Topband: 160m Ant on 80m.....TNX for all replies!

[Thomas Hoeppe]

Hello 160m gang,

thank you very much for the tremendous pile-up concerning my question about using our 160m vertical on 80m.

I am very slow on the computer keyboard, so I am answering via the reflector. Thank you very much for the valuable comments to AB7E, KN4LF, NX4D, VE3CK, W7LR, W1TO, AI9L and AA1K. I hope you don't regard it as inpolite when I don't reply personally.

Our special problem is that we can't say exactly what the antenna is exactly to make simulations. The lower 25m are made of aluminium, starting with 130mm and ending with 50mm. The next 8m up to 33m hight are a fibre glass fishing rod, with a length of 2,5mm2 wire wrapped around (about 12m over the whole length). Hard to say what this is! I tried to get R and X by using a simple noise bridge, but this unit ends at 200 Ohm, and on 80m we are higher. DL5RDO promised to visit us with the network analyzer from his QRL. This will be a step forward, and I can try to use the smith chart. 
Our earth net consist of about 40 buried radials from 20-40m lenght and about 200m of chicken fence (if it is still present....). The photo of DL0AO on QRZ.COM shows a grass covered area. This area is completely covered with the fence.
I will simply make a test with a RX-style capacitor, and see how I am receiving on the 160m antenna compared to our 82m windom in 20m hight and the 18m high shorted vertical. For TX I would use a 20 KV Jennings vakuum variable. It's the anode C of a Jennings 10 KW transmitter, so I think it should work without arcing.

I will spot my results. Thanks a lot so far for all comments. 

We hope to be QRV on 160m again with good RX possibilities in the next season. We lost our permission to hide beverages in the woods around the clubstation a few days ago. The station was mainly used by DJ3TF on 160m last winter, and Wolfgang had a lot of fun. Without the beverages the "fun-Factor" would be limited.

Greetings from bavaria!

Tom, DJ5RE for the whole DL0AO gang.