"I guess the way to deal with it is to add more tuned radials in parallel and a switchable base network, but I would like to avoid any more control wires that have to go through my lightning suppression panel (I can't pass DC through the coax, either). Does anyone have any suggestions?"
* * * Vic You have received several comments that are on the right track. Adding in a latching relay at the top of your vertical, to connect either a capacity hat or a horizontal element, is the way to go. Personally I'd go for the capacity hat, and maybe I'd even try and see if I could skip the relay! EZNEC is your friend. But I digress. You can further your simplification by using a Part 15 RF remote trigger for the relay, assuming your antenna is closer than, say, 350 feet. "Look Ma, no wires!" I too cannot run DC through many of my hardline feeds because the PolyPhasers block it. Assuming your vertical is both hollow and at DC ground, simply run a single conductor up the center to fire the relay, with the return through the element. Power can be derived from a small gel cell and a tiny solar panel / charger, located at the antenna. The RX does not have to be fancy ... look at the TX and RX modules here: http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=TX433 and the latching relay, as we Elecrafters know, draws no power except when switching. Your limitations are physical: the relay needs to handle the current and voltage at that point, and therefore the size / mass of packaging is the only real challenge, to my mind. If your setup must be able to go QRO, then some math is in order. 73 gl Steve KZ1X/4 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
