Jim, K9YC wrote: > Lyn's expectations are modest. Many of us want to work 5,000 - 8,000 > mile paths, which is what it takes to work 175 countries from W6 in 14 > years -- it's FAR easier to work EU east of the MS river, and EU has FAR > more countries with active hams than AS and OC. I know -- I lived in IL. > One of my goals is QRP WAS. In about ten years, I still need VT and SC. > And I've got three 160M verticals, all using my tower as a passive > reflector to give me a few dB in three directions!
Well Jim, I should never object to being called "modest." It could be a lot worse. But as an update to your Illinois recollections, propagation has changed just a bit since your residency here in the '60s, '70s, '80s, etc. The Society of Midwest Contesters (https://www.w9smc.com/) recognizes the Midwest ... lovely as it may be ... to be the infamous "Black Hole" when it comes to dx-ing. Virtually any coastal location runs circles around us when it comes to the ease of making those exotic contacts (in fact many of our SMC members spend a great deal of time in such locations in order to pursue that rare DX). That being said, when working within a limited budget (ham radio IS important to me but it's not my whole life) and limited antenna options due to HOA restrictions, I think my Extended Double Zepp performs exactly as I hoped it would and pretty much maximizes the use of the space available. At its design frequency, it produces 4.7 dbi gain with exactly the radiation pattern I want, namely N-S NVIS on 80 meters for statewide EmCOMM purposes, E-W for 40m, Increasing numbers of lobes as we go up to 6 meters and thusly becoming more omni. All are as desired. How does that compare to your Inverted-L? (Serious question ...) I managed to work 125 countries (confirmed on LoTW) in less than 2 years, and mostly with 50 watts or less. I also managed to WAS on 160, 80, 40, 30 and 20 meters in the same time period. My total cash outlay was less than $600, and my annual maintenance consists of trimming a few over-eager tree branches. I feel good about that. 73 Lyn, W0LEN "From The Black Hole" ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
