[OKDXA] Yo... Gen'l Dave:

[Nelson Derks]

http://www.eham.net/forums/Elmers/29285

The longest wire I've ever used was a HF Rhombic...990' from end to end
(about 1/2 mile of wire) This was our MARS station's Primary HF antenna for
1990/1991 "Desert Shield / "Desert Storm"..... It was a copy of a design
built by some local hams in 1968 for MARS communications from SE
Asia...(original one was beaming to Vietnam......the "new" one was beaming
to Saudi...)

Also...... About 10 years ago, myself and some friends operated the 160m
contest with some Beverages (550' long) as receive antennas....We set up our
station in an open field about 10 miles out of town, used generators,
etc....."Field Day" - style!!! (It worked GREAT!!)

So, onto "my ideas"..... If you can "reposition" some of the poles, then you
could make some VERY VERY nice antennas..... Rhombics!!!! (Wow, what a great
possibility!!!!) How about an series of large Rhombics, pointing in a few of
the most popular directions....

[As far as Rhombics are concerned, there are not many hams that have
operated on HF using a large Rhombic.... But, take it from me (one who HAS
operated, a LOT using a large Rhombic), they're just AWESOME!!!!! I myself,
operated 6 to 8 hours per day, 6 days a week for over 7 to 8 months....using
this Rhombic....It was just about the finest antenna I've EVER seen!!! (if
only I had the room for a few of them!!!)

On the receiving end, in Saudi and the "Gulf Region", our Army MARS station
was consisitantly stronger than most SW Broadcast stations on nearby
frequencies.....and we were ALWAYS the strongest MARS station on the
air..(which did "ruffle some feathers" among the more "seasoned" MARS
operators...But it was a FACT!!!) A real world example was that our signal
was actually 40db over S-9 (when "barefoot") and almost "off-the-scale" of
the S-meter (when using the Alpha 87a...) of one Army MARS Station in Saudi,
which was using an Icom IC-735 into a tri-band yagi at 25' to 30'
high....used "out of band" most of the time........(typically using 13mhz to
18mhz....NOT exactly what that "triband yagi" was designed for!!!)
And the signals we received were just REMARKABLE!!!! That same station with
a IC-735 and ham-band yagi, was usually S-9+30db or MORE on the S-meter of
our IC-751A.....

We also made some calls for/from a few "special forces" guys (VERY much
against the rules, BUT we did it anyway!), they simply confirmed they were
"in theater"......(we later found out, they WERE in IRAQ at the time...Kind
of COOL!!!) Anyway, these guys had an HF "Man-Pack" radio, and just a short
whip antenna..... Well, they were typically S-9, or better....AND they said
that our signal was "...a LOT louder than even our 'Ops Command' signals..."
(typically "Man-Pack" HF radios are 20w to 30w PEP out....that into a short
whip antenna was all they needed for us to get a few messages phoned to
their families back at home....)

Russ, I guess you see where I'm going with this: I LOVE Rhombics!!!!!!! But,
I live on a city lot...so I do not have the room for an large HF Rhombic!!!!
But, I wish I did!!!!!