[30m] Antenna solution for net control

[Jason Hsu, AA0II]

I currently use a Screwdriver antenna as a backyard vertical.  I
currently use a 102-inch whip for the upper part of the antenna.

A 1/4 wavelength vertical radiates mainly at low angles, so I'd be able
to communicate with the coasts (East, West, Gulf), but communicating
with hams in Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, etc. would be a problem.
As a net control, I'd like to find a way to shrink the skip zone.  (Of
course, I'll probably need relays for a few check-ins.)  A low dipole
would allow communication with the Midwestern hams but at the expense of
the long-distance capability.

I've thought of two solutions, and I'd like your feedback.  The
solutions:
1.  Use a low dipole in parallel with the vertical.  If the feedpoint
impedance is too low, I can use a 2:1 balun.
2.  Use a taller upper whip with the vertical.  (In this case, I'd use a
vertical wire supported with one of those 20+ foot tall fiberglass
masts, such as a Jackite.)  I can operate on the third harmonic instead
of the first and get an upper lobe as well as a lower lobe.

What do you think?

Jason Hsu, AA0II
Cedar Rapids, IA