Topband: 160 Possibilities from Limited Spaces

[Nelson Moyer]

In response to Phil's post about space and height limitations in Tahiti, I
too am space and height limited. My back yard is only 60x70 feet (about
20x23 meters) and my max. height is 40 feet (about 14 meters, but I put up
an inverted L for 160 meters and I've worked 122 and confirmed 120 entities
in the last 5 years. My problem is with my receive antennas, not my transmit
antennas. I have worked everything I can hear. I use a mag loop and a flag
on receive, but I live in town and have local noise sources.

My inverted L runs up a tower to 40 feet (about 14 meters), then slopes down
to a pole on the corner of my lot at 20 feet (about 8 meters), then bends
along the fence line to another pole at 20 feet (8 meters). The total length
of the inverted L is about 138 feet (about 46 meters), but it tunes to SWR
of 1:1.4. I do not have any radials on the inverted L, just a single 8 foot
ground rod. I used 20 foot 2x4 inch lumber to make T-shaped poles to support
the wire along the fence line. The T-poles are attached to the 4x4 inch
wooden fence posts with carriage bolts. Even without a tower, if you can get
an inverted-L up at least 20 feet, then run horizontal to other 20 foot
trees or poles, you can get on 160 meters. The horizontal wire length does
not have to be straight; mine bends back along the fence line at an angle of
40 degrees.

So it is possible to work 160 meter DX from a compromised location even when
you don't have space for radials and beverages or height for verticals. I
would encourage Phil to explore the possibility of getting on topband.

Nelson, KU0A