In Defense of the 4:1 "Single Core" Balun

Recently the less open minded purists in our hobby have begun a negative compaign focused on the 4:1 single core balun (SCB) that we and about 20 other balun producers offer.  While it is also important to note that we offer 5 variations of the 4:1 balun each with there own "best application", we are only referring to those built utilizing a single core or stacked cores wound with two separate windings.

So after 19 continuous years of building baluns and interfacing with tens of thousands of customers, these are the reasons we offer the models 4110, 4113 and 4114:

• A growing majority of hams are now living in high density housing and/or HOA controlled homes with limited real estate space. This means close proximity of roof lines, sides of houses, garages etc.
• Amplifiers (1kW+) have become plentiful and available for very reasonable prices on the used market.
• New digital model such as FT8, FT4 and PSK variants exert additional strain on baluns due to their expanded duty cycle. Please refer to our Tech Article "Baluns, ununs and Power Ratings" for more info.
• Many hams fail to monitor or be aware of how their SWR changes as they go up and down a band with a fixed length antenna.
• The mindset of "if I can hear them but they can't hear me means I need more power" is in full play.
• The term "I only use 500 watts on FT8" is what we hear and is good practice right up until that rare DX station appears on the display.  Legal limit, FT8 and 3:1 SWR means the end to most 4:1 baluns.
• As a retailer we need to provide a broad offering of balun types that customers can tailor to their needs.

All of this adds up to why we offer several SCB units to help hams be successful with their installations.  Utilizing a classic 4:1 balun such as our 4115 in a compromised install utilizing 1 kW+ and FT8 is a receipe for total meltdown.  The hybrid is a great alternative but has limited max power.  Sure we can build one for higher power but it would weigh 5-6 pounds, be in a 6x6x6 inch enclosure and cannot be produced for a reasonable price.

We agree the SCB is not a perfect solution and we do not recommend this balun for all builds. However, it provides near perfect transformation, very low SWR and very good return loss. If you combine this balun with a good 1:1 isolation choke like our model 1116d you have  what we consider the best possible solution for high power and a compromised install.