Topband: Beverage guidance needed

[Garry Shapiro]

I live in a redwood forest and canyon and run two relatively short 
2-wire Beverages through the thick woods. In fact I have never had any 
better situation to contend with. Not only do the wires hang on trees 
but they change altitude over rough terrain over their lengths. There is 
no room for a radial field for a TX vertical and not much separation 
between antennas. One Bev even includes a dogleg from having to reroute 
it over a neighbor's property. "Effective" is a judgment word and in the 
eye of the beholder, but I have 231 counters in the log on  160. Don't 
get me wrong, it has taken over 20 years to get there, but I got there.

I have always believed any Beverage was better than no Beverage--a truth 
imparted to me two decades ago by KN6J, an early local achiever of 
topband DXCC. Bevs are cheap to construct and easy to repair, which is a 
good thing because the forest kills them frequently. Yes, try it---what 
is there to lose?

I believe K9YC has had a similar experience.

Garry, NI6T

On 2/14/2015 9:35 AM, Charles Yahrling wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I'm doing some winter antenna daydreaming based on Low Band DXing and other
> sources.   Is
> it safe to say that an E-W  Beverage or a BOG would be ineffective if the
> wire were run through a wooded area,
> with or without a narrow lane cut for it? or is "try it and find out" the
> favored approach?
>
> My only semi site would be N-S along a property line along a road, directly
> across from power lines on conventional poles.
>
> E-W,  reversible, would favor western europe and western US.  My lot is a 5
> acre wooded trapezoid so 500-600 feet would be
> max practical length.
>
> tnx in advance
>
> 73, chuck
>