Topband: Best Height Above Ground for a Beverage RX Antenna

[Rick Karlquist]

Larry Molitor wrote:
>>
>> 9) Every Bev I've installed with height above ground of between 24 and 36
> inches and lengths between 200 feet and 1200 feet has met or exceeded
> performance expectations. Wires installed at heights between 8 feet and 10
> feet above ground consistently disappoint me.
>> Larry - W7IUV

I just wanted to say that my experience agrees with Larry.
When I first started using beverages, I observed that most people
used a height of 8 to 10 feet, so I assumed that must
be the right thing to do.  I later figured out that this
height was not chosen for electrical reasons, but rather
so that moving objects (people, deer, horses, etc) didn't
run into the wire.  One day, my 10 foot high beverage fell
down and laid on the ground.  There wasn't much signal from
it, but the signal to noise ratio was considerably better
than it ever was when it was 10 feet high.

I put it back up and constructed a parallel beverage 50 feet
away at a height of 2 feet.  I then A/B'd these two and the
2 foot one was clearly superior.  I now have all beverages
at 2 to 3 feet high.

Rick N6RK