[Antennas] Titan vertical near ground -good DX

[Joe Falcone]

Regarding the subject of whether a Titan vertical would work better mounted 20 feet up higher: 

I had a R-7 vertical mounted to an old clothesline pole in the back yard.  The manual stated that the antenna should be 12 feet 
above the ground and 20 or 25 feet from any buildings. I used radiator clamps to attach a 12 foot TV antenna pole from Radio 
Shack to the clothesline pole and put the R-7 up on that.  It just so happened that this location fit the bill. It was my first HF 
antenna. I put it up when I just got my license. 

The antenna worked very well. Not as well as the  2 element quad that  I put up on a tower about 5 or six years later,  but very 
well. (For example, I could not get India with the R-7, but the quad brought Indian stations in.) There were very few stations that 
were spotted locally that I could not work with the R-7.  (Mostly just those Indian stations).  In fact, after I got the quad up, I 
realized that the R-7 did a great job and if I had known how well it did work, I would not have spent the time, money and effort 
on the tower and quad, or I would have spent more money for a bigger quad antenna so there would have been a bigger 
improvement compared to the R-7.  I just had nothing to directly compare the R-7 to.  In addition, I was a new ham, so I did not 
have the experience to compare it to other antennas that I had before. Actually, in hindsight, the R-7 worked as it should have 
compared to the quad. 

Anyway, the point is that I do not believe that putting the R-7 up any higher would have done much good as it was taking off at 
the low angles that it needed to for DX and was far enough from the house or other possible obstructions to work well. Perhaps 
I just lucked out with respect to the location. I don't think that with a vertical like the R-7 or the Titan (a vertical dipole?), putting 
it up higher would make much of a difference. 

Joe.