I've had great luck with the KT34XA so several thoughts come to mind:
1. Is this a brand new antenna or a used one?
2. It is EXTREMELY important that you make all element length measurements
very carefully. Element sections that are off even 1/4" have an effect on
this antenna. I recommend you bring it back down to the ground & check every
little measurement for accuracy, unless your sure they are all right on the
money.
3. Are the trombone sections assembled correctly and exactly to
specification?
4. If you have a relatively old antenna, it would make sense to write to KLM
& get the updated measurements. They changed the antenna specs a few years.
I found that @80' 15 meters was the most finicky band for SWR. 10 meters was
always dead flat all the way up to 29 mhz! You will find the performance on
10 to be outstanding, so sorting out the problem is worth the effort.
Good luck & 73,
Jim KC1SJ
>From k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM) Fri Jul 7 02:37:38 1995
From: k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek K2MM) (John Zapisek K2MM)
Subject: Rx/Tx Reciprocity
Message-ID: <9507070137.AA00897@greylock.local>
Just thought I'd point out one mechanism which can cause *apparent*
non-reciprocity between RX and TX signal strengths.
This can happen if your receiver presents a load to the feedline which
is not close enough to 50 ohms. Depending on how the impedance is
transformed by the feedline -- how far it gets around the Smith chart --
one antenna can deliver MORE VOLTAGE to the RX terminals than another,
even though it would have delivered LESS POWER had both antennas been
presented with 50-ohm loads.
Solution: Turn on your RX's attenuator unless you're sure it presents a
decent 50-ohm load to the feedline. Then you can be sure of RX-TX
reciprocity.
73. --John/K2MM
>From Randy Thompson <k5zd@iconics.com> Fri Jul 7 03:18:56 1995
From: Randy Thompson <k5zd@iconics.com> (Randy Thompson)
Subject: WAE-Contest 1995 (Rules)
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.950706221703.5151G-100000@genesis.iconics.com>
By the way, July QST Contest Corral listed the WAE CW Contest as being on
Aug 19-20. I was wondering if the date had changed and I had missed it.
Please note that the contest is actually on Aug 12-13.
On Thu, 6 Jul 1995, Dieter Dippel wrote:
>
> +--------------------------+ CW : 12 Aug 0000 UTC - 13 Aug 2400 UTC
> | European DX Contest 1995 | SSB: 9 Sep 0000 UTC - 10 Sep 2400 UTC
> +--------------------------+ RTTY: 11 Nov 0000 UTC - 12 Nov 2400 UTC
>
> For more detailed information please write to WAEDC Committee, Box 1126,
> D-74370 Sersheim, Germany (SAE/IRC).
>
> This is the 41th annual contest sponsored by the DARC. The activity will
> be between European countries and the rest of the world (except RTTY
> where everybody works everybody).
>
> Bands:
> ------
> 3.5 - 7 - 14 - 21- 28MHz. Minimum operating time on a band is 15minutes.
> A quick band change is allowed to work new multipliers.
>
> Classes:
> --------
> (A) Single operator, all bands.
> (B) Multi-operator, single transmitter. Only one signal may be on the air
> at any given time, except when new mutipliers are worked on other
> bands. It is not allowed to transmit or receive QTCs parallel to QSO-
> traffic.
> (C) SWL.
>
> DX packet cluster spotting is allowed in all classes.
>
> Only 36 hours of operating time out of the 48-hour contest period are
> permitted for single operator stations. The 12-hour off timemay be taken
> in one, but not more than 3 periods any time during the contest and must
> be indicated in the log. Off time must be at least 1 hour.
>
> Exchange: RS(T) plus QSO number starting with 001.
> ---------
>
> Points:
> -------
> One point per QSO. If QTC traffic (see there) is made, one point for each
> complete QTC.
>
> QTC Traffic:
> ------------
> Additional point credit may be earned by making use of the QTC traffic
> feature. A QTC is a report of a confirmed QSO that took place earlier in
> the contest.A QTC can only be sent by a non-European station back to a Eu-
> ropean station. (But only once and not to the station reported in the QTC.)
> The general idea is that after a number of Europeans have been worked by
> a DX station, a list of these QSOs can be reported back during a QSO with
> another European station.
>
> A QTC contains the time, call and QSO number of the station being reported
> (i.e. 1234 DF0AA 031, which means that DF0AA has been worked at 1234 UTC
> and gave serial number 031).
>
> DX: A maximum of 10 QTCs to a EU station is allowed.
> EU: You can receive a maximum of 10 QTCs from a DX station.
>
> (Exception RTTY, which allows transmitting and receiving of QTCs, but not
> between the same continent. The sum of QTCs sent and received between two
> stations must not exceed 10.)
>
> A station can be worked several times to complete the number of 10 QTCs.QTCs
> are sent in series. 3/7 indicates that this is thethird series of QTCs and 7
> QTCs are being reported.
>
> Multiplier:
> -----------
> The multiplier for Europeans is determined by the number of DXCC countries
> outside Europe worked on each band. The multiplier for non-Europeans is de-
> termnined by the number of European countries worked on each band (see WAE
> country list). In the RTTY part themultiplier is determined by the number of
> countries worked on the WAE/DXCC country lists.
>
> Bonus Multiplier: Multiply your multiplier on 80 meters by 4, on 40 meters
> by 3, and on 20/15/10 meters by 2.
>
> Final score:
> ------------
> Total QSO points plus total QTC points times the sum total multiplier from
> all bands. (i.e.:(200 QSOs+100 QTCs)*80 multiplier points= 24000 final score)
>
> SWL:
> ----
> Only single operator, all band class may be used. The same callsign, European
> or non-European, may be counted only once per band. The log must contain both
> callsigns of a QSO and at least one of the control numbers. Each callsign
> counts one point, each complete QTC one point (only a maximum of ten QTCs per
> station). You can count up to two QSO points and two multipliers in one QSO.
> The multiplier is determined by the DXCC and WAE country lists.
>
> Club competition:
> -----------------
> Club members must operate within a 500km diameter and the club is required to
> be a local club, not a national organization. To be listed, three entries
> from a club are requested and the club's score is determined by its member
> scores in the CW, SSB and RTTY part of the WAEDC. A special trophy will be
> awarded by the DARC to the winning clubs from Europe and Non-Europe.
>
> Certificates and plaques:
> -------------------------
> Certificates are awarded to the top scorers in each class in each country.
> Continental winners will receive a plaque.
>
> Logs:
> -----
> It is suggested that you use the official DARC or equivalent log forms.Submit
> a dupe sheet for each band. A summary sheet showing the scoring and signed de-
> claration is required. Logs may be sub mitted on a disk. The 5,25 or 3,5 inch
> disk must be MS-DOS formatted (40 or 80 tracks) and the ASCII files must con-
> tain all contest QSO information in the same order as the usual paper logs.
>
> Deadline:
> ---------
> Logs must be postmarked no later than September 15th for the CW section, Oc-
> tober 15th for the SSB section and December 15th for the RTTY section.
>
> Mailing address :
> -----------------
> WAEDC Contest Committee, P.O.Box 1126, D-74370 Sersheim, Germany
>
> WAE country list:
> -----------------
> C3-CT-CU-DL-EA-EA6-EI-ER-ES-EU-F-G-GD-GI-GJ-GM-GM Shetland-GU-GW-HA-HB9-HB0-
> HV-I-IS-IT-JW Bear-JW Spitsbergen -JX-LA-LX-LY-LZ-OE-OH-OH0-OJ0-OK-OM-ON-OY-
> OZ-PA-R1/FJL-R1/MVI-RA-RA2-S5-SM-SP -SV-SV5Rhodes-SV9 Crete-SY-T7-T9-TA1-TF-
> TK-UR-YL-YO-YU-Z3-ZA-ZB2-1A0-3A-4U1 Geneva-4U1 Vienna-9A-9H
>
> Meet YOU in WAEDC 1995!
>
> 73 Herb DL2DN @ DB0RBS.#BW.DEU.EU
> ------------------------------------------------------
> /EXIT
>
Randy Thompson, K5ZD
k5zd@iconics.com
>From n3rr@cais.cais.com (Bill Hider) Fri Jul 7 04:50:45 1995
From: n3rr@cais.cais.com (Bill Hider) (Bill Hider)
Subject: Feeding antennas...
Message-ID: <199507070350.XAA13651@cais.cais.com>
WE9V missed Barry's point (with which I agree): The point was that it is
not necessary to have the signals leaving both antennas to be in phase in
order to "spray" in multiple directions. You can do this (spraying) with
random phase angles (read: coax lengths) feeding each antenna from the same
transmitter.
In other words, Barry was stating that there was no reason to phase the
signals going to two antennas on different towers unless you are trying to
optimize the transmitted composite beam (from the antenna array) in a
specific direction. (In which case, the towers must be strategically placed
relative to the frequency band on which you wish this optimization to occur).
Once the antennas are rotated to another direction, the fact that the
transmitted waves are in-phase as they leave each antenna is no longer
relevant to the resulting pattern (ie, you are now spraying).
Bill, n3rr@cais.com
At 04:23 PM 7/5/95 -0500, Chad Kurszewski wrote:
>On Jul 5, 2:20pm, barry, W2UP, wrote:
>
>> Subject: Re: Feeding antennas...
>>
>> Without seeing the article, it just doesn't make sense to phase antennas
>> on different towers unless they are fixed in direction.
>> .... for example, the driven elements of the two antennas are no longer a
>> wavelength apart, and the in-phase relationship is lost.
>>
>>-- End of excerpt from barry
>
>
>Well, the thing is that some people do not want ALL the signal to go in
>ONE direction and would rather have the beam pattern all messed up in
>exchange to be heard well in two (or more) directions.
>
>For example, in SS from the Midwest on 40M, you would want to "spray"
>(KA9FOX quote) your signal. The low beam goes towards East Coast and
>the high beam goes towards the longer path West Coast. To have two
>beams in the same direction can actually be counter-productive. Sure,
>you can be loud in one direction, but everyone else is off the back of
>the beam. And, two beams in this configuration is better than a dipole.
>(It's like a high gain dipole with two different take-off angles.)
>
>This also applies to the high bands. Gary, W9XT, has used this method
>for years in the 10M contest (gee Gary, I hope I didn't let the cat out).
>
>And, if you're having problems hearing a weak one, you can always switch
>to just a single antenna to peak up the signal in a particular direction.
>It's FAR quicker than swinging the beams around which can take 20-60
>seconds...enough time to work two more stations!
>
>--
>Chad Kurszewski, WE9V e-mail: Chad_Kurszewski@csg.mot.com
>Sultans of Shwing Loud is Cool....yeah, heh, heh, heh, LOUD IS COOL!!!
>
>From n2ic@drmail.dr.att.com (LondonSM) Thu Jul 6 15:13:35 1995
From: n2ic@drmail.dr.att.com (LondonSM) (LondonSM)
Subject: High vs. Low / Winter vs. Summer
Message-ID: <9507060813.ZM16083@dr.att.com>
This is slightly tangential from the ongoing High/Low thread, but I thought
others would find it useful to enhance their CONTEST performance.
About a year ago, I put up a stack of KT-34XA's. The high XA is at 115', the
low XA is at 65'. They are fed with equal lenghts (about 35') of identical
coax to a switching box on the tower. The switching box allows me to choose
the usual - upper/lower/both-in-phase.
The signal strength comparisons were made with a TS-940S S-meter, and should
not necessarily be taken as absolutes.
I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the Colorado-EU path on 20
meters with this array, and have some interesting general observations, that
seem to apply at least 90% of the time (they are NOT freak occurances).
- During winter (late October to late March), the upper XA is always better
than the lower XA. The difference is usually about 4-8 dB. The time of day
does not seem to make a difference. The "both" configuration leads to little
improvement over the upper XA.
- During summer, there is a pronounced difference between "daytime" and
"nighttime" propagation. I define "daytime" as the Colorado-EU path when the
Colorado side of the path is in daylight, and we have EU propagation (roughly
1400Z-2230Z). I define "nighttime" as the Colorado-EU path when Colorado is in
darkness. The most classic example of "nighttime" propagation is the
0300Z-0500Z over-the-pole path to EU.
During summer "daytime" propagation, there is usually very little difference
between the upper and lower XA. Using "both" XA's is about 4 dB better than
either XA individually. A common exception to this "rule" is the Colorado-G
path around 2200Z. About 30% of the time, the lower XA is much better than the
upper XA - sometimes up to 15 dB better. At the same time that the Colorado-G
path is exhibiting the "low XA" enhancement, the Colorado-DL (or other more
distant EU) path shows little difference between the upper and lower XA.
During summer "nighttime" propagation, the stack reverts back to its "winter"
behavior. The upper XA is always significantly better than the lower XA.
Clearly, what I am seeing is the interplay between antenna height, takeoff
angle, and F-layer height. The summer day/night difference was very
unexpected.
BTW, the transition from "winter" to "summer" was very sudden. Throughout
March, we had exclusively winter propagation. By the end of April, it was
exclusively summer propagation.
I'm looking forward to the day (year ?) when I can repeat these tests on 15 and
10 meters (deep sigh !).
Steve London, N2IC/0
n2ic@dr.att.com
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