Topband: Top Loading a 43 footer

[Ashton Lee]

I do this with great success.

Just put the longest wire you can (up to 85 feet) and run it as horizontal as you can. I assume you already load your antenna through an unun, So shorter than 85 feet will work as long as it is longer than say 43 feet. Attach it with a hose clamp, but perhaps shy of the top, if your version of the antenna is lightly built. I have the super heavy duty version of the Zero Five and I still load it about 5 feet from the top. When not in use you can just wrap the wire around the antenna.

I top load mine to be resonant on 80 meters so I take the unun out of the circuit. But I have also op loaded it for 160. In that case I built a way to add extra length to the 80 meter wire using a clip.

No one has a much better antenna on 160 than you will get. Last night on an inverted L I worked everything on the band from the bottom of a valley in Western CO. That included Chile, France, PJ2T etc.

KQ0C
Ash