Topband: Vertical 2-element array?

[Rick Kiessig]

I have a quarter-wave vertical for 40m on a steeply sloped lot, at about
100m AGL, 300m horizontally from the ocean. It currently has a relatively
poor radial field (more are in the works, of course); I use it entirely as a
multiband receive antenna, not for TX. A second fan-vertical element is
connected to the same feedpoint, configured as an inverted-L for 80m, which
I do use for TX, but rarely. It's resonant on both 40 and 80, and works on
160 at low power with an in-shack tuner.

 

Downhill, toward the ocean, is also the direction to EU and JA. On sloped
land like this, is a second vertical director-like element downhill, below
the first one likely to work (it would have to be limited to 10.5m height
above ground)? If so, would it buy me much? EZNEC suggests a slight
improvement is possible, but modelling this kind of system has been
problematic for me in the past, so I'm not confident of the results.

 

Are there other alternatives I should consider for increased gain on 40, 80
and/or 160? The horizontal space I have available above ground is very
limited, so things like an FCP or a K9AY loop are too big. I could make room
for a BOG or Beverage, but the longest run would be about 50m, and it's not
really in the right direction.

 

73, Rick ZL2HAM / ZM1G