> K3BU@aol.com wrote:
> > Majority of propagation on 160 is at around 30 - 45 deg angles. (This
> > is why quarter wave verticals play best - widest vertical angle
> > coverage)
>
> If this is true, why do the stations located on the edge of an ocean
> (some of which you have operated from) have such an advantage?
> The majority of the ocean enhancement is at the lower angles of
> radiation (under 30 degrees).
> I'm not necessarily trying to contradict, just trying to understand...
>
> 73, Bill K0HA
I ran some tests recently on 160 with VK's and ZL.'s (and a few other
directions and distances). After the tests, I tallied the results. It's
easy to see the wave angle is a lot lower than people speculate on 160 most
days!
My antennas are pretty well spread out, the horiz is 550 ft west of the
vertical. Clear open pastureland with no other junk hanging around to mess
up the individual antennas.
When I compared a dipole at 160 feet to a 3/8 wl vertical with a GOOD
ground system, the dipole NEVER beat the vertical at any time. Most
contacts reported the vertical two S units or more above the
dipole. The dipole was solidly better within the state of Georgia.
Only when I raised the dipole to 260 feet was it competitive, but even then
my feeling was the vertical remained solidly better off-peak. It was only
during the peak, and only on good days, the dipole would beat the vertical.
I was a bit disappointed, I though a high dipole would kick butt according
to all the "predictions". I wasted a lot of money on a big tower. I should
have bought balloons.
73 Tom
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