> So it pays to play around a bit. And it only costs a
> bit of time.
While it is good news that so many hams are building exceptional stations for
the low bands, I worry that people who can't build exceptional stations will
shy away for fear they cannot make contacts unless they have Beverages and
large vertical transmitting antennas. I recommend K1ZM's book for the
historical background. Back in the day, many QSOs were made with marginal
antennas at stations running as little as 10 watts. Yes, you want to have the
best station possible, but the key word is "possible."
The advantage of a loop antenna is its portability. I use a large coax loop on
80 at the moment. I can carry it outside when I want to operate, and bring it
in when I'm finished. I use an inverted-L transmitting antenna with not enough
radials, but I was able to work 87 countries in one night in the CQWW. If there
is a design problem with the ARRL loop and its descendants, the low-band
community would do itself a tremendous favor by publishing a version that works
correctly. But I must say that the trimmer in the one I use tunes to a peak in
the same place regardless of feedline length, and allows me to hear stations
inaudible on my inverted-L.
Were I less experienced I might fall prey to the notion that I couldn't operate
on the low bands from my condo complex. So, while we push the envelope, we also
need to facilitate operation by more people. Ham radio is on the wane
worldwide, despite decades of lowering the entry bar. Declining solar activity
is going to hasten its demise. We could do ourselves a lot of good by
convincing Tim Tribander to try the low bands.
Many successful low-band operators seem to have forgotten their roots. Who ever
started out with 1500 W, phased verticals, and several Beverage antennas?
Arcane knowledge and the appearance of exclusivity feed the ego, but don't do
much to increase activity. IMO the ON4UN book has progressed from a pretty
useful handbook to a photo album of big-gun stations, with small-scale antenna
possibilities tossed in as an a sidebar. We need a beginner's guide to 160. As
I get active on 160 and develop some experience I will post information on my
Website ( http://kr1s.kearman.com/ ), but we could use it now. For starters,
how about a portable loop antenna that is built according to good engineering
practice?
73,
Jim, KR1S
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