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Re: Topband: Beverage on Ice

To: "Topband" <topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: Beverage on Ice
From: "Ron Feutz" <feutz@wctc.net>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 12:52:44 -0600
List-post: <topband@contesting.com">mailto:topband@contesting.com>
I did this about 10 years ago. I live on the Wisconsin River and it's about a half-mile wide in front of the house.

I laid out 1000' of #14 stranded, insulated wire. I terminated it with a 200 ohm resistor to a 1/4 wave wire and several short radials running nearly parallel to the antenna/grounding wires. At the feed end, I used a 4/1 homebrew transformer using one of "Tom's" binocular cores. The transformer was grounded to a conventional 8' ground rod.

The antenna never worked at all, as far as I could tell. There was no discernable, certainly not usable, directivity. Why, I don't have a clue. The techniques chosen were the result of all the best advice I could get at the time on the topband reflector.

FWIW, the river averages about 10-15 feet deep under the antenna and is sand/gravel/bedrock. I would love to try this again if someone can help with an improved design.

73,

Ron KK9K


-----Original Message----- From: Roger Parsons via Topband
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2015 3:51 PM
To: Topband
Subject: Topband: Beverage on Ice

I know that Beverages on Ground have been discussed on a number of occasions, but:

I live on the shores of a reasonably large lake, and at this time of year it will be frozen to at least 2' and possibly 4' or 5' deep. I believe that ice is a pretty good insulator, so I wonder about the effectiveness of a wire just laid on the surface? It would be impossible to retrieve the wire in the spring so it would have to be fine enameled copper. Even that may not be very environmentally friendly? If the wire survived the first couple of days it would be frozen into the ice - it would be at risk from snow machines until that happened.

This is just speculation from enforced idleness - I cleverly managed to break my leg during a foolish last check of my receive antennas before Christmas - so I can't even get into the shack, let alone onto the lake. I was not very hopeful in any event that EP6T would be workable from here, but I am determined somehow to get there for K1N...

73 Roger
VE3ZI
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