G'day all,
| You know what they say, Tim - the prefix is worth at least 20 dB.
Maybe but at times it can be a bit of a pain. Sure a VP8 calling a JA is
possibly more interesting to the JA than more common calls and it doesn't
matter if the signals are down a bit. It can be difficult to ragchew 'cos
people are scared to hold you up from the pack and when the cluster spots
show, bad news. DXing from lower SA can be pretty tough at times.
| Presuming horizontal polarization, that antenna has to be down at least
that much compared to the same antenna at 30 feet or more. I know the
winds in VP8 are fierce, but this is maybe an over-reaction!
Actually the winds aren't particularly fierce, it just blows a lot
especially in the spring and early summer. My 18-30MHz log has now
suffered two fatigue failures and is on the ground at the moment awaiting
delivery of tubing for a rebuild of the LF element. The Leeson
spreadsheets pointed out where the design was inadequate and how to fix
it. The junction of the first taper section from the boom seems to be a
common failure point when one looks at pictures of ice damaged antenna.
| >This post might almost be considered off-topic: an antenna without a
tower!
| >I just noticed this photo on the web of the VP8ML antenna system.
| >He uses a 2 element quad mounted at ground level, yet still manages to
work
| >the DX
I saw that driving past his place one day, Charlie just does things
differently. He has no technical knowledge, and I'm not being unkind
here, so he doesn't worry about the nit picking over SWR and struggle for
the last dB. He just builds a design out of a book and gives it a go,
then builds something else. I remember once when I had my tri-bander of
the day laying on its back on the ground and successfully completing a
sked with a friend in the UK on 20M. I wouldn't recommend it all the time
though.
On and off over the years I have used 8 metre tall telephone poles (looks
natural) with brackets to hold an aly pole extension up to approx 10
metres agl. Will hold a small beam, inverted V's, inverted L's etc. Only
needs an easy to dig 1.5 metre deep hole, just put everything you dig out
back in the hole along with the pole, sounds odd but it is easily done
with a hand rammer and is rock solid. The vertical idea is simple and
inexpensive if you don't go for one of the fancy (expensive) multiband
jobs. Aly tube is inexpensive, maybe start on the bread and butter band
20M, vertical quarter wave over a good bunch of radials, compact and
visually discreet. Then buy a good antenna handbook, the RSGB list a few
interesting titles, dare I say the ARRL Antenna Handbook and the RSGB
practical Wire Antennas. Once you start you will never stop.
Regards,
Mike VP8NO
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|