Topband: 160m Receive Antenna

[Richard Karlquist]

> I'm looking for some advice on a 160m directional receive
> antenna. I live in
> south central Minnesota, directly west of Minneapolis. My chunk
> of land is 4
> acres, longer then wider and is very woody. There isn't enough space for a
> full size beverage. My current 160m antenna is a 48' shunt fed tower with

I use 400 ft long beverages.  They work as well as
longer ones at my QTH.  In any case, short beverages
are better than no beverages.  I think you can fit 400 ft
beverages on 4 acres, at least at some azimuths.  Keep
them down to 2 or 3 feet high if you can.

>
> During the ARRL 160m contest, it seemed as though I "got out"
> better then I
> heard. There were a number of stations that got my exchange in one try,
>
> Kelley - WØRK
>

I had the same experience when I first got a decent 160
transmit antenna and before the beverages.  Definitely
felt like an alligator.

Of course that "RK" suffix is a nice readable one for CW :-)

Rick N6RK