Hi All,
Been trying a number of compromise antennas on 160m lately and besides SWR,
it's difficult until the nightime signals come "rolling in" to determine
which one works best. Even then, with QSB it's a tough call at times.
I have a loud 1.260MHz AM BCB stn 10 miles away which is 40-50dB over 9, but
other than that, I don't really have anything else closeby to TopBand to use
as a signal source to determine if my antenna(s) are/is working well or not.
I do have an MFJ-259 SWR analyzer which will put out a very weak signal that
can be heard about 100'-200' away using a 2' whip antenna, but I get
conflicting results with it. I suppose fencing, power lines,
clothelines,underground power for lighting, direction of antennas (sloper,
inverted L, shunt fed loaded tower) all conspire against me to skew the
results and confuse me. <Sometimes I'll move the MFJ 30' and one antenna
seems 6-12dB better than the other for instance.....move it 30' in another
direction and the other is better, sigh.>
What do YOU guys use to determine which antenna works better or if you've
made an improvement in gain, null, signal strength, etc. during the
daytime, -and- how far away does this source have to be? (I don't like the
thought of driving a mile down the road, installing a 30' vertical antenna
on my analyzer (so it can be heard a mile away), then leaving it unguarded
for someone to swipe, HI HI !)
73 de Mike VE9AA
Mike, Coreen & Corey Smith
699 Rte 616 Keswick Ridge
NB
Canada
E6L 1T1
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