Topband: "T"-Top Vertical Antennas

[donovanf at starpower.net]

Paul,

The snippet quoted from the Proceedings is the root of the confusion about the 1BCG antenna.  The 78 page Proceedings documents the antenna, the entire station, and Godley's DXpedition to Scotland in detailed text, photographs and diagrams.

The 1BCG antenna was initially installed with the single wire vertical feedline attached to one end of the cage flat top.  Today we would call this an "inverted-L."  They quickly abandoned this feed method in favor of connecting the vertical wire to the center of the flat top.  Quoting the Proceedings, "The shack (a 10 x 14 foot hut) had to be moved so as to be underneath the center of the antenna"

The Proceedings includes many photographs of the antenna, unfortunately only a few of us have access to this fascinating book.  However, many pages of February 1922 QST describe the 1BCG station, the DXpedition to Scotland, and the results of this first successful DX Contest.  Any ARRL member can download the fascinating articles at:

http://p1k.arrl.org/cgi-bin/topdf.cgi?id=4359&pub=qst

http://p1k.arrl.org/cgi-bin/topdf.cgi?id=4360&pub=qst

http://p1k.arrl.org/cgi-bin/topdf.cgi?id=4361&pub=qst

73
Frank
W3LPL

---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:54:30 -0400
>From: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac at arrl.net>  
>Subject: Re: Topband: "T"-Top Vertical Antennas  
>To: <topband at contesting.com>
>
>> "Paul, There's still some discrepancy here.  I have the Radio Club of
>America commemorative publication on the 1921 tests.  In it
>Amy and Burghard describe the station antenna:..."
>
>Going back that far, there's bound to be some discrepancies about the 1BCG 
>feed detail, but several references point to a "T" feed.  In fact, the same 
>Radio Club of America website describes: "the antenna system consisted of a 
>"T type cage with a 100 foot flat top 70 feet high."  Reference to the "T" 
>would imply a center feed and not an end feed as implied by Amy and 
>Burghard.
>
>I've seen several photos of the ground detail, and just one of the antenna. 
>Try as I could, I cannot locate where it is to take a better look at it. 
>I'll keep searching my materials to see if there's a better photo of the top 
>portion.
>
>Incidentally, beginning on p. 52, Edmund Laport discusses early use of 
>elevated radial counterpoise systems in "Radio Antenna Engineering." 
>LULU.com offers a free download of the book, supposedly now out of 
>copyright:
>
>http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/radio-antenna-engineering/159004
>
>Paul, W9AC