[K6BW] Sometimes Less Is Really More

[Bill Smith]

Friends of QRP-L,

Steve's comment about low, end fed antennas struck a chord with me.  He
wrote:

> In practice, it usually ends up more like an end feed inverted V. In this
> configuration, on 40M and with the apex up maybe 20 feet, it seems to like
> to work close in stations the best, maybe out to 500 miles.

This is the heart of NVIS operation.  A low antenna, whether it be a dipole,
inverted V or random length wire will often work circles around verticals or
high antennas, out to a few hundred miles, on 80, 60 and sometimes 40
meters.  Of course the ionosphere needs to cooperate a little, too.

I am a net control station for a 40 meter regional net that meets from
8:00 - 9:30 a.m.  local time.  My antenna arsenal consists of a
roof-mounted, multi-band vertical sitting over a bunch of radials and a low
dipole (about 25 feet high) fed with 300 ohm twinlead.  The dipole is
consistently better, both transmitting and receiving, unless the band is
*long.*

I highly recommend reading KV5R's discussion on NVIS work at:
http://www.athensarc.org/nvis.htm

Sometimes less is really more.

========================
Bill Jones KD7S <><
http://www.psnw.com/~kd7s
Sanger, California
========================

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