[AMRadio] Ozona Bob's antennas

[Brian K Harris]

While Ozona Bob may have had a turnstile up there somewhere, I never saw 
it when I visited him nor do I recall him transmitting with one.  Perhaps 
he used one for listening.  The 75 meter antenna he used for transmitting 
every time I talked to him on 75 meters, and there were many, was 
diagonally mounted, but it wasn't a turnstile.  It was a 3 element wire 
beam installed, if I remember correctly (my notes about it are here 
somewhere), at about a 50 degree angle and pointing roughly NE.   He was 
regularly 40-50 dB over S9 in North Texas anytime in the evening through 
early morning.  He also had many 10's of thousands of feet of wire for a 
ground system buried and on top of the ground all around his concrete 
block shack.  I remember him boisting about the increases in antenna 
current he achieved every time he added more surplus wire to that ground 
system.  We all should be so fortunate to have a similar transmitting 
location. 

P.S.  I bought and still have a 32V3 and an HRO-60 from him during my last 
visit, which was maybe a year or two prior to his death.

Brian K. Harris, WA5UEK










"Jim Wilhite" <w5jo at brightok.net> 
Sent by:
amradio-bounces at mailman.qth.net
2005-10-29 05:13 PM
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Re: [AMRadio] BC-610 terminating impedance
Classification








----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Candela" <jcandela at prodigy.net>
To: <rbethman at comcast.net>; "Discussion of AM Radio" 
<amradio at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] BC-610 terminating impedance


> Bob Wrote:
> >
> Now about that polarization issue you mentioned. I had
> long in depth conversations with the late Ozona Bob,
> W5PYT concerning this. What I recall is that when
> receiving skip at HF, the polarization is constantly
> changing, and the QSB you experience is in part due to
> that. The other part is vector addition & subtraction
> from picking up the same signal from different paths,
> phase, and time delay. Bob figured that if he
> transmitted circular polarization this would in effect
> reduce QSB at the receiving end. I recall he had huge
> diagonally mounted turnstile dipoles mounted nearly a
> football field high (the top). At my QTH (Austin), he
> was always on the S-meter peg, and NO QSB. That was a
> distance of 250 miles, day and night.
>
> I myself would be hesitant to put up a 80 meter
> vertical because my buddies close in within Texas
> would have trouble hearing me if they were beyond
> groundwave distance, and before the first hop
> distance.
>
> Now how does KC9VF get out so well? Doesn't he have a
> vertical dipole on 80 meters?
>
> For skip reception, it seems that the transmitted
> polarization, isn't a big issue, but more of a angle
> of radiation issue.
>
> Regards,
> Jim Candela
> WD5KJKO


Jim did you ever visit Bob, W5PYT at his shack?  I was there once a few 
years before he died.  I missed him but went out to where the transmitter 
was located in an old abandoned microwave transmitter site.  I would guess 

the tower to be about 300 ft. high and so many wires hanging from it a 
bird 
could not fly within 1/4 mile of it.

I didn't see a turnstile, but I would have challenged anyone to spot any 
of 
antenna in that grouping.  As for Marv., his antenna is a 193 ft.tower 
installed like a broadcast antenna.  He operated it for a while without 
radials until he could find time to install them.  The only difference in 
his signal then and now with the radials, is he is a bit louder at my QTH 
but not a lot.  I always hear his signal and if I loose him, I loose 
signals 
from stations equidistant that use dipoles.

I have a friend that says the antennas are the only black art left.  You 
calculate what it will do then install it.  Then you set about making it 
work.  I tend to agree with that logic.  One thing I am convinced about is 

put up a dipole rather than a Vee.  The mismatch is minimal but you get 
the 
voltage points up in the air.  In that case the ends do not tend to induct 

into the ground or surrounding structures, natural or manmade.

I know many people will disagree and use some magic antenna modeling 
calculator to prove me wrong, but I get consistently better signals 
reports 
using a dipole at 40 ft. than with a Vee at 55 ft.  In Marv's case he has 
more tower (wire) in the air therefore more capture/radiation area.  And 
he 
also has a good ground system.

At the lower frequencies of BCB you see a lot of stations that you hear 
day 
and night and the low angle radiation tends to extend the coverage at 
night, 
but there are still lobes that will cover closer in.  I had a vertical in 
Wyoming and was able to work the same stations at nigh that I did in the 
daytime.  I only had 4 quarter wave radials under it.  My signal was not 
as 
strong at night, but I still had "local" coverage with a good enough 
signal.

I know I am opening a can of worms since so much of this theory depends on 

your installation so let the guessing begin.

73  Jim
W5JO 


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