[80m] 4 square

[Merv Stump]

Paul, your comments are very interesting.  I am in general agreement,
however, my radials are on the ground and I see the same narrow bandedness
that you describe with your elevated radials.  In the DX window (3790 to
3800) I have virtually no power coming to the 50 ohm port (less than 1 watt
with 1500 watts out).  I find that the systems performs well so long as the
power to the 50 ohm port is less than 5%.  In my case, this means I can move
100 khz either way and still have a performing system.  (Incidentally, my
verticals are just wires pulled up in the trees and Jim Miller tells me that
if I used tubing or towers the system would be broader.)   However, as I
move beyond this the pattern disappears.  If I try to operate the low end of
the cw band I too get 300 to 400 watts back.  I can still make contacts
here, but there is virtually no front to back on the system.  You are
absolutely right about the swr - it means absolutely nothing.  (Well,
actually if it goes high it probably means you have dirty contacts in the
box.)

Regards, Merv