect to add a 20m vertical soon, for a just-in-case backup/alternative. I also expect to find a way to incorporate a homebrew antenna switch to reduce the number of feed lines snaking through the yard into the basement.
But Biological Antenna Supports are still holding on to their leaves, so I have many hours of maintenance ahead.
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