Coax balun 1:4 for open line fed dipole

My antenna tuner is a asymetrical tuner. I want to use it for my dipole that is fed using open line. So I need a balun. I made this one PA0FRI coax balun

Instead of 3 meter coax I have use 5. I did this to make it work on 160 meter.
3 meter is recommended for 80 meter and higher.

My antenna is an compromise. It consists of 2x13 meter dipole fed by 14 meter open line. The dipole is folded to fit in my small (15x5 meter)garden . Inside the house the open line is connected to the balun. The balun is connected to tuner by 5 meter RG213coax.


The antenna should work for all HF bands. It does, even on 80 meter. I checked uing the websdr located in twente. Just 3 watts was enough to produce a clear CW signal. Even 1 Watt produces a audible signal. The distance Tilburg Twente is 134 km.

Previously I used a hf choke made of coax instead of the balun. It is hard to compare the choke and the balun. The balun should work better but only time will tell.

I hoped I could produce a usable 160 meter signal using this antenna and the balun.
Unfortunately it is not going to happen. Although the reception on 160 meter has improved dramatically compared to the RF shoke, the signal is hardly readable on the web sdr in Twente. It is not even readable on the websdr in Eindhoven. Not even when 100 Watt is used. Eindhoven is just 40 km away from Tilburg. I can tune the antenna to 1:1 easily.Unfortunately the power is converted into heat inside the tuner. It gets hot.