Mike - Everything Don says is true... but since the Hy-Tower is designed for 80, 40, 20 15, & 10 meters, you should not need a tuner on those bands (I did not), but 60, 30, 17 & 12 will very likely need one.
Dave K9FN On Thu, Apr 5, 2012 at 6:56 PM, Don Wilhelm <[email protected]> wrote: > Mike, > > I did not see any on-list responses to your question. > > You are a ragchewer, and that usually means you will be working locals > as well as distant stations (1 to 1500 miles), so you may not want a > vertical antenna at all. > > A vertical antenna (any of them) typically have a low angle radiation > pattern, so for close-in contacts you may have difficulty with a > vertical - a dipole is much better. You may find the vertical better > than a dipole for contacts greater than 400 miles away on 60 or 40 > meters, and for those greater than 800 miles on 20 and up. > > To obtain good efficiency with a vertical antenna, you will need an > extensive radial field - I would recommend 64 buried radials each about > the same length as the radiating element. Also for good efficiency, you > should use a remote antenna tuner at the base of the antenna, or you > could feed it with open wire line properly supported and put the tuner > in the shack. The efficiency of an untuned vertical depends on a good > set of radials in the ground. Those who believe a vertical antenna does > not require much horizontal space are quite mistaken unless the vertical > element is an electrical half wave at the frequency of interest - > verticals require good radial systems. > > Here in the North Carolina Piedmont, the soil conductivity is not great, > so any verticals that I put up will either use elevated radials (should > be resonant if I feed with coax) or I must put down a LOT of buried > radials for efficiency. > > There is no "magic" about the 43 foot vertical (or any other > non-resonant length). Look at it as half of the W3RNL (L B Cebik - SK) > favorite backyard antennas - the 88 foot dipole. That length was chosen > because it was an OK length for 80 meters, and did not break up into > lobes up through 20 meters. A 44 (or 43) foot vertical with 43 or 44 > foot radials will be similar, only the horizontal and vertical planes > will be reversed. - it will work on 80 meters (and 160 with proper > loading) even though with reduced efficiency, and will not have high > angle lobes on 20 meters and below. If you want to work 40 meters > through 10 meters with low angle radiation, then cut the length to 22 feet. > > Bottom line, you probably will not have good results with your 1 to 1500 > mile goal with a vertical antenna of any kind, you will be much better > off with one or more horizontal dipole antennas. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > > On 4/5/2012 10:23 AM, Mike Rodgers wrote: > > Anyone have one of these. I've got a chance to get one for a song. > > I'm interested in how they work from > > 1-1500 miles stateside > > I'm not opposed to dx but I'm a ragchewer mostly on 6-20&60. > > > > Can contact direct and maybe better since it's off topic. > > > > 73 > > Mike R > > > > Play me some fiddle, but no stinkin' violin! > > > > Amateur/Ham Radio KE5GBC > > HF& Echolink mobile > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
