Topband: Low Angles

[steve.root at culligan4water.com]

 First off let me state that my QTH is awful. It's the "before" picture in a weight loss advertizement. However I think a lot stations situated in suburban and urban environments have similar issues. As I stand at the base of my mighty Butternut, I look in any direction and see obstructions. Cars, trucks, garages, hills, telephone poles, sheds, trash cans. The very base of my vertical can "see" about 40 feet away. What does that do to the radiation pattern of this antenna? Modelling this location would be similar to mapping the human genome and I refuse to consider it. My gut tells me I need higher angles of arrival or I'm out of business. Perhaps this accounts, in part, for the wide range of performance seen with similar antennas.

73 Steve K0SR