[SixClub] 6 meter vertical

[Christopher Boone]

You WERE at 4000ft....a vertical would have seen OVER him if he was at 
say 200ft AGL or so..Remember a vertical looks like a squashed donut or 
umbrella in the air....if you can see the top, then you can 
communicate..if the top is hidden by the "umbrella cone" or the other 
station is in a null (yes verticals have NULLS!) of the doughut, then 
rolling to Horiz would make a BIG difference...20db LESS of a strong 
signal is better than 40-50db null even with same pol...

HOWEVER, your case is unique! You were at 3000ft or so...what you found 
is what broadcasters have known about for years...and thats why they use 
"NULL FILL" in antennas to throw more signal DOWN toward or even BELOW 
the horizon when operating from a HIGH elevation...Its not unusual.

NOW if you and the other station were at the SAME HEIGHT, then things 
would have been normal....

Chris
WB5ITT

Barry Bogart wrote:

> I found this out when I worked the September VHF
> contest the same weekend I bought my Ranger 5054 in
> Seattle,. I was up on Snoqualamie Pass - must be 3000'
> or so. I connected the rig to my battery and a
> hamstick I had. But I could barely work anyone - even
> the guys in Seattle less than 50 miles away! I later
> realized it was because my hamstick was VERTICAL and I
> was using USB. I have the 25-watt Ranger BTW.
> 
> However, last weekend I was on a mountaintop trying a
> sched with a friend out in the Valley East of
> Vancouver BC. I didn't hear him, but I did work a guy
> in Saltspring Island, about 50 miles away. This guy
> was on an 817 with a Miracle Whip, vertical. I was
> using a Tokyo Hypower HT - 2w, with a whip but I held
> mine horizontal for USB. After he mentioned his
> antenna, I asked if it was vertical. He said yes, so I
> swung mine up vertical as well. The result was a very
> significant DROP in his sig level - maybe 10db. I
> swung it back horizontal and he came right back 5/9.
> Any ideas why? Over only 50 miles, line of sight (I
> was at 4000'), cross-polarization should have kiiled
> us. Instead it was better. 
> 
> Anyone have an explanation?
> 
> 73, Barry
> VE7VIE/KD7IGX

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