Jon,
I am convinced you are correct. If I am not mistaken when Alex 4L5A/D4B
was contesting from Cape Verde, he ran a horizontal wire yagi
(inverted-V elements) on 160 meters from a bluff overlooking the
Atlantic ocean. I remember sending him an email congratulating him on
having an S9 +20dB signal in Southern California. He replied that his
effort was disappointing since his amplifier had broken and he was only
running 100 watts. I nearly fell out of my chair after reading this. I
always got the feeling that Alex was an above board guy, so that when he
said that he was running 100 watts, he meant it.
I think W7EJ/CN2R runs a rotatable dipole on 160 at 150' from his
oceanside location with similarly impressive results. Then there was
ZL8R on Kermadec with the dipoles high in the tall trees on a bluff
overlooking the ocean. They were S9+ in Southern California on 160 just
running 100 watts. I know this is anecdotal, but other than corrosion,
I don't think having an HF antenna close to an ocean beach is ever a bad
thing.
73, Mike W4EF.........
Jon wrote:
>I live oceanfront on an island with the Gulf 300' to the West and South and
>the bay 280' to the East and North. (I'm on the end of the island and it
>runs NW-SE).
>
>I have to tell you than verticals are not the only antennas enhanced by all
>this salt water, my yagis perform better than I have ever experienced in a
>non-saltwater QTH in my 54 years as a ham. I've always referred to this
>ocean as nature's amplifier.
>
>I even induced our club to run QRP one field day after demonstrating how
>effective QRP could be with good antennas over salt water. We had a 80M full
>wave loop and a 40M bobtail that started out on the dock and ran over the
>bay inland to 50' push-ups. The 80M loop was laid on a diagonal, and the
>40M vertical legs were folded out, but they worked like gangbusters with
>only 5 watts. We had a Cushcraft A4S at 40' next to the dock and we could
>actually have mini runs on the high bands.
>
>OTOH, I've not found this to be true with fresh water QTH's.
>
>
>YMMV,
>
>
>
>Jon Hamlet, W4ZW
>
>Casey Key Island, Florida
>"A little piece of paradise in the Gulf of Mexico"
>
>
>
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