I have used a Butternut HF2V for many years. I tried it on 160 meters, with
a decent radial system, and it provided very little bandwidth.....
About 5KHz-
Life was greatly improved when I went to an Inverted L. From your set up, I
'd suggest keeping the HF2V on 40/80 meters- It is a wondefful antenna for
these bands-
When I tried mine on 160 meters, it messed up the 40 meter bandwidth and I
basically had little to gain using it on 160 meters.
So I tried a inverted L for 160 meters, which was very basic. It is 134 feet
long. 55 feet runs up the tower vertically with the rest of the wire pulled
out from the top of the tower, horinzontally, about 200 feet. Even if you
only have 70 feet to pull it out- it will out-perform the Butternut using
just a few 2/10 quarter wave radials.
The first night I used the antenna, I made several local and DX contacts and
had a bandwidth of 60 KHz. This antenna cost me $20 us dollars in wire- You
don't need a impedence matching device unless you go with more radials that
will lower the antenna's impededence.
In theory, the Inverted L, with just a few 2/10 wave radials, is not that
efficient- but it will totally outperform the Butternut vertical and you
will be much happier with the Butternut antenna by not messing up 40 meter
bandwidth with the 160 meter coil.....trust me, I spent a lot of time
experimenting with the 160 meter coil.
Sincerely,
Paul Veal
N0AH
Carpenter, Wyoming
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