Topband: Fw: getting started

[Victor Kean]

> am now using a inverted law with 30 1/4 wave radials for 160. my problem
is obtaining
> the height. most I can get is 40 feet.

40 feet is plenty!  I ran 2003-2005 contest seasons with a 40 foot T-top
vertical
hanging form a rope strung between trees.  I started with 60 radials about
110
foot long.  After a couple of seasons of deer tripping over the wires and
mowing,
there were probably 40 left intact.

The 2003 vertical was feed with 1000 feet of RG213.  I got a dramatic
improvement
going to 800 feet of 3/4 inch hardline, theoretically a 2 db improvement.

Finally, the rope broke (it was 1000 feet of 3/8 poly hanging from trees
about 500
feet apart, across the former cornfield, with most of the length doubled
back along
the ground so that one tie down was near the vertical).  Instead of putting
up a
new rope, I put up 48 feet of old aluminum tower with 15 feet of tubing
sticking
out of the top, retaining the T top.  I have about 80 125 foot radials. With
the
droopy T top, I probably have the equivalent of a 50 foot vertical.

This new antenna performs essentially the same as the old antenna, although
the
new antenna seems to be slightly broader.  However, I believe this antenna
works magnificently.

Victor, K1LT