Topband: DX, Radials and Noise

[Roger Parsons]

This morning ZK1NCP was audible from 1100Z until after my sunrise with some 
periods of QSB. Also heard ZL3IX for about 30 minutes, but Greg couldn't 
hear me - not one ..--.. !

I think I agree with W1BB about the number of radials. My consistent, 
although anecdotal, experience is that very large numbers of radials do 
improve things. There is no doubt that 4 elevated radials can provide an 
apparently excellent ground plane. Many, including me, believe that antenna 
performance with a few elevated radials is substantially worse than a 
similar system using many ground radials. I feel there is more to it than 
simply lowering the loss resistance to a small amount. And finally, speaking 
as a fractional dB collector, 1dB is a significant amount!

For two years I have been intermittently plagued with power line noise. I 
failed to df it on Top Band as I would get a null onto the nearest pole, and 
because of the nature of the land I could not easily get very far from the 
line. I then built a 130MHz set based on a RS air band receiver. I never 
found any strong source of noise and the noise would always vanish when I 
went looking. It has not been a major priority as my beverages are way out 
in the bush and have not been affected. However, for the past few weeks the 
noise was on constantly, so I set out again with the 130MHz set, and found a 
noisy pole a few hundred metres from the house. I banged the pole quite 
gently with my hand and the noise went away. It has not come back since! On 
the grounds that I don't really want to wade through the snow later to bang 
the pole I have asked the power company (Ontario Hydro) to fix it. They say 
they will.

73 Roger
VE3ZI


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