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Re: [TowerTalk] Impact of high water table levels on antennas

To: Rudy Bakalov <r_bakalov@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Impact of high water table levels on antennas
From: "Djordan (personal)" <wa3gin@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 12:21:48 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
If that water table is salt water then maybe yes... Fresh water doesn't really 
make that much difference until you get to 160m .

YMMV,
Dave
Wa3gin

Sent from my iPad

Be Prepared Stay Prepared

> On Nov 3, 2013, at 2:02 PM, Rudy Bakalov <r_bakalov@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Ever since I have put up two inv-Vs, one for 80m and one for 160m, with their 
> apexes at roughly 90', I have been puzzled by their exceptional performance. 
> Ditto for my vertical on 40m.  I have done tons of comparisons using skimmer 
> data and my signal seems to be pretty darn close to the big stations I am 
> using as my benchmark. The performance is so good that I have been wondering 
> if I should bother with building 4SQs. I have read tons of books on antennas 
> and the performance of these two antennas simply does not match what the 
> books describe.
> 
> I shared my thoughts with a friend of mine (a WRTC2014 participant) and he 
> shared a similar experience with his station. He recently relocated to a new 
> place, about 30 miles from his old place, and his antennas at the new place 
> perform significantly better than the old location. Same antennas, tower, 
> feed line, and FLAT terrain.  His only explanation is that the new place had 
> a very high water table that somehow impacted antenna performance.
> 
> This is when I realized that I also have a very high water table. Even in the 
> driest months of summer, the area around my tower is damp and the grass is 
> very green, growing like crazy. This was the obvious common element between 
> his and my situations.
> 
> I have not seen anything on high water tables in my antenna books.  The soil 
> itself is mostly sandy. The impact I believe I am seeing is mostly on the 
> lower bands, but I am not sure if this is also the case on the upper bands as 
> at 105' my antennas are a bit too high.
> 
> Is there any rationale in our thinking? Can high water table explain better 
> than expected performance from low band antennas? If so, what is the theory 
> behind it and how do I take advantage of it? If not, any other suggestions 
> for why the antennas work so well?
> 
> 
> Rudy N2WQ
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> 
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