If you want to be competitive on the low bands, Scott, the most
important thing to consider is your ability to hear weak stations.
Given the choice for example between a 300 ft tower in your
current location with the encroaching development and all the
noise sources and headaches that will be associated with this
and a shorter tower in a more remote (e.g. quiet location), I
would chose the quieter location with the shorter tower. Last
fall I was sitting along a saltwater beach in Southern California
in my truck using nothing but a screwdriver and I could hear TX9
on Chesterfield Island on 75 meter SSB seemingly better than
anyone on the west coast (it was clear that even the guys with
good antennas were having trouble copying him). The
combination of a saltwater horizon and a near zero local noise
floor made a huge difference - there he was Q5 on the
screwdriver while everyone else struggled to copy what he
was saying. That was a real eye opening experience for me
(I am used to being the guy who can't hear the DX).
W6KP is another case in point. With some fairly simple
antennas (single monoband yagis) the crew at Tom's station
put in some fairly phenomenomal contest scores (at least by west
coast standards). Most people attributed the success to Tom's
mountaintop location with great takeoff angles in all directions.
When I rain the terrain maps for that area, however, it turned
out that the mountains off in the distance were much higher,
so terrain was really at best good, but not great. I think the
key to his success was noise floor. Everyone who operated
there commented on how quiet it was. The station was in the
middle of nowhere. I don't think this can be overemphasized.
When you get good TX antennas you will always have a pile
of very weak stations with indoor dipoles and mobile antennas
calling you. Whether you can dig those stations out of the noise
will determine whether or not your are competitive in a
contest scenario. RX directivity will help of course, but better
to have that RX directivity and a very quiet location. I would
give strong consideration to the more rural location. Especially
if you see this as a long term interest (10 to 20 year horizon).
73 de Mike, W4EF.......................................
----- Original Message -----
From: "SJ W3TX" <superberthaguy@adelphia.net>
To: <TowerTalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 4:48 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] World Class Station Conundrum - help!
> I am soliciting the collective wisdom of the group. This is medium long,
> but please read and respond because I really need some experienced points
of
> view:
>
> What do you think???
>
> My best 73, a very confused W3TX
>
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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