Built my first 4:1 toroidal balun this week

[timbo]

I kept pricing out higher powered 4:1 baluns and found that for what they were, I could buy the parts on line way cheaper than a new one would cost so I bought the toroids and a 5" square plastic electrical box and built one myself.

I already had the wire (14AWG w/teflon insulation), an SO239 connector and some rugged 5 way banana posts.

The first two attempts weren't very pretty but three times is a charm. I learned some tricks along the way and damned if the third one doesn't work very nicely. The article I used said that it would be good up to 2KW...I'll take their word for it.

Cost for a new 2KW Guanella 4:1 current balun was around $90...total cost of parts to build one was $28 plus about two hours of (mostly) fun work.

Yep...I'm cheap.

 

[radioman]

Photo? I’d love to see the final work of art?
Even some build photos would be nice.
Always like to see radio stuff folks make.

AE1Y

 

[timbo]

Photo? I’d love to see the final work of art?
Even some build photos would be nice.
Always like to see radio stuff folks make.

AE1Y

I'll post some this weekend...I'm heading to the rack here pretty soon. I am beat. I didn't take any pics of the build though wish I had. I built this one according to some plans I found online...I used artistic liberties (like using wire I had, not the solid insulated magnet wire wire they used).

Here's the link that I built from:

http://www.cvarc.org/resources/Tech_Articles/dual_core_balun_construction_project.pdf