Hi Wes, Once you try a Beverage, you'll realize that those antennas weren't hearing the weak ones that called you. ;-) See http://www.w0btu.com/Beverage_antennas.html.
73, Mike www.w0btu.com On Sat, Dec 22, 2018, 8:05 AM Wes Stewart <[email protected]> wrote: > Although licensed for 60 years I'm a relative newby on topband. (I did > work VE7 > in 1959 but that's another story). I decided to semi-seriously take up > the band > to acquire my 9th DXCC band award. > > As I've described before, pardon the redundancy, I worked my first 70 > entities > using an inverted-vee dipole with the apex at about 45 feet and the ends > down > around six feet. Of course conventional wisdom says that this couldn't > possibly > work for anything but local contacts. A year ago, I replaced the dipole > with an > inverted-L, 55 feet vertical, the rest horizontal, over a skimpy radial > field of > about (so far) 20 insulated radials each 55 feet long laying on the desert > dirt. I both transmit and receive on this antenna, as I did the dipole > before > it. I've since worked 40+ stations, completing DXCC plus a few. > > Perhaps I'm blessed with a relatively quiet location, although unlike some > I'm > not miles from civilization, but not in a subdivision either. I have made > zero > effort to silence noise sources in my house, but do work with the local > co-op > power utility to silence obvious noise sources. (Their sleuth is a ham) > Although I'm considering an RX-only antenna, and it might be eyeopening, > I'm not > yet convinced of that. Anything I would use on RX would probably have a > broad > peak and get its noise rejection from the rear. > > Examining where most of the unworked DX is from here (EU, ME and central > AS) the > paths are mostly over the (noisy) continental land mass of NA (and the > polar > region) at my SS or early evening. The null of any RX antenna pointing at > these > areas would be looking at the sunlit Pacific Ocean. At my SR, the > converse > would be true. > > So all things considered, using only 500W (10dB too few according to one > of my > friends), I already hear as well as I'm heard. My bigger obstacle is QRM > from > the east. Nevertheless, I'm willing to try an RX antenna, if I can be > convinced > it will be of benefit, so I'm open to suggestions. > > Wes N7WS > > > > > On 12/19/2018 7:13 AM, Rob Atkinson wrote: > > If your inverted L is any good at all it will suck as a receiving > > antenna. This is one of the key things to accept about medium wave > > but many casual 160 m. operators can't wrap their heads around it. A > > flame throwing tx antenna will probably have a completely unacceptable > > noise level on receive. Tx/rx reciprocity works on HF but not as well > > on medum wave. Separate rx antenna(s) are mandatory. A > > significant irritant on 160 are the operators with poor antennas that > > hear great, therefore they expect to be heard equally well, and can't > > be made to believe they are piss weak when they transmit. > > > > Rob > > K5UJ > > _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
