[Elecraft] RE: verticals...........

[Ron D' Eau Claire]

 My main interest for the vertical is for the bands
> higher than 30M.
> The lower angle radiation is the attraction.

If you can get the horizontal up close to 1/2 wavelength above the ground,
the vertical will NOT have a lower angle of radiation. The horizontal will
be equal.

The lowest angles are limited by the effects of the ground. In general, no
antenna will give you any significant radiation below about 10 or 11 degrees
over the earth. Mother earth will gobble up anything below that angle.

What the vertical gives you is a very consistent signal in all direction. As
the vertical haters like to say, "radiates equally poorly in all
directions."  The fact is that the horizontal at a height approaching 1/2
wavelength will show significant but not overwhelming gain in its favored
directions - something on the order of 3 dB more than a vertical. That's
equal to doubling your transmitter power, but in the real world it is less
than an S-unit and, by itself, probably hard for the other station to hear.
It only becomes significant when your start fine tuning things to add a dB
here and a dB there to get the very best performance out of your setup over
time.

That's why you will hear ops on the higher bands who choose not to get into
the size and expense of a yagi or quad often using a 'rotatable dipole' so
they can get the benefit of the gain and be able to swing it to put a main
lobe along the desired path.

The rest of us, we hang our wires in the best (or only) direction available
and have fun <G>.

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289