<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi All,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">As I mentioned last night during the Zoom meeting, I'm looking at building a 40M dipole out of some wire, insulators, and an SO-239 connector, using essentially the instructions at:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://dcasler.com/2011/02/17/ham-radio-40-meter-dipole-your-first-antenna/" class="">https://dcasler.com/2011/02/17/ham-radio-40-meter-dipole-your-first-antenna/</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I'm hoping to stretch it out across the roof peak of my house, which has lots of space:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><img apple-inline="yes" id="1B7903C8-1BD5-48EE-9ECB-A083B8FE7451" width="727" height="508" src="cid:7DF0BE5E-0DDB-48BC-B290-46CB05331D40" class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The ridge of the larger side is 40 feet, and the smaller side is 25 feet, so 66 feet ought to be do-able.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I have a couple of questions for the experts:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">1) Does it make much difference if the antenna is straight? I might do something like:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><img apple-inline="yes" id="A4CF11FB-E719-41F3-AF9A-8B379F015EB9" width="567" height="516" src="cid:214CB0D9-325E-47BC-AAAE-31A52E0252DA" class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">To stay away from the ridgelines, where I know there's a lot of wiring (the point of the "Vee" is where I have a couple of antenna poles.)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">2) Obviously I want to start out long and shorten the wires, so as to avoid the "I cut it three times and it's still too short!" problem, but I'm not sure if I have to cut the (insulated) wire at the ends, or if I can wrap it back around itself (which would allow me to lengthen it if I overshoot).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">3) Should I aim for one end of the band or the middle? Or is it going to be pretty good throughout the band?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Is there anything else I should know before I start?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Many thanks in advance!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">73,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Willie</div><div class="">N1JBJ</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>