Topband: Question from a new reflectee

[Mein, Doug]

Dear Reflectee,

I have been subscribed to the Top Band Reflector for the last few weeks and
really enjoy reading the mail. It is most comforting to see how so readily
fellow radio amateurs give up their time and share their expertise and
opinions to help other hams. I have been a ham since I was 18 years of age
but, like many other guys, family and job responsibilities quickly claimed a
lot of my "personal time" after getting married. Now that I am recently
semi-retired at 50, I finally have time to re-visit the joys of CW and Low
Band DXing. When I was in my 30s (with teenage kids and increasing free
time), I was inspired by N6PL's Vertical Antenna Handbook and the First
Edition of ON4UN's Low Band DXing. Motivated by the information provided by
these two books, I bought a Ten Tec Argonaut Argonaut 515 to see what I
could do with Low Band QRP DXing. Well, I was amazed at just how well I
could do using a well radialled quarter wave vertical and only a couple of
watts of o/p (e.g., ZL, VK and Antarctica on 80M, and many others). Now that
I have read Jeff Briggs' DXing on the Edge and the 1999 Edition of Low Band
DXing, I am totally hooked on 160M. Because of my wonderful experience with
QRP DXing, I have now bought a new Ten Tec Argonaut V just to see what I can
do on 160 using no more than 5W. Yeah, I know, the Argonaut is not an Orion
and there is a helluva difference between 5W vs. a kilowatt but I love a
challenge!! 

What I want do to is work DXCC on 40, 80 and 160 using only 5 watts!!. I
know that there are some of you who will just laugh and say that this is
impossible on the Top Band! But I want to give it a try anyway.

Before I get to my question, please note that I already have the following
three things going for me:  (1) my house is on a pie-shaped, 1.5 acre
country lot - backing onto a farmer's field (2) For receiving, I have
erected a full-size unidirectional Beverage facing Europe, alongside a
farmer's field (3) I have a lot more free time to devote to DXing.

So here is my question:

What would you recommend for effective Low -Band DX antennas given my stated
goal and available space??

I am thinking about starting with a well-radialled Inverted L for 160M TX,
plus a Vertical for 40 and 80M (i.e., Butternut HF2V).

But I have a couple of other possibilities in mind...

The first is to string up a full-size 160M Quad Loop, using a conveniently
located line of 70 ft. trees bordering the farmer's field immediately behind
my property. A potential problem here is that, if erected, the loop would be
only 3 or 4 feet directly above my beverage and so I am worried about the
possibility of mutual coupling.  What do you think?? Is this a "show
stopper" or would the fact that I will use only 5W of power be my "saving
grace"??

The second is to purchase and install a Titanex V160S or V80S for multiband
operation on 40/80/160M (with tuning unit). I know that the Titanex is very
$$$$ but I see that a lot of DXpeditions seem to favor them (although I have
not seen any product reviews so far). Having only ONE
well-designed/well-matched, and effective DX antenna for multiband low band
operation (c/w a beverage for receiving) is a very tempting option, in spite
of the high purchase cost!! 

I am sorry to be so verbose with this e-mail but I considered it essential
to give everyone the full picture. The next time around, I promise to be
brief!! Thanks in advance to those who choose to respond!!

Vy 73s

Doug VA3DM
Almonte, Ontario