HI Kevin,
There is a great fascination with inverted L's on the East coast. As you
know any antenna will work DX from there. I can tell you that from the West
coast we must be more careful with where we spend our RF. Unless you can put
out a really great radial system most of your RF will be lost to the earth.
The horizontal part of the inverted L radiates like any short, low,
horizontal wire; omnidirectional and straight up. Great for working people
within 500 miles. The working part is the vertical. This radiates
omnidirectional at low to medium angle. The longer the better. The
important thing the horizontal part does is increase the current in the
vertical part. It is not a Marconi antenna. But, if you use two horizontal
sections 180 degrees apart (i.e. connect the vertical to the center of a
horizontal wire) it will have the same help for the vertical current but
without radiating much of your power horizontally. This would be a true
Marconi antenna. I have used 80 meter dipoles and G3RV flat tops sucessfully
by twisting the feedline together and feeding them against ground. The
ground is still important. In the poor soil of the West resonant elevated
radials work best. They can be loaded if space is limited. If you still
want a high angle antenna for working stateside put up an inverted vee and
switch between them. Let us know how things work out. You should have a
great time working DX this Winter. 73
Darrell, N6DX@aol.com
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