[Lowfer] Beverage ground question

[Bill Ashlock]

> I ran a wire from the ground> rods over to a coniferous tree about 10 feet from the feed point> and connected it to the trunk just above ground level with a 2> inch stainless steel screw. Tests with my MFJ antenna analyser> showed a pretty flat SWR across the lowest range that it tunes.> This was much better than previous measurements had been,> so I headed into the shack to see if it "hears".> > I was pleasantly surprised to find that signals now where coming> in pretty well on 80, 160, and the NDB bands. 
 
Hey JB,
 
This is interesting! Are you sure the real antenna isn't the tree itself and the Beverage wire is just acting as the ground? Possibly the directional characteristics will prove this one way or the other. 
 
You may have noted from previous postings that I'm a real 'tree antenna' fan and seldom use any other antenna types for receiving up to 40M. Mine amount to a wire of 20ft to 60ft placed over the top of a tree but some use a direct connection to the tree trunk with similar results. This wire is connected, along with a wire from a ground rod (located at the base of the tree) to a step-down transformer. I find an impedence step-down of approximately 2000 to 50 ohms (or a turns ratio of about 6 to 1) seems to net the most signal. 
 
Bill