[Antennas] Re: Problem Installation

[David J. Ring, Jr.]

Hello Dave and Tony,

I never had a really decent antenna for 160 - but the best was an inverted L 
about 30 feet up and 70 feet over.  That's all I could manage without going 
on the neightbor's land.  I got G (he was running 10 watts, remember?) and a 
few of the other countries on the band, Ireland, Sweden and the like, South 
America, PY1RO when he was on those rocks off of Brasil was easy.

80 meteres was different.  I had a double bazooka antenna (chosen because it 
was modeled after a wide bandwidth radar antenna).  I had a heck of a time 
getting it to work.  One day for the upteenth time, I climbed up on the roof 
took the antenna competely apart, and inspected it - but this time I found a 
short in the feedline or a bad connection or something.

But whatever it was when I went back to the radio station, I checked 80 
meters.  It was about 10 PM in the summertime, and I hear this big giant 
signal nearly overloading my receiver.  It was a KH6 calling CQ.  I've never 
heard KH6 as strong as a local before.

The gang on 3518 kHz - (W4AX, W5ZMQ, W9TO, K4BI, YV1NX and W4DA - all gone 
except Fergus, YV1NX) said that I was booming in now.  I'd call CQ on a 
clear spot at the low end and they'rd be a giagantic pile up of Europeans. 
The coverage of the antenna seemed to go way down around the Eastern 
Mediterranean, Southern Brasil, and Hawaii.  I never heard JA's or VKs on 
ZLs on that antenna.

When I put up the 50 foot vertical with 60 radials, I was ragchewing with 
Peter, ZL3GQ on CW then moving him up to SSB where he was a consistant S8. 
It ia almost spooky how a vertical and inverted L's perform just about an 
hour before sunrise.  Sunset is good too, but it doesn't seem to produce the 
distance of being in darkness awaiting dawn.

Tony, did you choose the 195 length specifically?  It certainly solves the 
problem of using a 160 meter antenna on 80 - which becomes a 1/2 wave which 
produces terrible stress on the coax and lots of losses in the matching 
network and feedline.

195 is close to a 3/4 wave on 80 which will have a low impedance.  It will 
also be an odd multiple at 30 meters.

Sounds good Tony.  Great length.

73

DR

David Ring, N1EA



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Kelley" <dkelley at bucknell.edu>
To: <antennas at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 12:28 AM
Subject: [Antennas] Re: Problem Installation


Tony,

That's an impressive countries total on 160 with an inverted L!  Do you use 
that antenna for reception as well, or do you use a beverage, a pennant, or 
the like?

73,
Dave NB4J

At 01:06 PM 7/27/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>Run as much of the 195 feet of wire vertically up the tower, with a 
>standoff
>at the top of the tower and at the base.  The remaining part of the 195 
>feet
>should be run away from the tower, preferably as level and straight as your
>situation will permit.  Feed the bottom of the wire directly (no matching
>network required) with the center of the coax.  Drive a ground rod at the
>bottom/feed point as closely aligned with the vertical wire as possible,
>anchor the inverted L wire but be sure it is insulated from ground, attach
>the braid of the coax to the ground rod and if possible run 1 or 2 60+ foot
>radials on the ground.

...

>This setup should give you 160 and 80 without a problem and with a tuner,
>I'm sure it will work on 30 too.  It will give you DX on the bands as well
>as serve as a good antenna for working around the USA.  I've used this
>antenna and it works!  I have roughly 150 countries on 160 and a like 
>amount
>on 80.  The more radials the better it plays...adding radials will not
>significantly change the resonant point of the antenna but it will lower 
>the
>impedance.

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