"Beverages just want to work" is what I have heard. Not having much luck with that here. I suspect operator/installation error.
I did a lot of reading and I must be doing something wrong. * 250 feet of insulated wire strung out in 030 degrees direction toward EU, pretty straight, varying in height from 4 to 6 feet, running through thick brush with no metal objects or artificial elements along the run. * 9:1 transformer at feed point with ground rod * 300 feet of coax, mix of RG-8, MMR-400 to get to the edge of the woods from the house * No terminating resistor On bands 160-40, the signals are very weak. I am monitoring WSPR, FT8. I can hear signals on 160-40 but they are way down compared to dipoles and inverted L on the same bands. Like 20-30 db down. From what I read, I should NOT need an HF pre-amplifier, right? Signals on 30 and 20 seem to be better and I can copy some DX from EU on FT8. I will try installing a new ground rod, the old one is 10 years old and perhaps not making a good ground connection at the feedpoint. The transformer is brand new, so that's not an issue. The coax has tested out fine. Soil is central North Carolina clay, a bit dry at this time. I am guessing performance is poor on 160-40 because of the short length and that it's bi-directional (no terminating resistor), which I am seeing on 30 meters. But I did not think it would be THIS bad on 160-40.... Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://wd4elg.blogspot.com SKCC #16439 FISTS #17972 QRP ARCI #16497 _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
