Topband: Small Lot Receiving Antennas Update

[H R SMITH]

      I'll try and answer some of your questions. The nearest element of the array is 18' from the xmit ant and 9' from the house. The AC powerlines run @3' above and @5' outside of array. I have run 1500 watts with no ill effects at all! The transistor amps are protected, I also run a "Receive Antenna Switch" by Gary Nichols (KD9SV) on both stations. There is some interaction from the xmit ant and I will try to tune that out with a tuned circuit, too much snow and too cold now. As for the MFJ 1026, it took me a while to make it play. One night I ran the xmit ant into the sense port and used a 40 mtr dipole on receive, worked great. I now knew that I needed a larger sense ant. I put up a 16' stick as far away from all the other antennas. I run the array through the 1026 and the Ameco PT-3. I did put a larger phasing knob on the 1026, easier for me to tune. It might help that I tuned the xmit antenna to 50 ohms on the shunt fed twr with a General Radio 1606A RF bridge. One other note- on the base of the sense ant I match it with a 10:1 binocular #73 transformer. If all things workout I'll let you know where you can see more. As for this weekend, new date for CW contest, 42 yrs with the xyl and I will be out of town. Good Luck to all in the contest this weekend. Ron  KB7ZR