Topband: Sloper w/elevated radials....WOW!

[Doug Waller]

I subscribed to this reflector to learn all I can about Top Band, and
have not been disappointed.

Living on a 1/2 acre lot, I didnt expect very good results however.  To
my 60 ft tower with a single
multi-band HF beam on top, I added two slopers, a 73 ft, 80m wire to the
north, and a 60 ft, coil loaded
160m sloper to the south.  This worked fairly well with a single 40 ft
buried radial.

Then I acquired a 160m Gladiator vertical and was intent to put it up on
other end of house, when
some complaints from Wife changed plans.  So I attached the four
Gladiator, 50 ft, shortened, loaded
radials at 14 ft on the tower, and......BAM!!!  This thing smokes!  It
recently worked several JA's, a
couple VK's, some ZS's, from central Fla.

A rotatable Diamond (flag derivative, a la EA3VY/K6SE) up 14 ft and 62ft
from tower, now lets me
hear more than I can work.  I built two preamps (thanks WA1ION design),
one at Diamond, the other
in shack.  At 18db each, I have to reduce RF gain, but it pulls the weak
sigs in.  120 ft feeder coax is
"de-snaked" per ON4UN instructions.

Last great discovery that really made it possible for me to hear TopBand
week DX sigs, is the
unconventional settings I make to the FT-1000MP.  This subdivision has
old areial power distribution
lines which produce a steady S-9 roar, with intermittent buzzes up to 20
over.  With standard 500 khz
CW filter in, noise blankers on, shift and witdh controls at optimum
settings and any NR & contour
settings, it is impossible to copy weak sigs on 160m, even with the
Diamond rx antenna.

I stumbled across a setup for the MP that now lets me easily hear the
weakest signal:   Set  the
IF shift/width setting (menu 1-2) to 20 hz step size,  rotate the width
knob fully clockwise, select
the two stock 2.4K IF filters, turn EDSP on, set NR knob to A & set
contour knob to 2nd position
CCW.  These settings will not work if there is a very close, strong sig,
but for now its either this or
nothing.  It just allowed me my 92nd country and 23rd zone, in a little
over a year on TopBand.
And I hear no buzzing noise whatsoever!  White noise QRN is totally
eliminated.

I hope some of this info will help someone on a city lot with alot of
emi buzzing going on.  I will
continue to expect great info from the experts on this reflector as my
TopBand system evolves.

73, Doug / NX4D


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