TopBand: First 160M DX of season!

[W0AH@aol.com]

Topbanders,
Over the past 14 months, my tower has grown up!  I intentionally added a 10'
section every few months so it would not be very noticeable to neighbors.
 Two weeks ago , with some help, I added two 10' sections and a 6' top
section.  I now have a grounded 82' Rohn 25 tower.  Last week I added a 10'
aluminum mast to make it 92' and ran a 45' wire (at a 45 degree angle) from
the top.  So now I have an inverted L configuration.  I have been putting
down radials and now have 12, varying from 135' to 200' in length.  I am
running 40' of #10 guage wire from about two feet above the ground where my
radials are attached to the tower up to about  42'  above ground and spaced
about 18" from the tower.  With a 485 pf variable cap set at maybe 250 pf,
    I get a 1.5:1 SWR over the bottom 100 Khz of the band.
The shunt fed vertical is presently outperforming my baseloaded Hytower and
FW loop (in most directions) by amost an S-unit.  
The constant S9++ static has made any DX contacts impossible, but this
morning I heard and called VK3DQW just before my sunrise.  We exchanged 559
reports.  After sunrise, I called ZL4WA and VK3AJJ, but they came back to
W7LR and others.  I am running 150 watts at the present time since I do not
know what my "medium size" variable cap is capable of handling.  How do I
tell? I hate to risk flash over with my Titan amp and expensive 3CX800A7tubes
(which I will be taking out of a 432 amp and putting in the Titan). 
If anyone has suggestions for improving my system (I WILL be adding radials
as my hay fever allows), I'm open to suggestions.
Doug  W0AH  ex-W2CRS   Colorado

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