Running the ladder line horizontally

Quote:

Originally Posted by prcguy (Post 2316107) Take for example my every day wire antenna, a 94ft flat top dipole at about 35ft fed with a critical length of 450 ohm ladder line (about 40ft) then a 25ft run of LMR-400 to the tuner. This antenna is known as a ZS6BKW and has a very good match on most bands 40m on up but a lousy match on 80m at around 7 to 10:1.

I have a nagging question about this type of antenna and I've never been able to find a definitive answer.



I could put up a ZS6BKW antenna, but I have two related constraints. I would not be able to put the center of the dipole at 35 feet AGL. It would have to be at around 16 feet.



Consequently, my ladder line would have to run vertically down from the center of the dipole to some point close to the ground and then run horizontally for the rest of the 40 feet. Does this matter at all? Or does it matter how close to the ground I'd be running the ladder line? Note that I'd be able to run the horizontal portion of the ladder line perpendicular to the dipole elements in plan view.

Running the ladder line horizontally