Topband: length of Beverages

[Don Johnson]

The best thing I ever did for Topband receiving was to lay out a 220 foot wire on the ground pointed NE to Europe. I then put one down for 480 feet due West. Switching from one to the other was dramatic. Because I could just hear stations to the south but not copy them I put up a short conventional Beverage ( only about 250 ft long) pointed south about 6 feet high. In almost all cases switching between the 3 antennas ( 2 BOGs and one Beverage in the air) indicated very significant directivity. In all cases in the last CQ 160 contest (CW and SSB) the appropriate BOG or Beverage always proved to give me a better signal to noise ratio. 
I put some details on my web page at n4dj.com under my amateur radio links.  Obviously my small antennas can not compare to active 4 squares or 8 circle antennas, but they are not bad for the cost/ installation effort involved.  Really works with my K3 where I can use one antenna on the main receiver and another on the sub. Typically NE in the right ear and switching between West and South in the other ear.

73,
Don
N4DJ


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