In this article I share what I’ve learnt playing with 80m dipole design and testing different antennas in the field.
Does a dipole need a balun ?
In short, YES.
Always.
I shared my design for an 80m 1:1 balun in this article https://g7rdx.co.uk/80m-1-1-choke-balun/
Inverted Vee Dipole at half wave height
In the picture below you can see the radiation pattern of 80m dipole at 40m height above the ground level.
Inverted Vee Dipole at quarter wave height
Look what happens when the dipole is at 20m height.
Elevation angle rises up to 32 degrees.
Inverted Vee Dipole at low height
NVIS configuration for national contest and ragchewing.
Elevation angle rises up to 50 degrees or more when the dipole is at low height.
This configuration is not recommend for DX where low angle is needed, but it works very well and it does his best for QSO between 500 Km and 2000 Km.
In the picture below an Inveted Vee 80m dipole at 10m height.
