[Lowfer] WM appears from the past

[Bill Ashlock]

Hi Mitch,
 
No kidding on being "a ghost from the past"! I just got my first look at Steve's Grabulator after arriving back in Andover just a few minutes ago. What a thrill! Here's the scoop on this Ellsworth loop:
 
This is a #10 stranded insulated conductor loop in the 'Ashlock' configuration, and is 200ft in perimeter and totally tree-supported: IE: no support ropes at all, and the tree limbs provide the springiness to keep the wire taught. Its max height is about 80ft and has a general upside-down triangle shape. Should be low in ground loss due to the high average elevation of the return legs. Will measure the Rac on the next return. When the snow melts in the spring I plan to use the #10 to pull up a RG-8 conductor but right now that's buried under 3 ft of snow and 3 in of ice. 
 
I tried a new trick to tune the final because of the cold outside temperatures which worked very well. I first used my inductance meter to determine the loop inductance. Then I modified my bench test coil so that it had exactly the same inductance. I connected the test coil to the final while inside the shack and sitting next to the exciter. Then I modified the resonant capacitor bank inside the final's enclosure to resonate the test coil at 185.300. When the final was installed outside at the base of the loop (in bitter cold and wind) the tuning came out to be very close and required only a slight tweak of the trimmer cap. My previous approach was to calculate the capacitor bank capacitance from the measured loop inductance, but this doesn't account for the stray capacitance of the loop. Apparently the test coil has a similar value if stray capacitance even though it is a multi-turn coil.
 
Anyway, I welcome any and all reception reports. I have no feel of how the mountain environment will effect both the surface and sky wave radiation from this loop.
 
Bill
Beacon Wm
 
> From: mitch.powell at sympatico.ca> To: lowfer at mailman.qth.net> Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 21:17:38 -0500> Subject: [Lowfer] WM appears from the past> > Bill - I believe I am seeing a ghost of the past on Steve's grabber. > Is this> the beginning of a gathering of the 185.3 people of the past ?> > Nice signal and it must be you - but from where ?> > > > Mitch Powell> mitch.powell at sympatico.ca> > > > ______________________________________________________________> Lowfer mailing list> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/lowfer> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm> Post: mailto:Lowfer at mailman.qth.net> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
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