Rick - FWIW, we worked on 160m in the early morning (late night?) hours last December according to my log.
At a bearing of 298ยบ WNW and a distance of 1426 miles, you are pretty much dead centered in the Western null of my EDZ (which becomes a center fed 5/8 wave on 160m). While I appreciate the common opinion that 160m 'means' vertical, the fact that I worked all states on 160 over a weekend, without breaking a sweat, leads me to believe that I would benefit little by going that route. 73 Lyn, W0LEN -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rick Bates, NK7I Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2020 2:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Inverted L for 160 meters I will interject here that when I lived in Mordor, er, CA, I also used a low (35' max height) EDZ (370', window line fed dipole). I was able to work 200+ countries on all bands (I used a J pole on 6M) within an HOA environment (I put it up on a weekday when no one was home, it was 'invisible'). Then I came to my senses and left the state. For the first two years here, I used an 80M Sloper (was originally a dipole, but a branch took out one end, in the middle of winter snow) and a 160M Inverted L which I used on all other bands (except 6M). In many ways, that was better than the EDZ (not enough trees to reuse that) but mostly due to the lower noise floor (dropped by ~40 dB in the move). Now I use a SteppIR DB 36/80 at 60' (and the L on 160M) and it easily blows everything I've used out of the water, always in resonance too. Not only does it hear better (by nulling out noises, favoring the intended direction) it provides gain as well. A HUGE difference to the untuned (but matched) Inverted L (what was unheard, is now workable). (Adding a proper grounding system also lowered the noise floor another 20 dB on average; the house Ufer ground, while legal, was not sufficient. At many times, the floor is at the MDS of the K3.) The Inverted L at 500 watts out, talked better than it could hear (on the K3), frustrating everyone, proving that mismatch losses cost in both directions (and costing me a lot of DX). After installing a proper grounding system AND bonding EVERYTHING; the next challenge is to lower the noise floor further (remove or reduce all noise sources). I can now hear a little more than I can work (the 'other' side has noise to deal with) but will add an array for low band RX. So you're both right, everyone is limited by what is available on the property and budget; I've used all the antennas mentioned in this thread. And that, is the rest of the story (and even in the low range of the solar cycle, I have added some ATNO and numerous band slots). Jim, I'd submit that not only is 160M more challenging on the left coast, but 6M is worse since it tends to be N/S much of the time and even the coastline leans left so not many stations are south. ;-P 6M like 160, also 'spotlights' but in pinpoints. I have managed DXCC on 160M since the move, 6M is still a greater challenge (up to 6 so far, it's a start). I'm pleased your place has survived the fires (please do your PRC 4291 'homework' to continue that good fortune). 73, Rick NK7I On 8/27/2020 9:43 AM, Lyn Norstad wrote: > 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 ...) ______________________________________________________________ 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] ______________________________________________________________ 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]
