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A Better Antenna Balun ZS1AN
A Better Antenna Balun ZS1AN
Antenna-Tuner Balun
Which balun to use? The hybrid balun promises
advantages over both voltage and current baluns.
Sep/Oct 2005 29
(Eq 1)
I2 = VS / Z2
We can use the same model to analyze the performance of the Ruthroff s
4:1 voltage balun shown in Fig 3. Once
again, Z1 and Z2 represent the load.
According to Lewallens model, the
voltages across the two windings of the
transmission-line transformer (TLT)
are equal, and both equal VS, so
I1 = VS / Z1
and
I1
I2
C
I1
D
I 1-I 2
ZW
qx0509-roos01
I1
VS
Z1
(Note that |X| means the magnitude of complex variable X.) If IMB is
small, then |ZW| >> Z2. So as a good
approximation,
IMB = |Z2| / |ZW|
Z2
I2
(Eq 3)
30 Sep/Oct 2005
(Eq 4)
qx0509-roos02
I1
Z1
VS
VS
VS
Z2
I2
qx0509-roos03
Z 1 = 191 + 358j
tain balance and can operate effectively and efficiently at much higher
impedance levels than could a current
balun. In turn, the choke presents a
balanced load impedance to the voltage balun preceding it, despite any
imbalances in the antenna system,
allowing the hybrid balun to drive
unbalanced loads more effectively
than could the voltage balun alone.
Let VC be the common-mode voltage across the choke windings as
shown in Fig 5. Since VC also appears
across the winding impedance ZW in
Lewallens model, and the current
flowing through the winding impedance is the common-mode current
I1 I2,
VC = (I1 I2) ZW
(Eq 5)
(Eq 6)
and
I2 = (VS + VC) / Z2
(Eq 7)
Z 2 = -33 + 176j
Fig 4The
impedances of
Schmidts dipole.
Z 3 = 887 + 622j
qx0509-roos04
Voltage Balun
Common-Mode Choke
VC
I1
Z1
VS
VS
VS
VC
Z2
I2
qx0509-roos05
Sep/Oct 2005 31
P C / P V = |(Z 2 Z 1 ) / (Z 1 + Z 2)| 2
(Eq 16)
Substituting the value of IMB for
the voltage balun given in Eq 4,
PC / PV = 1/4 IMB2
So when |ZW| is large, the additional power lost in the commonmode choke is proportional to the
square of the imbalance that would
have existed in the load if it was
driven by the voltage balun alone.
This suggests the interpretation
that the power dissipated by the
choke depends on the amount of
work the choke has to do in order to
0.8
0.7
0.6
R2
= VW (I1 I2)
= VW (VW / ZW)
= Re (VW*(VW / ZW)*)
0.5
0.4
= Re(|VW|2 / ZW*)
(Eq 13)
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
R1
Current (upper bound)
(Eq 14)
32 Sep/Oct 2005
0.9
PLOSS= VW I1 + VW (I2)
PC / PV = |VC|2 / |VS|2
Comparison of Balun
Performance
(Eq 17)
Fig 6Effective operating regions of the current, voltage and hybrid baluns.
5.0
4.0
SWR
3.0
2.0
Practical Testing
1.0
0.0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
R1 (ohms)
QX0509-Roos08
Voltage Balun
Hybrid Balun
Fig 8SWR measured at the balun input for different ground-tap positions.
Sep/Oct 2005 33
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Clock pricing
starts at $18.75.
34 Sep/Oct 2005
Conclusion
Andrew Roos has been a radio amateur since 2001. He has a Bachelor
of Arts with Honors degree from
Rhodes University and is the technical director and principal systems
architect of a software development
company in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a past chairman of
the Cape Town Amateur Radio Center, regularly teaches classes for
the Radio Amateurss examination,
and recently initiated a project to
introduce Amateur Radio to school
children from underprivileged
communities.
Notes
1R. Lewallen, W7EL, 1995, The 1:1 Current
Balun, which is available at eznec.com/
misc/ibalun.txteznec.com/pub/
ibalun.txt. Lewallen describes it as a
model of the 1:1 current balun, but it is
relevant to all applications of the 1:1 TLT.
2Z is a complex variable with a real comW
ponent representing resistance and an
imaginary component representing reactance. Complex variables are typeset here
in bold face.
3F. Witt, AI1H, Evaluation of Antenna Tuners and BalunsAn Update, QEX , Sep/
Oct 2003, p 13.
4C. Rauch, W8JI, Balun Test, available at
www.w8ji.com/Baluns/balun_test.htm.
5,6 K. Schmidt, W9CF, Putting a Balun and
a Tuner Together, available at fermi.la.
asu.edu/w9cf/articles/balun. Schmidt
gives the measurements in terms of the
common-mode, differential-mode and unbalanced impedances. I calculated Z 1, Z2
and Z 3 using the formulae he gives.
7J. Sevick, W2FMI, Understanding, Building
and Using Baluns and Ununs, CQ Communications, 2003, chapter 9.
8W. Maxwell, W2DU, Some Aspects of the
Balun Problem, QST , Mar 1983, p 38.
9Amidon Associates: www.amidoncorp.
com.
10J. Sevick, W2FMI, Understanding, Building and Using Baluns and Ununs, CQ
Communications (2003), pp 59 and 81.