Topband: Antenna on small lot

[ac7a at earthlink.net]

Hal,

There are many of us on 160 meters who sucessfully operate with pint-size antennas. My antenna is a modest 45' tall and it allows me to enjoy the band. Although a vertical, it also occupies some horizontal space as well. 

A 40' top-loaded vertical is likely a good bet. The top loading should can consist of a large top hat, preferably symmetrical in layout. Doing so minimizes high-angle, horizontally polarized radiation. The top hat doesn't have to be hat shaped; it can be as simple as equally long, opposing horizontal wires. However, with a 40' vertical height, the horizontal wire lengths will be in excess of 100' - in both directions. One way to overcome the problem  is to take the far ends of the wires, fold them back, and connected the ends to each other. This results in a much more compact top hat. Using this technique has little affect on the antenna's performance. The greater the spacing used between the folded wires the shorter the horizontal span required. My 160 antenna uses the folded top-hat arrangement and takes much less space than an 80-meter dipole.

If you would like more information on this subject, you can directly contact me. I've had a few articles published on the subject and they should answer most any questions you might have.

Don't even think about settling for 40 and above. You'll miss out on way too much of the fun.

Regards, Thomas - AC7A (Tucson)

-----Original Message-----
From: Hal553 at aol.com
Sent: Sep 27, 2003 5:24 AM
To: topband at contesting.com
Subject: Topband: Antenna on small lot

I've always wanted to work 160m CW. I can put a wire antenna up to about 40 
feet maximum. The max length will be in the vicinity of 90 feet. Am I wasting 
my time and should I stick to 40m and above?
Thanks for any insight.
Hal
KB3HAA
_______________________________________________
Topband mailing list
Topband at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband