Topband: LACK OF BEVERAGES

[Bill and Liz]

The beverage is not the be-all in RX antennas!  Those of us who have room put them up but they do not work well at all times.  That is why I have erected a K9AY loop at my home QTH and both a K9AY and DO loop at the summer place.  I also have a horizontal loop and am installing a pait of small verticals.  These loops at the summer home are within 75 ft of my TX vertical and yet I see very little if any noise coupled into them from the vertical....they are incredibly quiet.

I have worked a lot of 160M DX from this location, much of it in the summer as well as spring and fall weekends.  Lack of space for a Beverage should not be the limiting factor, nor should the gurus who say that a K9AY or other loop must be a wavelength away from your vertical to avoid noise pickup.  A horizontal loop strung around whatever shape you can manage at whatever height you can manage....a pair, trio or quad of loaded verticals spaced 1/8 WL, a BOG, a shielded loop or pennant, flag, EWE, slinky Beverage or whatever.  They all work, some better than others, admittedly.  

But even listening on your inverted L some nights will bring you DX rewards...Glenn, VA3DX has NO RX antennas yet has some 250 confirmed on topband and Garry, VE3XN, also with an inverted L, has 200, proof that good ears, knowing WHEN to listen and HOW to listen trump WHAT you listen with.

Bill VE3NH