20m stacking question

Tue Mar 19 13:39:40 EST 1996

I am going to stack two 204BAs. One is currently mounted at 120'.
Conventional wisdom has been to put the lower one at half the distance (i.e.
60'). Does this work out for those of you who have this stack or have modeled
it, or is it less critical as N6BV says in the ARRL Antenna Book?

 I am leaning toward maybe going a little lower (50') so that there would be
room for a 3rd yagi  at 85' later when there are actually spots on the sun.
I'd appreciate hearing what has worked for you in this situation.

By the way, this tower has 2 el. 40 @ 130' and a PRO67B tribander @ 70' as
well as the 204. It is guyed at 120' and 60' with Phillystran (20' section
broadcast tower).

73 - Will

>From Bruce Lallathin <aa8u at voyager.net>  Tue Mar 19 19:00:38 1996
From: Bruce Lallathin <aa8u at voyager.net> (Bruce Lallathin)
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 14:00:38 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Dxpeditions for Contests
Message-ID: <199603191900.OAA25552 at vixa.voyager.net>

>Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 18:56:23
>To: emoody at epix.net (Ed Moody)
>From: Bruce Lallathin <aa8u at voyager.net>
>Subject: Re: Dxpeditions for Contests
>
>At 09:26 AM 3/19/96 PST, you wrote:
>>Time for me to get my two cents in. Been doing 
>>CQWW contest DXpeditions for 15 years. We are 
>>best known as PJ1B (hear all about it in Dayton). 
>>Nobody, and I emphasize NOBODY (including any 
>>Radio Club) has ever donated, kicked in, or 
>>otherwise financially assisted any of our contest 
>>efforts. We have never even had a piece of 
>>equipment donated. This effort has not been by 
>>wealthy "fat cats" but by a bunch of hams who 
>>just want to bring another multiplier to the 
>>contest and make it interesting for everybody. 
>>73-ED, N3ED
>>
>>
>May I add my 2-cents worth as well Ed? Mostly because that is about all I
have left now after paying for the air fare and hotel for our DXpedition to
ZK1 in July of this year. More expenses, many more lay ahead. I am by no
means a "Fat Cat". The Mad River Contest Club of which I a member is not
assisting in any way. I am doing this for my own satisfaction primarily as I
did when I went to FP a couple years ago for the IARU contest. Stan (K8MJZ
ZK1MJZ) and I will bring ZK1 to life for the HF Championship because we like
to and want to do it. The fact that our club score may benefit was not a
consideration. 
>
>I do see some merit in the argument of many local club members that have
concern about this issue. Maybe local clubs should be excluded. Well,
nothing I have to say about it will likely change anything. I just wanted to
put my last two cents worth in. HI HI 
>
>Hope to work as many of you as possible from South Cook July 11-20th this
summer!
>
>73,
>Bruce (AA8U  ZK1AAU  FP/AA8U)
>
>

>From Ham <batchler at fsac3.pica.army.mil>  Tue Mar 19 18:09:34 1996
From: Ham <batchler at fsac3.pica.army.mil> (Ham)
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 96 13:09:34 EST
Subject: arrlcontest
Message-ID: <9603191309.aa26699 at FSAC3.PICA.ARMY.MIL>

I guess if you win you get to make the ruls
rules hi

Please all remarks/replies/comments to
batchler at pica.army.mil
fax 201-724-5768
Laing Batchler KB3TS - F.R.C.

>From Bruce Lallathin <aa8u at voyager.net>  Tue Mar 19 19:12:15 1996
From: Bruce Lallathin <aa8u at voyager.net> (Bruce Lallathin)
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 14:12:15 -0500 (EST)
Subject: reply
Message-ID: <199603191912.OAA26567 at vixa.voyager.net>

At 11:19 AM 3/19/96 EST, you wrote:
>I sent a reply to a reply to a message I posted
>after futher thought I regret having been so short 
>I no not rember the address of tha person
>so I am apolozie here sri om I will do better next time 
>73 Laing
>   
>
>Please all remarks/replies/comments to
>batchler at pica.army.mil
>fax 201-724-5768
>Laing Batchler KB3TS - F.R.C.
>
You are not alone! There have been times I wish I could have retrieved a
document from cyberspace.....I bet this type of thing happens to many more
than would openly admit it. HI HI  

The old "count to ten" adage might be worth considering....one day, two day,
etc. then if you still feel it is necessary, use snail mail. HI   Just in
case you didn't count long enough.

73,
Bruce (AA8Ugly)

>From AA1K Jon Zaimes <jon.zaimes at dol.net>  Tue Mar 19 23:06:57 1996
From: AA1K Jon Zaimes <jon.zaimes at dol.net> (AA1K Jon Zaimes)
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 19:06:57 -0400
Subject: Beverages and horizontal orientation

Hi Tom....when are you going to publish your phased-loop setup so we can all
hear as well as you (OK, then it wouldn't be your secret weapon!)

>
>>A 3 or 4-wavelength beverage (1800-2400 feet on 160) gives you a low
>>take-off angle (15 degrees for 4 wavelengths) and fairly narrow beamwidth
>>(about 40 degrees for the 3 db-down points0. Longer beverages will only
>>slightly more narrow the beamwidth and only slightly lower peak wave angles.
>
>I wonder if that data is from NEC models?
Yes, ...see the diagram's in ON4UN's book in the chapter on receiving
antennas (I've modeled similarly).>

...

>>At times 3-4 wavelengths will be too long because propagation is favoring
>>high-angles. WB3GCG developed a relay system to break up an 1800-ft beverage
>>into shorter lenghts of 600 and 1200 ft
>
>What did Wild Willy notice?
Sometimes signals were better on the shorter wires. (I've found similar
differences between a 700-ft beverage 10 ft high  and a "shortie" 136-ft
wire 1 ft high, which models with a higher-angle lobe).>

>Ernie, K1PBW all but abandoned Beverages when he had TWO verticals phased. He
>said they were much better than the Beverage. At WXEZ where I had a dipole up
>330 ft, the Beverages were useless in comparison. I think the answer "how
>much benefit is it?" varies with location. It sure does with the EWE's.
>
Interesting...my recollection was he missed the bevs when he was at a BC
station using two towers in phase in Western Mass. (and used them regularly
when he had his own place with the two phased towers, until someone stole
all his radials for scrap!) But while he was saying this he was running
Europeans that I couldn't tell were there, and I was using a 300-400 ft
beverage in Connecticut, so maybe the reality was the 2-el was that much
better! I know more recently K1ZM Jeff has commented that his 4-square
outhears the beverages regularly because of the better f/b ratio. 

73/Jon

>From w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths)  Tue Mar 19 19:40:22 1996
From: w7ni at teleport.com (Stan Griffiths) (Stan Griffiths)
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 11:40:22 -0800
Subject: Blown Filaments
Message-ID: <199603191940.LAA18892 at desiree.teleport.com>

>Has anyone else in the contesting community noted that 48 hours of contesting
>is hard on bulbs in the house? I'm talking the 60 watt filament types
>with no grid or plate electrodes.
>
>I replaced the bulb over the operating position right after ARRL CW.
>I also noted that several other bulbs in the house seemed to go right
>about the same time. Then the Monday after ARRL SSB, I go to turn on the 
>light over the rig again and - you guessed it - no joy.
>
>These are 60W Sylvania's that we buy by the case at the local wholesale
>club. Anybody else have the problem?
>
>I'm sure it has to do with line voltage variations. These variations
>are pretty useful, as I can tell if the op on duty is running or
>S&Ping from anywhere in the house, even if the TV's off...
>
>-Tony, K1KP, fisher at hp-and2.an.hp.com
>
>P.S. this may seem like drivel but it beats all the other crap on here
>lately...

Hi Tony,

Yes!! I recently had a rash of Sylvania light bulb failures, too.  Mine were
100 watt "Double Life" Soft White bulbs that carry the following guarentee
on the package:  "If you are not satisfied with the performance of this
bulb, return the proof of purchase seal to the address on the bottom of this
package along with your name and address.  It will be replaced with a new
bulb free of charge."

I did more than that.  I wrote a letter and told them I had lost at least 20
bulbs with as few as a couple of hours use on them.  Most of them were
installed in workbench lamps . . . the common kind that you clamp to a shelf
and can move and turn at various angles.  I thought maybe the lamp was too
hot for a 100 watt bulb, but then they started failing in ceiling lights
too.  It may have been the fact that I told them if they intended to send me
more of the same lousy bulbs as replacements, don't bother, that they did
not even acknowledge my letter.

It would be rather interesting for me to send you a copy of my letter which
you could enclose with a letter of your own telling Sylvania that "the word
is out about their quality problem from the West Coast clear to the East
Coast and people are talking about it on the Internet".  I wonder if that
would get their attention?

If the sunspots are gone, I guess you can always have a contest with Sylvania!

BTW, I still have 16 of the dead bulbs.  I threw a bunch in the garbage
before I recognized a serious problem with them.

Stan  w7ni at teleport.com

PS  If we want to go on with this, we shoud take it off the reflector,
unless of course, there are others on here with the same problem.

>From i4ufh at contest.dsnet.it (Fabio)  Tue Mar 19 19:48:13 1996
From: i4ufh at contest.dsnet.it (Fabio) (Fabio)
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 20:48:13 +0100
Subject: WPX SSB 96 IR4T Activity
Message-ID: <9603191948.AA28876 at maggiore.dsnet.it>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
              WPX SSB 1996 Contest         IR4T M/S Contest Activity
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

We will  be active  during the WPX SSB Contest at the  and of the month
in a  M/S category. All band will be checked, also 10m. This year seem 
to be more difficult, but we will try a couple  of time  for  about 15
minutes each time around 15.00 z and 17.00 z 28.480 Mhz each day.

If you think that our signal in rasonable good on 15 m, try to ask us QSY
on 10m, we will try ......

73 de Fabio I4UFH on of IR4T, IG9R

MC2 Contest Club Italy

See you in the  Contest................ 

e-mail i4ufh at contest.dsnet.it