[TenTec] radial research

[cx7tt at 4email.net]

Dave,

I totally agree. I am challenged by having a small lot so have settled 
for 55ft crank up w/3 ele Steppir, a 40m vertical dipole and 
'experimental' inverted L. It's the "L" that has fascinated me as to how 
well it works. I originally put up a 'weekend' antenna which was a 40ft 
fiberglass mast lashed to a patio support with bungee cords. I feed the 
wire about 9ft up from the ground and had two horizontal radials, about 
70ft long each, 180 degrees out from each other. They are about 8ft off 
the ground and one goes under a metal carport for about 15ft. The 
antenna is about 70ft long so only 30ft or so is vertical and the rest 
is horizontal, going to another fiberglass mast at 30ft lashed by bungee 
cords to a 2nd floor patio, outside a bedroom. This antenna has worked 
35 countries on 80m and another 50+ on 30m. I use a tuner which is about 
10ft from the feedpoint of the antenna (it's in a covered area which 
serves as a BBQ area). It's just a 1200w Palstar but is protected from 
the elements. My 'temp' antenna has now been up over a year. I dont bust 
many pileups with this setup but I get thru, especially by monitoring 
grey line propagation. Using the tuner, I have even worked about 8 
countries on 160m....

The moral is, just put something up, give it a try, modify if necessary 
but keep plugging away.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

73
Tom
CX7TT