General Meeting – April 2023 – Making Ferrite Toroid Baluns for Dummies

Our program this month is Making Ferrite Toroid Baluns for Dummies by John Portune W6NBC. Few hams know how to select a toroid and know how many turns on it to make a 1:1, 4:1 or 9:1 balun. The radio books are only confusing. John will present the 3 simple steps using very little math and a free on-line calculator. There is no mystery here.

If you would like to view the slides from John’s presentation (pdf), they are here: https://files.k5rwk.net/s/sNDYzYGrRgweyip

Here are some of the tools (links) that John refers to in his presentation:

Amidon Ferrite Toroids Calculator: https://coil32.net/online-calculators/amidon-ferrite-torroid-calculator.html

Ugly Balun Calculator: https://www.translatorscafe.com/unit-converter/en-US/calculator/coil-inductance/

Identifying Unknown Toroids: https://archive.org/details/Name_That_Core

Source for ferrites: https://www.fair-rite.com/product-category/inductive-components/toroids/

Handy Weatherproof Project Boxes: https://www.amazon.com/Zulkit-Dustproof-Waterproof-Electrical-Electronic/dp/B08MYW6WLL/