[PVRCNC] Re: [3830] SS CW K4QPL Single Op LP

[Jim Jordan K4QPL]

Hi Brad,

As you aren't the first person to remark "big signal" and ask me why my low
power station works so well on 80M, I thought I'd copy the reflectors.

The answer is simple---I don't really know.

The antenna is a garden variety dipole with the center hung on a tree at
about 50' and the ends pulled out as far as possible with cord in a sort of
squashed inverted V. Oriented about N-S. It just happened to be an easy
place to put it up.

Now the theory. I live in northern Wake County where we don't have city
sewage. The septic tank and drain field are in that area, which is a slight
down slope to the South and West over clay subsoil. I suspect that the
ground underneath stays much wetter than normal both from natural sources in
the upslope above it and the drain field.

At the top of the slope I have another inverted V off my tower which has
jumpers for 80 and 160. I remove them for a contest like SS and that antenna
has "normal" performance--it sucks in comparison!

So I guess you could call the good one a "Drain Field Special."

This year I think the vastly improved rx system had even more to do with it
as I was hearing QRP's loud and Q5 on Saturday and very good on Sunday
considering the noise  level. I have two switchable mini beverages. One
about 600' West and one 300' North. I also have an Orion II, 600hz roofing
filter, on which I carefully set up the programmable AGC so that weak
signals don't get clipped, but it also kills the big guys without having to
mess with the RF gain. The North antenna seemed to have the best general
coverage, but the other, and sometimes the xmit antenna, would sometimes
help with a signal down in the mud.

I think the moral is to just keep trying different combinations until you
find something similar to what I lucked into. The old saying about "the
grass grows greener over the septic tank" may also apply to low band
signals!

73,

Jim
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brad Hedges" <bhedges at nc.rr.com>
To: "'Jim Jordan K4QPL'" <k4qpl at nc.rr.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 9:14 PM
Subject: RE: [3830] SS CW K4QPL Single Op LP


> Jim, what do you have up for 80M antennas? My poor inverted vee just
doesn't
> work well... I hope to have my vertical hooked up this weekend to give me
an
> alternative, plus I'm going to re-wire my vee into a "fan-vee" in an
attempt
> to broadband it a bit.
>
> But Congratulations on a great 80M run!
> 73,
> Brad
> AL4T
> Who learned a great deal this past weekend... Hopefully I'll remember it!
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 3830-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:3830-bounces at contesting.com] On
> Behalf Of Jim Jordan K4QPL
> Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 19:03
> To: 3830 at contesting.com
> Subject: [3830] SS CW K4QPL Single Op LP
>
>                     ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
>
> Call: K4QPL
> Operator(s): K4QPL
> Station: K4QPL
>
> Class: SO LOW POWER
> QTH: NC
> Operating Time (hrs): 24
>
> Summary:
>  Band  QSOs
> ------------
>   160:    0
>    80:   438
>    40:  174
>    20:  252
>    15:  10
>    10:
> ------------
> Total:  874  Sections = 79  Total Score = 138,092
>
> Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
>
> Comments:
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