On Mon, Dec 08, 2008 at 07:36:04PM -0500, John wrote:
> would like to pose a question to the antenna experts...read recently that a
> tall tower say 1/4 wave with large antennas atop of it really does not work
> well as a 160m antenna...what do the experts say?i have been using one of
> those for years and i think they work like gangbusters but i'm not an expert
> so it may be that for years i've been using the wrong antenna...and should
> shorten mine to say 70 feet or so i would like to have a serious answer and
> as i'm willing to improve my system on 160m if i've been doing it wrong for
> 26 years...John K1GUN
I'll assume this is sarcasm. Okay - I have now heard of at least two
cases where tall towers work well on 160 meters. I "eat my words".
However, there sure isn't anything wrong with a 70-80 foot tower as
my results speak for themselves. I do think a taller tower will have
sharper bandwidth according to the printed information - but maybe if
you get them tuned, they work fine.
If you have something in the order of 200 feet tall - something that
approaches 1/2 wavelength - I would think using either the reverse
feed method or 1/4 wave slopers down the tower aways (about 1/4
wavelength from the ground) would be an attractive option.
I have a 105 foot tower with a full sized 3 element 40 on it. Perhaps
I should try loading it and see if I can compare the two antennas - but
since they are pretty close to each other, it might be difficult.
73 Tree N6TR
Boring, OR
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