TZ-SL16
160m 1/2 Sloper Antenna
The TZ-SL16 160m
Sloper is a high performance antenna for the 160m amateur band and will
outperform any inverted vee or dipole suspended from the same height. For
160m, the land required to erect this antenna is very, very small indeed.
However, the signal from this antenna is far from small.
Due to the high efficiency of the antenna, the receive noise level will be
very high, for DXing on 160m a receive antenna is essential.
The TZ-SL16 is designed for
installation on the typical "Nally" tower and performs best when installed on a
tower of approx, 14 – 15m height. If you are after a full size 1/4 sloper for 160m,
this can also be provided, however the TZ-SL16 is designed with the smaller station in mind.
The most
impressive feature of the antenna is the ability to provide excellent DX
performance and short skip performance when requiring only 15m of ground
space! This antenna needs a tower with tri-bander or other reasonably large
yagi antenna installed at the top of the tower. A Nally with TH3Jnr, HB-35c,
TH6DXX, TH5, etc will provide excellent results. For a relatively short
antenna, the bandwidth available is excellent with some installations
achieving more than 100kHz bandwidth between the 2.0:1 VSWR points. Try that
with a loaded vertical - you'll be luck to get 30 kHz bandwidth before
reaching for the ATU!
The TZ-SL16 is a 1/2 sloper design
(1/8 wavelength in length) with a properly designed feed system
and capacitively loaded end section to prevent unwanted radiation from the feedline which
can cause :
- unwanted RF in the shack
- variable VSWR performance
- difficulty in obtaining a good VSWR
- high noise susceptibilty
- RF burns (hot mic and/or tuner
controls)
The antenna has an excellent
radiation pattern for DX when 4 or more radials are installed at the base of the tower and
also has high angle radiation for local contacts (short skip). The antenna is similar to
the TZ-SL8 80m sloper with a loading system to resonate the antenna on 160m.
The TZ-SL16 160m Sloper
Balun features include:
|
Operating
frequency |
1.8 –
2.0 MHz tunable from ground level |
|
Bandwidth |
100 kHz
typical, (VSWR < 2.0:1) |
|
Max
Operating power |
1 kW
continuous |
|
Feed Type |
Linear,
ferrite core balun with mount |
|
Typical
impedance |
50 ohm
– 60 ohm |
|
VSWR |
Better
than 1.5:1 at resonance (typical) |
|
Ground
room |
Requires
about 45 ft (15m) ground space from tower base |
The TZ-SL8 is supplied with
stainless steel U-bolt mount, balun, radiating element and detailed installation
instructions.
For optimum performance a ground
rod and radials at the base of the tower should be installed (see your local electrical
distributor).
