[CQ-Contest] Contest QTH, hilltop or seaside?

[ko7ss--- via CQ-Contest]

Last year I had a similiar choice when moving my station. A mountaintop or flat
desert as far as the eye could see. The desert isn't salt water but enough radials
can be put under an elevated vertical array to make it efficient. My goal was to get
the 0-10 degree take-off angles needed for DX contests.

As others have said, use HFTA! On a hilltop, a small beam on a 40' crankup may
give you all that you need. For rocky soil, phased vertical dipole arrays can be low
loss.

I spent DAYS getting data points and running HFTA. Completely OCD. I am now
on the mountaintop, with just a few contests run from here, but I like it.....time
will tell !

Photos and HFTA plots are on QRZ.com

73, Bill KO7AA on Mt Lemmon in southern AZ