[SECC] Antennas for Those Who Can't Put Up a Tower

[Gary McConville]

Indeed. I’d be interested in using radials laid out to favor one direction ...

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 20, 2020, at 10:46 AM, Dave Thompson <Thompson at mindspring.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Bill,
> 
> Good discussion on antennas.  I promised to write a sort article on antennas I have found work well on 80 and 160.
> 
> 73 Dave K4JRB
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Bill Coleman 
> >Sent: Jun 20, 2020 8:07 AM
> >To: Jeff Clarke 
> >Cc: secc 
> >Subject: Re: [SECC] Antennas for Those Who Can't Put Up a Tower
> >
> >Jeff,
> >
> >I understand your thoughts here. While I do have a small tower and beam at my Gwinnett QTH, I spend much of my time in the Parsonage (my wife is a United Methodist Minister) in Fulton county. Getting modest but effective antennas into the air occupies much of my thinking.
> >
> >I think your low-band antennas are solid:
> >160 - Excellent antenna for this band
> >80 - Dipole at 65 feet is good. You might consider a vertical. Maybe adding an 80m trap to the 160m inverted L?
> >40 - Your 40m dipole could be higher.
> >
> >I don’t see a mention of any receiving antenna. I’d recommend a set of K9AY loops, unless you can find about 400-500 feet of linear distance away from your antennas for a beverage.
> >
> >On the higher bands, it has been my experience that you are at a disadvantage if you don’t have some kind of directional antenna. This means a Yagi, Quad or Log-Periodic. Let me go over some of the options I’ve considered.
> >
> >1) Tri-bander hung from trees. If you have a plentiful number of supports, this might be an option. This is what would have done when I was in Floyd county, but I didn’t have a suitable antenna. If you hunt at hamfests, you can find a used small tri-bander for around $100. Cushcraft A3S is my favorite, but there are others. Sometimes, you can get these antennas free. I have a 30-year-old Butternut HF4B that given to me by an ex-Ham friend. I rebuilt it, and now I’m trying to figure out a way to rig a temporary support at the Parsonage to get it 20-25 feet up.
> >
> >2) Wire Log-periodic. Four or five elements would cover 20-10m adequately and offer a little bit of gain. The mechanical aspects of hanging such an antenna are complex. You need a lot of ropes or a clever way of joining and spacing them.
> >
> >3) Quad or Delta Loop - You could hang a second full-wave loop and make your loops directional. You might even consider making the second loop a little short and adding a short-able loading coil to make it reversible (a Reflector / Director).
> >
> >4) Moxon. You can easily compute a optimal 2-element Moxon antenna. For 20m, the sides are about 9 feet long. A couple of pieces of PVC pipe might maintain this spacing or careful use of halyards at the corners. 
> >
> >I also have the crazy idea of trapping the DE of a 20m Moxon for 15m and 10m, and adding parasitic reflectors, creating a tri-band Moxon. I’ve yet to model this antenna but I’m convinced it would work. One day, I’m going to build it. 
> >
> >Of course, any of this options would likely be fixed in one direction using ropes. For contesting in this area, you are likely to want antennas pointed in three major directions: NE - for Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, SE - for South America and the Caribbean, NW - for Asia. Any of the smaller directive arrays are going to be pretty broad.
> >
> >When I was in Floyd county, I scoped out three locations where I could hang such antennas and considered a switching arrangement using remote relays on a single feed line. 
> >
> >
> >Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
> >Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com
> >Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
> > -- Wilbur Wright, 1901
> >
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