Topband: Beverage on Ice

[Dennis OConnor]

 My initial thought is that the "B"everage (OK Tree) is too high above actual earth and lacks adequate earth reference to stabilize the impedence and properly tip the incoming wave front...... Remember, the good doctor did his initial research with a wire right on the sand under a boardwalk...I have done measurements with submerging a dipole in fresh water and it is an insulator...  So, your wire on ice is definitely up in the air...  The other problem I suspect is that the river bottom is sloping up to the bank, creating a sloping Beverage in relation to the earth...

I like your terminating 1/4 wave inline radial... Get rid of the other radials out there (if I read your post correctly) and have just the resistor and the single inline radial... At the feed end, if at all possible, use a single radial inline (this is a major help, hang it from the bushes, put it over the porch roof, whatever you have to do)... Or put in a TEE radial...  A 1/10 w. inline radial with a right angles TEE Hat resonated on 160...
Otherwise, get rid of the ground stake (doesn't do much  in frozen ground, and creates sneak RF paths), put out about 20 to 30 SHORT (16' - 20') radials (none  under the beverage itself)... Do put a choke at the feed point, 1/8 wave back from there, and at the shack...  Do not ground the coax anywhere but at the radios! ! !

Now, the real crux of the matter is that I believe your transformer is, wrong ratio, bad, broken, shorted, open, cursed, whatever... Unfortunately this is the Stew day (and I'm working 'sob, whine') so time is short...  Wish I was there to help cuz I love these kind of mysteries...  Start by testing the transformer with your analyst to be sure it is working... Also, it must be an isolated two winding transformer, not a tapped auto transformer for your type of installation where the earthing is uncertain...

Good luck,  denny - k8do


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