Fwd: Topband: Loaded ground plane

[Dinsterdog@aol.com]

I have used a Butternut HF2V for many years.  I tried it on 160 meters, with 
a decent radial system, and it provided very little bandwidth.....

About 5KHz-

Life was greatly improved when I went to an Inverted L.  From your set up, I 
'd suggest keeping the HF2V on 40/80 meters-  It is a wondefful antenna for 
these bands- 

When I tried mine on 160 meters, it messed up the 40 meter bandwidth and I 
basically had little to gain using it on 160 meters.  

So I tried a inverted L for 160 meters, which was very basic.  It is 134 feet 
long.  55 feet runs up the tower vertically with the rest of the wire pulled 
out from the top of the tower, horinzontally, about 200 feet.  Even if you 
only have 70 feet to pull it out- it will out-perform the Butternut using 
just a few 2/10 quarter wave radials.  

The first night I used the antenna, I made several local and DX contacts and 
had a bandwidth of 60 KHz. This antenna cost me $20 us dollars in wire-  You 
don't need a impedence matching device unless you go with more radials that 
will lower the antenna's impededence.

In theory, the Inverted L, with just a few 2/10 wave radials, is not that 
efficient-  but it will totally outperform the Butternut vertical and you 
will be much happier with the Butternut antenna by not messing up 40 meter 
bandwidth with the 160 meter coil.....trust me, I spent a lot of time 
experimenting with the 160 meter coil.

Sincerely,

Paul Veal
N0AH
Carpenter, Wyoming


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