[Elecraft] Vertical antennas Was: KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility

[Eric Norris]

I operated my HF-2V vertical for about 10 years with 6 radials.  Then, I
added 60 more for 66 total radials.  I thatched the living bejesus out of
my back lawn, stapled down the radials bolted to a DXE SS plate, and the
lawn regrew, the radials never to be seen again.

The difference was astonishing.  Tonight I worked 3B7M on 40m cw on that
vertical, despite strong local noise.  Admittedly, my KPA1500 was squeakin'
from the freakin'  But, on other occasions, I have worked a JA stopped on
his local bridge running 5w.  It's not a beam, or even a high dipole, but
verticals do work with a proper counterpoise.

ON4UN's book, Guide to Low-Band DXing, has an excellent chapter on
verticals.  RIP.

73 Eric WD6DBM

On Mon, Mar 6, 2023, 3:00 PM Alan Bloom <n1al at sonic.net> wrote:

> On 3/6/23 15:08, Jim Brown wrote:
> > Most (but not all) verticals need radials to transmit a decent signal.
> > A vertical that needs radials is a lousy TX antenna without them.
>
> Right.
>
> I use a 6BTV, which is a 6-band trap vertical about 24 ft tall. With a
> barefoot K4 at 100W I get out quite well.  Obviously I can't compete
> with the "big guns" running kilowatt amplifiers and beams at 120 feet,
> but I do work lots of DX.  I can crack most pileups with enough patience.
>
> The trick is that the antenna has 40 radials, each one 32 ft long buried
> an inch or two in the sand at my desert location.
>
> The old joke that a vertical is an antenna that radiates equally poorly
> in all directions is only true if you have a poor radial system.
>
> Alan N1AL
>
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