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Thread: newb to to the game

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    newb to to the game

    hey everyone my name is Chris. I am somewhat new to radio communications. I've been in the game now for just about a year. I've built a base station successfully with a homemade 5/8 wave aluminum telescoping monopole. I've read all I can read about radio and antenna theory. I successfully made a contact in Chicago Illinois yesterday afternoon (I'm in Wilmington North Carolina). My swr seems to be pretty stable and acceptable however the matching device on my antenna is only working by accident. Of all there is to read it seems to be the only thing I can't quite grasp is impedance matching and how to tell when its necessary or when its fine as is. Or when a balun or choke is appropriate and how to decide how many turns and what diameter. So if you experienced guys want to coach me a be it would be greatly appreciated.

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    Welcome to the site Chris. It's a bit slow but I'm sure some of the more experienced guys will comment soon. What kind of radio you running on that homemade antenna?
    Caveman 195 waving a hand in Southern Indiana

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    Thanks for the reply. I'm running a cheap cobra 19 mobile unit on a 3 amp power supply. The feed point of my antenna is about 30ft off the ground but I'm still not quite over the tree line. Transmission line is 50 ft of RG58. No amplifier. I've got good ears with the current setup and can get on page on the DX if conditions are favorable. The matching coil on my antenna is a random number of turns. So i might have just gotten lucky there but my swr sits about 1.3:1 in the middle of the bandwidth.

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