Good Evening
I completely repositioned the EWE today, it's about 70 feet from it's
original position and is not pointing at the INV-L. It's pointing
towards southern EU.
I Verified the feedline was OK, verified the transformer was OK etc.
Same results. When listening to an EU station on the INV-L, I switch to
the EWE and the signal disappears.
It's just not working guys. The transformer is pointed NE towards EU,
and the resistor is pointed SW.
I've checked just about everything I know to check, and the EWE just ain't
workin' for me! Ideas?
73 Mark K3MSB
On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 6:39 PM, Mark K3MSB <mark.k3msb@gmail.com> wrote:
> Greetings fellow Top Band enthusiasts!
>
>
> I'm Mark K3MSB, and I live south of York PA. This is my first time posting
> to this list.
>
>
> I’ve been licensed for 43 years and got on 160M in November 2014, so this
> is the start of my second year. Why I didn’t get on TB sooner is a
> question I keep asking myself! I’ve enjoyed the challenge of 80M DXing
> for years, and I find 160M to be an even more challenging band!
>
>
> Last year I used an Inverted-L for TX and RX. The vertical part was 30
> feet high and I used about a dozen ground radials. I was very pleased
> with its performance and was delighted to be able to work stations in
> Europe. This year I changed the Inverted-L; the vertical section is now
> up 50 feet and I’m using about 16 ground radials.
>
>
> This year I also decided to put up a separate RX antenna. I put up an EWE
> oriented towards Europe. Each leg is 10 feet tall, and the length is 50
> feet. The terminating resistor should be 1.2K, so I used a 2K
> potentiometer set for the correct resistance. The preamp is the
> P1-30/20VD from Advance Receiver Research.
>
>
> After attempting to use the EWE for a few weeks, I’m convinced the EWE
> doesn’t work. Obviously, since a lot of people use the EWE, the antenna
> design must work, so it’s an installation or usage problem on my end
> that’s the issue. I hope some of you seasoned 160M men can help me out.
>
>
> I have the terminating end supported by a fiberglass mast about 2 feet from
> the end of my house (vinyl siding). The transformer end is supported by a
> rope to a tree, and the drop to ground on that end is vertical. The
> terminating end goes to a 4 foot ground rod. The transformer end goes to
> a 2 foot ground rod (septic line concerns prevent me from going deeper).
>
>
> When I turn on the preamp, the noise level rises to the same level as that
> heard with my Inverted-L. Stations in Europe are sometimes at the same
> signal level, but a lot of times much lower, so that I can hear them better
> on the Inverted-L and not on the EWE. Stations off the back of the EWE
> sometimes are attenuated, but not all the time.
>
>
> I tried adjusting the potentiometer, and that has no effect at all. I did
> this by running a long patch cable from the headphones jack on the
> transceiver to the area of the terminating resistor. I tuned in a
> moderately strong station (off the back of the EWE) whose signal level was
> fairly constant, and adjusted the pot while listening to the audio. No
> change at all. Granted, the ear is not the best way to do this.
>
>
> I have a noise issue here, and I think it’s man-made, but from reports of
> 160M hams in the area, I’m not sure it’s local. The bandscope on the
> radio shows a ragged saw tooth waveform . When I switch from the
> Inverted-L to the EWE, the ragged waveform goes away, but I do not see a
> decrease in background noise as I expected.
>
>
> My expectation of the EWE is that both signal and noise would go down
> (relative to the Inverted-L), but the preamp would boost the signal higher
> relative to the noise (although the signal level itself on the EWE would be
> less than the Inverted-L). As mentioned above, the noise level is
> unchanged, and the signal is much more difficult to copy with the EWE.
>
>
> It was suggested that I connect the two ground rods with a wire. I did
> this and it had no effect.
>
>
> So, I’m open to any and all suggestions.
>
>
> 73 Mark K3MSB
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