The Cult of the 4:1 Balun
The Cult of the 4:1 Balun — Living Happily Ever After in Free Space
It began, as all myths do, with good intentions and bad measurements.
Somewhere between the first ARRL handbook and the latest YouTube guru, a small but devoted sect emerged — the 4:1 Balun Believers. Their creed was simple: “Balance everything. Even if nothing is balanced.”
They meet every weekend, not on 80 meters — too noisy — but in Free Space, that perfect imaginary realm where no ground exists, the air has zero permittivity, and every loop is gloriously symmetrical.
Each worshipper brings their sacred relic: a 4:1 balun wound on a single core, polished and holy, radiating the faint smell of overheated ferrite. They chant equations softly into the ether: “Equal voltages on both arms… balance be upon us.”
Then they return to Earth — where their antennas hang crookedly from plastic gutters, where rain drips on PL-259s, and where the only thing balanced is the SWR meter’s optimism.
“Just use a 4:1 balun!” someone proclaims in the forums, radiant with faith. “It makes everything symmetrical!”
So the newcomers obey. They connect the blessed balun to an off-center wire, one end climbing into a pine tree, the other disappearing behind a metal shed. The SWR reads 1.3:1 — a miracle! They smile, unaware that the ferrite inside is slowly dying at 120 °C, that the coax shield hums like a tuning fork, and that their TV just went dark.
But in the sacred land of Free Space, all is well. The priests of symmetry raise their EZNEC models and declare: “Look — perfect current distribution! No common-mode! The gods are pleased!”
Meanwhile, reality looks up from its damp backyard, smirks, and mutters: “Sure, my friend… keep believing.”
The air smells of ozone. A whisper from the coax: help me… The ferrite glows like a dying coal. Yet the Believer logs a few FT8 QSOs, screenshots the match curve, and posts it proudly. “See? Works flawlessly!”
Up above, in Free Space, the congregation nods in approval. Balance has been achieved. The world below is irrelevant.
And hopefully, they’ll live happily ever after… somewhere out there in Free Space.
Down here, we’ll just keep using what actually works — the humble 4:1 voltage unun, quietly doing its job for all of us who still live in reality.
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