[CQ-Contest] How to start a run

[Jeff Clarke]

A 130 ft center fed zepp is a pretty good multi-band antenna if you are limited on what you can put up but you should be aware of the antenna patterns this antenna produces on the different bands. Mine is oriented broadside NE/SW. Here is what you can expect on the different bands :

80 meters - Pretty much acts like a dipole.

40 meters - Bi-directional broadside to the wires. Deep nulls off the side. Mine being NE/SW it works great to EU , VK/ZL and the east coast. It really sucks to the central US and west coast. I have a 2nd antenna on 40 meters oriented NW/SE which works much better in those directions.

20 Meters - 4 leaf clover pattern. If someone isn't in one of the nulls it works good. For the same reason I described on 40 meters I have a 20 meter dipole oriented NW/SW as a 2nd antenna.

15 Meters - Even more lobes. About 8 on 15 meters. Again you have nulls in many directions. I have a 2nd antenna - a vertical loop on this band. There is a lot of voltage floating around when you tune a zepp cut for 80 meters on this band that can cause RF in your equipment. Make sure it's grounded good.

10 meters - Even more lobes and nulls. Same issues I described for 15 meters. I also have another vertical loop for this band.

160 Meters - If you short the open wire feed line you can use a zepp as a top loaded vertical. With a good radial system it's an excellent antenna. Even with something less it works well enough to be heard on the top band.

Jeff KU8E

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Droid