[Elecraft] Windom Antennas

[Phil Wheeler]

Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

>Few hams are able to gain those heights at the lower frequencies (120 feet
>high on 80 meters or 60 feet on 40 meters). MOST Ham horizontal antennas are
>much lower. Also, that "gain" is not as great as you move higher than 1/2 or
>3/4 wavelength, so an "ideal" height for 80 meters will be above the ideal
>for 40 meters and up. Still the efficiency is very high - especially for
>lower angle radiation suitable for DX. When working with horizontal
>antennas, "higher is better" almost all the time. 
>
>At lower heights - down to 0.2 wavelengths or even a little less (about 60
>feet on 80 meters or 30 feet on 40 meters) - a horizontal antenna can also
>show up to about 6 dB of gain, but now the gain is straight up! The major
>lobe is very strong and directly away from the earth. This can be VERY
>useful for short skip contacts, and Hams have used such antennas for exactly
>that purpose since the short wave bands became popular. In recent years a
>new name has been given these antennas: NVIS for "Near Vertical Incident
>Systems" 
>

I know the theory and cannot disagree with it.  But in the mid 50s I was 
able to work much DX with 75 W CW (DC in) and a 135 ft Windom up no more 
than 15 ft.  Due to the lot it was bent and only up abt 10 ft on the 
ends.  One morning I got a 599 from two ZS stations in a half-hour on 80 
CW.  I figured they were locals playing with me -- until the QSL cards 
arrived!  Worked lots of DX with that setup (Arc-V stuff plus Windom), 
but that was the biggest surprise.

73, Phil