[Elecraft] non-Wire antennas

Fri Feb 8 22:52:15 2002

Oh, of course the KAT2 (via some speaker wire on a ferite core) talks to =
ladder line. I NEVER use coax (I NERVER have resonant antennas). It =
loads up well (1.5:1 or better on all bands except 12m. But 1.7:1 isn't =
bad enough to bother my finals or make me try to guess a better length =
of Ladder Line) on 80 through 10. I haven't sprung for the ($39) 160 kit =
yet.

I'm hoping to discover (in very interesting ways) what's Northwest of =
Georgia (Asia? - I don't have a globe). So, what do I call it on the =
"ANT IS..." memory button?

Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Ron D' Eau Claire
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 7:30 PM
To: Elecraft
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] non-Wire antennas

> I ... pulled up an 80 meter dipole (full size) to
> about 50 feet AGL.
>
> The antenna runs
> northeast-southwest, parallel to and about 30 feet from the
> northwest brow of the mountain. From there to the northwest, the
> mountain falls 1,400 feet in about a half mile. To the southeast,
> the mountain is mostly level or falling slowly (I can only see
> about 5 miles southeast).
>
> Two questions:
>
>  a) Do I say ANT IS 80M DIPOLE UP 50 FT or ANT IS 80M DIPOLE UP 1450 =
FT?
>
> and
>
>  b) What sort of pattern should I expect?
>
> Dan / WG4S / K2 #2456

Pattern you ask? The pattern is likely to be lots of good signal reports
from all over the place <G>.

Actually, a lot of mountaintop operators have reported excellent DX with =
a
LOW dipole over the edge of a steep escarpment. The ground reflection
produces a large and strong lobe in the opposite direction. For most of =
us
'flat land' dwellers, that means a lot of gain from a low dipole but it =
is
straight up! If the antenna can be positioned so the earth is behind it =
to
one side, that lobe now gets angled down toward the horizon and DX in =
that
direction.

The ideal height for such 'cloud warmers' (for us flatlanders) or for =
DX-ing
by the over-the-side cliff dwellers is about 0.2 wavelengths - the same =
as
the ideal distance in a two-element yagi for maximum 'forward' gain.

In your case, you have the ideal spacing from the earth for 80 meters =
(60
feet is about 0.25 wavelength) but the slope is a lot more gradual. You
don't have much of the mountain directly "behind" that open view to the
Northwest. Still you should get some benefit from the slope in that
direction.

Gee. Are you using that antenna only on 80? Sounds like it would do a
credible job on 160 and a GREAT job on 40, 30, 20 meters! It should work
VERY well on the higher bands too with lots of gain in certain =
directions.
Hang some open wire feedline on it, hook up the ATU and start exploring!

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289

_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list: [email protected]
You must be a list member to post to the list.=20
Postings must be plain text (no HTML or attachments).=20
See: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Elecraft Web Page: http://www.elecraft.com