Topband: 160m Sloping Vertical Antenna?

[Jim Brown]

On Wed,12/24/2014 10:29 AM, Ed via Topband wrote:
> Trying to figure out how to best utilize my 106' tower for 160m.  The tower sits on a small hill so the downside of the tower is sloping.  If I hang a wire off the top, I can bring the other end to the ground and feed it at the bottom. I can ran numerous radials from there.

That's exactly what I'm doing -- my tower is 115 ft with roughly 7 ft of 
mast above it and a 3-el SteppIR. I have sloping wires on two opposite 
sides, supported from the tower just below the rotator with a 10 ft 
section of 4-in PVC conduit. Each wire has its own set of 4 radials 
elevated about 18 ft. The tower, which is grounded, has a dozen or so 
radials laying on the ground.

With this configuration, the tower will act as a reflector, yielding 
about 6 dB front to back. How much GAIN you get will depend on your 
radial system and the quality of your soil. I started with radials 
elevated only a few feet, and gain was poor. On the advice of N6BT, I 
raised them and gain improved.

73, Jim K9YC