TopBand: Snake Ant Errata & Clarifications

[Ward Silver]

On Wed, 8 Jan 1997 W7lr@aol.com wrote:

> Hi Ward. Some questions.
> ) If foam coax, a= 100', B= 25'?  If solid dielectric coax, A=88', B=37'?

Right.

> 2) you say at points 2,3,4 solder braid and shield together.  Doesnt
> braid=shield?

Ack!  At points 2,3,4 solder *center conductor* and shield
together...sorry, flying fingers in a hurry...mea culpa.

> 3) What does the ground radial connect with, if anything?

The single radial wire connects to the ground rod, runs along the ground
under the antenna (mine's not buried, the orig. article says to bury, but
not deeply), and is open at the end away from the feedpoint.

> 4) How well does it work, or compare to tx ant, or other types of rx ant?

It has a much better s/n ratio than my inverted-L, and compares about the
same to my hardline loop, with higher signal levels than the loop.  I'm
building a preamp for the loop and will have a better comparison later.

> Do you know its pattern, and "gain"?

No.  The original article indicates directivity off the "ends", so I
assume it's bidirectional.  Mine runs E/W and hears JA's and VK6HD just
fine.  I'm going to install another to the NE, so will report further
results when available.  Look for an article in one of the magazines,
eventually.

> I've tried several rx antennas but mostly go back to my tx ant abt 99.9% of
> the
> time.  The only rx ant that has helped at all is the K6STI square loop.
>  I have one 50' on a side, and at times it really helps in the morning.
> In the evening it is worthless.  I have a 300' Beverage but doesnt seem to
> hardly
> ever help.
  
I'm finding that sometimes the loop is better (stateside to the East) and
sometimes the snake is better - long haul stuff.  The loop heard GM3POI
with better s/n ratio.  Given the discussion on modes of propagation, it's
clear that one "needs" high-angle and low-angle antennas to cover the
changing arrival angles, especially as the band opens and closes, which is
of particular interest in marginal conditions..

Of course, what all this rx antenna improvement leads to is the need for
more tx signal to work the new stuff that I can hear.  Or more patience to
put up with getting stomped :-)

73, Ward N0AX


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