In a message dated 4/1/2007 11:56:30 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
>> I can't imagine giving advice to try a vertical without some thought
>> to radials. There is a noticeable improvement in even adding a single
>> radial to a groiund rod only sustem. The ham that uses 4 quarter wave
>> radials would be much better off putting that 1 wavelength of wire
>> down as 10 one tenth wave radials.
> A half wave vertical will perform pretty well with a minimum ground
system.
I've spent years in the ham radio antenna universe, both as a user,
vendor and installer and it seems to me that LOTS of hams start out with a
vertical. After all, it sounds pretty good, what with a small footprint, no
tower,
lots of them for sale or free, etc. It doesn't take very long to realize that
they're mostly a dummy load on a stick and your horizon expands on how to
get out better. That's when you start figuring out the antenna hierarchy and
your goals become more ambitious as you learn more.
I myself went thru the same progression and I'll tell you that making a
contact with a 4BTV and no radials was challenging. Moved up to wire antennas
from there - much better.
Besides the good old LXC Prime Directive to "DO what the manufacturer
says", I tell people to "go with what you've got". If all you've got is a used
vertical - use it. If you've got a small yard - put down what radials you
can. Not enough room for a dipole? Bend the ends around what you've got to fit
it in. If you've got trees - use them for some wire antennas. They WILL all
radiate and you WILL make contacts. Just get on the air and have fun.
Yes - some configurations work better than others, but anything works
better than nothing.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
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