Ladder Line to coax transformers
Ladder Line baluns are used to match the impedance seen at the end of the ladder line to a coaxial cable, usually 50 ohms, but a ladder line balun can also be used to match to 75 ohm coax like RG-6/U used for cable and satellite installations. While RG-6 doesn’t have the same power rating as larger cable, it is very useful for beverage antennas or receiving antennas which don’t carry a lot of power.
The impedance seen at the end of the ladder line will not be the same as the characteristic impedance of the ladder line (typically 300 or 450 ohms). Good ladder line antenna designs try to have the impedance at the end of the ladder line attachment to the balun close to 200 ohms so that a 4:1 balun can be used to match to 50 ohm coax.
A typical ladder line antenna is shown in the picture below:
Palomar Engineers has ladder line to coax 4:1 baluns in both kit form and also assembled in a variety of 1 watt to 10KW power levels to suit the needs of many customers. The ladder line baluns are designed for balanced output and are generally used at the end of a run of ladder line from the antenna. The baluns connect to the ladder line and then transition to coax cable to you antenna tuner or radio station.
We specify impedance ratios as an output to input ratio where the output (or load) is given first and the input is given second (e.g. 100:50 (2:1) would mean a 100 ohm output and a 50 ohm input; a 25:50 (1:2) would mean a 25 ohm load and a 50 ohm input). Most all products use a 50 ohm input unless otherwise specified.
We have products that are available as kits for the do-it-yourself (DIY) person or fully assembled and tested units for the “Plug & Play” crowd.
Our impedance transformers are available using two different topologies: Binocular cores or toroid cores with multiple turns for increased effectiveness and wide band frequency transformations. We utilize single and multiple core transformers using high order windings when needed to extend product performance.
We rate the power ratings as watts PEP (Peak Envelop Power) with standard duty cycles for various modes. To determine the PEP rating required for your needs, see: Choke & Transformer Power Ratings
This website page serves as a link page to the frequency ranges of our impedance transformers configured as either baluns or ununs. You can click on a picture to go to the specific page about the products described in the picture.