Greyline DX Feedline Kit: Ladder-line to Coax PL-259 Adapter

by Greyline Performance

Greyline DX Feed line Kit:
Ladder-line to Coax PL-259 Adapter 

The Greyline DX Feedline Kit is designed to make connecting your Coax to the antenna system literally plug n play. Some say, "what's that?" when noticing a short roll of ladder line in the feedline kit.

That is correct, we use a few feet of ladder line within (internally) our feed system offering you the lowest losses and highest efficiency possible, where coax performance was surpassed.

Remember, every single dB counts and we aim to serve your radio every little dB possible for your reception and of course on transmit, to your antenna, where it can be propagated most efficiently. 

Keep in mind, we reserve the right to create even better options without notice. (You're welcome!)


The below picture is a sample: All shipments will include Feedline Kit by default, the style of which depends on the vendors used at that time. We do change vendors to spread around the buying power. Some may have different shaped PL-259 adapters, or Choke styles.

Note: White chassis is a 1:1 Adapter (Ladder-line to PL-259) 

That's a ladder line to a coaxial connector converter that enables the ladder line to couple easily to a coax connector making connecting your antenna to the remote tuner, plug n play, just like most of us prefer. (soldering iron not needed)

Some automatic or manual HF tuners offer use of Balun posts or random wire terminals for antenna connections on the back chassis, which are used to connect directly from the ladder line to the remote tuner. Most tuners today do not offer these options, instead offer you simply the SO-239 for your Coaxial connector to plug into, which makes more sense, right? So, even the purists amongst you will now enjoy having more direct options, as you wish.

To be fair, our purist friends are right to desire a minimal number of junctions or connectors along the entire feed line system which do add up in total losses. These folks would tell us that fewer junctions are better, less lossy, less failure opportunity, and therefore preserves precious dB's for your intended use, the output and reception of actual signals. 

We combine the wisdom of these purist friends and make life easy for you so plug n play is a reality while preserving a very high quality experience for you as well. More signal, less headache.

In 2018, we chose to remove the more lossy coax stub here and replace it with Ladder line, or window line, in the feed line sections of the antenna system to take advantage of newly discovered performance (dB's), offering us all less loss and more DX. Even the high power guys can appreciate this one. Oh, and they do!

In order to make this simple for those less technically inclined, we developed (Thanks, W6NBC!) an adapter that allows the purists to choose ladder line and those of us QCAO (appliance operators club types!) to choose the universally acceptable, Coax connector. The purists appreciate fewer adapters, even though our adapter is very low loss and can take high power, too. Options are good, right?

If you want to get a head start, these parts are easily available online or you can receive one with your Feedline Kit included in your Greyline DX Flagpole Antenna order.

SPACERS: One note here on the Ladder Line Spacers... Inside the flagpole from the ground level to the feed-point, you'll want to install by hand the four included plastic spacers.

These can be added after you install the Flagpole with ease, if you wish. Simply pull the flagpole apart at the ground level insulator and push it up to the feedpoint for proper attachment there leaving the approximately 2 feet of ladder line out the bottom slot.

These are 3D printed and work well to keep the ladder line centered within the Flagpole Antenna, away from the side walls and essentially, straight with clean lines.

Be sure to park the spacer in an open ladder square about a foot apart as they travel within the flagpole tubing.

spacer, feed kit, 3d, greyline, flagpole, antenna, hf vertical, hoa, ham radio

 
Pro Tip: Keep in mind when attaching your feedline wires at the feedpoint to be certain you mark the upper part of your vertical dipole and match it with the center conductor of your coax. This is the radiator and works best rather than radiating the lower shorter portion of your radiator. 

450 Ohm Window Line to PL-259 Interface Block

Parts needed:

- 3D Block Adapter Kit (block, bolts, nuts)
- PL-259
- UG-175 mini-8

Some users of the Greyline Flagpole Antenna may be uncomfortable using wire from the ends of the window line (ladder-line) to connect directly to the ceramic-insulator terminal and the grounding screw on your HF tuner. That is okay. You may instead prefer to use the SO-259 coax output. Also, some remote auto tuners do not have a ceramic output terminal anyway.

Remember, we do not ground the antenna system at all. (which includes the antenna, remote tuner, and RF Choke. Grounding your station, of course.)

It's true, ever hear of the QCAO club? Come on, you can do this! We've heard if you can't connect a PL-259 properly, you may lose your license upon inspector home visits. (okay, not really!)

This little easily-manufactured 3D-printed adapter block psychologically and conveniently overcomes this reluctance, by providing a sturdy direct interface between the 450 Ohm window line and the tuner’s SO-259 jack. See Figure 1.


Figure 1: PL-259 to 450 Ohm Window line interface.


Amazon Image: PL-259 and UG-175 mini-8

Figure 2 shows the interface shell with one of its two identical halves removed, exposing the wires and the insulation of the window line trimmed and soldered directly to a PL-259 solder-type connector and UG-175 mini-8 adapter. Also seen is a short length of 4 or 5mm Teflon tubing that replaces the polyethylene window line insulation.

The Teflon tubing enables the assembly to tolerate high power. Also for higher power, PL-259 connectors with Teflon insulation are preferable. 

Pro tip: Solder the wire into the tip of the PL 259 before sliding the Teflon tubing into place. It can get hot and melt the tubing. You're welcome.


Image credit: YL Ham from W7

Figure 2: Assembly with half of the shell removed because of the shaped recess in the printed shell halves, seen at the left of Figure 3, the PL-259 and UG-175 adapter, when tightened create a very positive clamp to the shell. To the right, a raised portion in the printed block halves also very tightly clamps the window line.

Figure 3: A shell half showing recess for UG-175 adapter (left) plus a window-line compression box (right)

The holes in one shell half are drilled out to 9/64 in. as clearance for 6-32 screws. The holes in the other half are tapped for 6-32 threads. Four ½ inch pan-head stainless screws clamp the shell halves together.

Note: if weatherproofing is desired, the shell may be filled with RTV silicone adhesive during assembly.

Assembly

Figure 4 shows the prepared ends of the window line, with dimensions. Lightly solder-tin to the wire tips.

Figure 4: Window line trimming dimensions. Note 5 mm Teflon tubing replacing the window line insulation.

The insulation on one side is completely removed and replaced with 2¼ inches of 4-5mm Teflon tubing. The tubing reaches up all the way into the PL-259 connector and permits the interface to operate at full power.

To facilitate easy soldering of the other wire to the UG-175 adapter, a 1/16 inch hole must be carefully drilled lengthwise at the edge of the adapter’s end boss. File a small flat spot on the boss edge for an accurate center punch for drilling. If possible, do not drill completely through the adapter boss.

Insert the longer window-line wire with the Teflon tubing installed into the UG-175 adapter. Then carefully solder the shorter window-line wire into the small hole in the adapter boss. File off any excess solder. Insert the Teflon-covered wire and the UG-175 adapter into the PL-259 connector. Screw in the adapter only a turn or two. The center wire should stick out of the PL-259 connector pin just a little. Do not solder it yet.

Next place the assembly in one half of the shell. Further, screw together the PL-259 connector and the UG-175 adapter until they clamp the edge of the shell. Adjust the bend of the wires in the shell for a good fit. Then install the other half of the shell. You may fill the shell with an RTV silicone sealant at this time if you desire. A sealant is, however, not essential and may be omitted if the block ever needs to be disassembled.

Next grasp the back end of the PL-259 connector with pliers and snug it up against the shell. Finally solder the PL-259 tip, trimming the center wire if required.

Depending on where the tuner is mounted, the interface block may be screwed onto the tuner either straight on turned 90 degrees to allow the window line to be led away appropriately.

Whether you are a coax plug n play operator or enjoy a little technical adventure you have a couple of easy and fun options!

Ham Radio is fun again!

73 Greyline Performance
www.greylineperformance.com

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