[KL7AA] Pilot Station school club station

[Jim Wiley]

Gordon -

Hello from Anchorage.  It is encouraging to hear that you are taking on 
the project of assisting the students at the Pilot Station school.   I 
spent a fair amount of time in Western Alaska during the mid 60's, so 
perhaps some of my experiences will be of use to you.

First off, Pilot Station (and most of Western Alaska) is part of an area 
where communication between "there" and the south-central portion of 
Alaska ("here") is difficult at best.  There are radio clubs in Nome and 
Bethel, both of which have a fair number of amateur radio operators.  It 
might be advantageous for you to contact some of those operators so as 
to establish some sort of "local area" communications net on the 75 or 
40 meter bands.

For both 75 and 40 meters, low horizontal loop antennas will provide 
fairly reliable "local" HF communications.   It will perform well for 
contacts with stations within 300 to 500 miles from your location.

However, there are relatively few stations within this range, so 
contacts may still be somewhat difficult to come by.  When I lived in 
the Cape Romanzof area in the 60's, I actually had better luck with 
contacts with Russian and Siberian stations than I had with USA 
stations, but then I didn't have the advantage of knowing about the low 
horizontal loop concept.

Contacts to South-Central (Anchorage, Palmer-Wasilla, Fairbanks, Kenai 
Peninsula),  on 75 and 40 meters, indeed any band,  will likely be 
difficult because of distance, and may be limited to Winter months only.

Regular contacts using the 20 meter band, and 17 somewhat less 
dependable contacts on the 17 meter band will be possible, even 
plentiful, with the US West coast, Japan, and other Pacific Islands 
during most of the year.  Because of the declining solar cycle, contacts 
on the 15, 12, and 10 meter bands will be difficult, and there may be 
times  when no stations will be heard.   I might even recommend that you 
put up a single-band (20 meters only) antenna.   Notice that I have not 
mentioned South Central Alaska for these bands.

You mentioned that the Pilot Station school has a vertical antenna that 
does not seem to work very well.   One absolutely essential point when 
using a vertical antenna is that it must have a good ground radial 
system associated with the radiating element.  The absolute minimum 
ground radial system would be at least 16 radials, 32 will be better, 
with each radial being at least a quarter-wavelength long at the lowest 
band in use.  There is no room for a compromise ground screen when using 
a 1/4 wave vertical antenna.  Yes, some stations "get by" with much 
less, but they are typically (1) located much closer to the equator, and 
(2) much closer to other stations.  A station set up away from 
neighboring communities or at an extreme northern latitude (or both) 
absolutely must have a good quality grounding screen if they are to be 
successful.

One possible alternative would be to use a half-wave radiator, which 
will ease the requirements for a radial system, but it will still not 
eliminate the need for a first-class ground system.

Obviously, a half-wave radiator must be fed with a matching network, but 
that is fairly easy to accomplish.   Additionally, the half-wave 
configuration allows the use of elevated radials, and typically only 4 
to 8 are needed.  The radials operate somewhat differently when used 
with a half-wave radiator.  In this case, they are used to "decouple" 
the antenna from ground, as opposed to substituting for the missing half 
of the driven element.

Next, using multiple vertical radiators gives you both "gain" over a 
half-wave dipole and the option of instant pattern switching.  A 
4-element vertical antenna using the proven "4-square" configuration fed 
with Wilkinson dividers is an excellent performer, often (but not 
always) outpacing Yagi designs.  This configuration can be made very 
resistant to adverse environmental conditions, which are a constant 
problem in Western Alaska.  The use of a "pattern switch" allows instant 
changes of direction and avoids the problems associated with a 
mechanical rotor.

Finally, keep in mind that a vertical antenna will  always be a 
low-angle radiator.  That means that it will perform best with contacts 
that are 800 miles or more distant from your station. That means no 
Alaska contacts (most of the time)  with a vertical.  Not that closer 
range contacts will be impossible, just that signals may be weaker 
to_much _weaker the closer they are to your base of operations.   That 
is why I suggest the horizontal loop for contacts within Alaska.

I hope this has been helpful.

- Jim, KL7CC