[CQ-Contest] Overrlay Categories

[Jim Brown]

On 12/4/2023 12:10 PM, Stan Zawrotny wrote:
> Instead, I would like to see an
> overlay of just wires. The current overlay combines wires with tribanders.

At the suggestion of a group of contesters, the ARRL Contest Advisory 
Council proposed, and ARRL adopted, Rules for a limited antenna category 
for ARRL contests. This change was adopted this year.

> Tribanders have a great advantage over wires -- they can rotate.

There is also a significant advantage to height, most pronounced on the 
lower bands. Raising a horizontal 40M antenna from 33 ft to 67 ft is 
good for 6 dB below 25 degrees elevation, making a 40M dipole a few dB 
better than a 2-el Yagi, and we pick up another 3dB below 15 degrees by 
raising it to 120 ft.

For most of us, this only helps for TX, because we're surrounded by 
noise. Rotating antennas also help with RX by rejecting off-axis noise 
sources.

73, Jim K9YC