[Lowfer] What kind of antenna ?

Thu Sep 8 14:49:53 EDT 2016

Have you tried just throwing a wire out the window and using that?

JOKE! ;-)  That's an interesting system. I'll have to study it some more
and read up on EWEs.

On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 1:55 PM, Michael Sapp <wa3tts at verizon.net> wrote:

> Doug: Essentially orthogonal EWEs
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/xw0flkh343xhamg/LFMFEWE.JPG?dl=0
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ygrqqv624c73y7/ewegnd.JPG?dl=0
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/x0hu6b30w9gu694/feedsys.jpg?dl=0
>
> A couple brief notes...
>
>    The ground return wires between each end of the EWE antenna improves
> ground resistance stability and is essential for being able to switch
> antenna directions from the shack position by swapping rx input and
> termination resistor. For the same reason the 10:1 transformers at the
> antenna require a common ground or the receive direction will not switch by
> swapping the rx input and termination resistor.
>
>    The background noise improved noticeably when I added the mid-point
> ground on the feed lines. The two feed lines to the isolation transformer
> in the shack have their outer jackets tied together at the isolation
> transformer input. That noticeably lowered AM BC surface wave energy as
> measured with an O-scope. With those parallel feed lines having the outer
> jackets of the coax separate I was able to measure a few hundred millivolts
> of AM BC energy between them at the isolation transformer input.
>
>    The background noise improved when I added the perimeter ground wire
> around the square area defined by the orthogonal EWEs.
>
>    Cleaning and oiling the ground connections a few times a year seems to
> be worthwhile for maintaining antenna performance. I do the sealing current
> treatment once a week or so to keep the loop resistance low for each feed
> line run...(the emf blasts away the thin oxide on the F connector and
> antenna switch contact surfaces )
>
>   Sorry if TMI ~:) Mike wa3tts
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Williams" <
> williamsdoug1966 at gmail.com>
> To: "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, & UK) and MedFer bands" <
> lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2016 12:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] MM lowfer beacon update
>
>
> What kind of antenna are you using, Mike?
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 10:10 AM, Michael Sapp <wa3tts at verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> Garry: I heard CFH on 76.2 last night but nothing from XND.  Noise level
>>> was about constant S6 from a local source when I checked this AM
>>> daylight.
>>> Not much chance of hearing XND through that kind of noise wall... now and
>>> then the local noise turns off and I have S1 or so noise level when no
>>> lightning static is around, but even that lower background noise seems
>>> like
>>> an order of magnitude higher than what I have on 137 kHz. I did the AC
>>> voltage measurement on the speaker output the other day on 75 kHz with a
>>> trusted analog meter with the ALC off and pretty much confirmed that 10
>>> dB
>>> "by ear" perceived noise difference between 75 kHz and 137 kHz.  Seems
>>> like
>>> I have broadband noise sources 10~15 kHz wide either side of 37 kHz,
>>> 60kHz, and 75 kHz....  This noise source or sources is coming in on the
>>> antenna as my converter is dead quiet with no antenna signal input.  My
>>> common mode coaxial chokes are around 12mH or so, perhaps not enough to
>>> suppress much VLF energy. The noise level is much lower on the NW
>>> direction
>>> versus SW but still too high for weak signal detection.  I added a 2 x 3
>>> ft
>>> aluminum earth capacitor plate at the feed line midpoint ground but that
>>> did not help much. I suppose I should be grateful with being able to hear
>>> reasonably well on 137, 185, 485 kHz and most of the LW BC and NDB
>>> bands...but it would be nice the solve the VLF noise issue...
>>>
>>> I did not check for MM or WM overnight, I'll have to give that another
>>> shot some evening when the QRN is low...
>>>
>>> 73 Mike wa3tts
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "N8OOU" <n8oou at meekfarm.us>
>>> To: "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European, & UK) and MedFer bands" <
>>> lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2016 9:08 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] MM lowfer beacon update
>>>
>>>
>>> Garry, Thanks for the capture and report. I just looked at a weather
>>>
>>>> forecast, and maybe the storms will stay North of here.  It is fairly
>>>> dry
>>>> here, so some rain would be welcome.
>>>>
>>>> I have removed the "umbrella" style tophat/guywire that I used last
>>>> winter on the vertical, and put back to the Marconi style flattop which
>>>> is
>>>> supported by taller trees. I am thinking the top 3rd of the vertical was
>>>> shielded too much with the droopy umbrella wires. I am not sure if my
>>>> new
>>>> supports will survive the winter winds. Time will tell.
>>>>
>>>> In the next week or so I will move WM to the vertical, and get it back
>>>> to
>>>> normal operation.
>>>>
>>>> 73   de   N8OOU - Mike Meek
>>>>
>>>> On 09/08/2016 07:13 AM, Garry wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Mike, noticeable boost in SNR for lowfer MM this morning here so the
>>>>> higher power is showing up at more than just your local receiver. The
>>>>> higher power particularly helps since storms are all around. See no
>>>>> sign
>>>>> of WM so far.
>>>>>
>>>>> Got a late start looking for WH2XND on 75 kHz WSPR-2 but because of
>>>>> storm racket that probably didn't matter much. Had to depend on the
>>>>> usual near-sunrise enhancement to get a few, minimal SNR decodes.
>>>>> Interestingly, found wideband source CKN on 76.2 kHz from BC active.
>>>>> Don't see that one too often. Usually CFH is running on 73.6 kHz from
>>>>> NS
>>>>> but it's been off the air for quite awhile now. Neither one bothers
>>>>> reception of WH2XHR, at least not here.
>>>>>
>>>>> 73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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