[Lowfer] Tree-Tenna Changes 8-7-14

[Andy - KU4XR via Lowfer]

** I originally tried to send this to the 600mrg list , but to no avail ... **

Greetings Gentlemen:

Due to summer mowing, I have had the feedline from the tree to the shack suspended about
8 feet AGL.. For the sake of continued experimentation; I placed the feedline directly on the
ground today.. I'll see what effects this will have in the coming days.. As expected, the 
" band noise " ( if I may call it that ), and the spherics dropped noticably.. Last night ( Wed. ) 
the static was horrible, and tonite it is actually a bit worse, but the overall static level is down
with the feedline on the ground, and XXM started showing up about 30 min. after sundown, with
XIQ showing up about 45 min. after sundown.. Overall, I do expect to see higher SNr numbers 
simply due to the drop in static levels, but that probably won't manifest tonight.. It's brutal !!

Placing the feedline on the ground noticably changed the Impedance of the antenna, and I'll 
have to experiment over the next couple of days to find the optimum " L-C " match for 
630 meters..

One aggravating aspect of this effort is the living room TV.. I have always had to live with the 
TV lines in the waterfall, but with the noise level down considerably, I can now Hear the 
TV Growl.. The interference from the TV is not stronger, there is just less noise that has been
over-riding it thus far..

73 to all :

Andy - XR

PS: Since composing of the original message, I have been quite surprised at the level
of WSPR decoding I have been able to get tonight, even with the continuous S-3 static..
Before laying the feedline on the ground, that would have been around S-8 level, in a
500 Hz IF Bandwidth..

Andy