Re: Topband: 160M Rhombics

["ZR" <zr@jeremy.mv.com>]

When I was floating around in the Med for the USN in the early 60's, the 
bases I visited were all using rhombics pointed at DC mounted on 80-120' 
wooden poles. These consistently outperformed a 20M 6 el Telrex at similar 
heights at the ham station into the same area. The arguments were going on 
strong even way back then and hams often had times they could use the 
rhombics and run tests with buddies at the ham station a mile or so away.
The sites I regularly stopped at were Rota, Rhodes, just S of Athens, and 
Libya.
For the guy who has the land and wants to own 20-10M in one or two 
directions for his daily chats, a rhombic will cost a lot less than a 
rotating tower with stacked yagis for each band.
Also consider what seems like a very narrow beamwidth at the antenna can 
cover a lot of the planet by the time it reaches its antipode. With 2 
rhombics and some relays to switch termination points a mighty potent signal 
can cover a lot in 4 directions. This is no more space than a decent 
Beverage farm.
A rhombic isnt very practical on the lower bands for most hams as that link 
shows but for 20-10 it can be very effective.
Carl
KM1H



> If we want an antenna just for looks, might as well make it all out of a
> non-conductor such as plastic rope. :-)
>
> Seriously, Tom is right. Take time to study his rhombic page. However, as
> one wise man once told me, "Time spent doing something you enjoy is not
> wasted time". Putting up a rhombic might also be a good learning
> experience. But you better make sure that you aim it right where you need
> it.
>
> 73, Mike
> www.w0btu.com
>
> On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Jeff Blaine <jeff@ac0c.com> wrote:
>
> > Why?  The same reason guys put up quads.  They LOOK very cool!  Imagine
> > standing on one end of the rhombic and saying "well, you can't see the 
> > end
> > of the antenna without the binoculars - but it's out that-way somewhere."
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