Hey everyone,
I’m currently a Technician preparing for my General, getting my first HF station put together. My primary focus right now is working 10m SSB/digital, but I want to be ready for 40m, 20m, and 15m as soon as I upgrade.
Current Station Gear:
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Radio: Ten-Tec Jupiter 538AT (with internal auto-tuner)
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Power Supply: Alinco DM-330MV
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Coax Run: ~75 ft from shack to attic
Antenna & Installation Plan:
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Space Constraints: Attic space with a 40’ wall-to-wall distance.
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Layout: A “horseshoe” pattern suspended in the attic. The plan is to staple heavy-duty zip ties directly to the roof trusses to act as wire guides, keeping the radiator suspended away from the wood. I’ll run the wire down one side longways (~40 ft), cross over, and run back down the other side (~24 ft) roughly halfway down toward the eaves.
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Coax & Choke: DX Engineering DXE-8XX075B (75 ft RG-8X assembly with integrated RF choke).
Antenna Selection in Cart: I’m looking at the Par EndFedz EF-40-10-KW (64 ft total length). My criteria for the antenna box:
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49:1 impedance matching transformer
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Power handling of at least 100W continuous / digital (the KW version handles up to 250W digital / 1kW ICAS)
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Covers 40m through 10m natively
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Built-in static bleed resistor on the primary to protect the front end from static buildup
Questions for the community:
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Layout / Coupling: Has anyone run a 64 ft EFHW in a horseshoe layout midway down the eaves? Any severe detuning issues or proximity losses I should expect from the house wiring/roofing material in this specific geometry?
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Suspension Method: Any long-term issues with using stapled zip-tie loops as wire guides to keep the insulated wire floating off the wood trusses?
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Antenna Alternatives: Is the Par EndFedz EF-40-10-KW the consensus pick for these specs, or is there another commercial 49:1 EFHW kit with a bleed resistor I should consider before pulling the trigger?
Appreciate any feedback or tweaks before I submit the order!
73