Topband: What ever happened to the 160 meter "Z" antenna?

[Stan Stockton]

A good analysis of all this can be found from IV3PRK as he planned his antenna for his new QTH in HC land.

http://www.iv3prk.it/user/image/site2-inverted-l-vs-vertical-t.pdf

73...Stan, K5GO

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 16, 2015, at 6:14 AM, Tom W8JI <w8ji at w8ji.com> wrote:

>> Tom,  Thanks for the details on the "Z" for TB.  On a related matter I have been looking for comparisons between a "L" and a "T" firmly believing that a "T" would be better as in 65' up and 135' horizontal fed in the exact center.  However there are so many TB'ers using "L" rather than "T"s which begs the question....why? You need two supports for the "L" but how much do you gain by converting this to a "T" with even a modest ground plain of 6-12 radials?  Or is it just a matter of convenience and lot size?
> 
> There is almost no difference between the T and L. It is mostly a matter of what someone can fit.
> 
> When I lived on a city lot, I had restricted antenna room. I installed a "G5RV" between two tall pines. I dropped the feedline vertically to the ground. I fed the entire thing as  T on 160, and I managed to work many JA's, VU, UA0's, VS6, and even a JT on 160.  An L I tried was no different, but too many wires cluttered an area and makes an RF mess out of things. The G5RV gave me a good 160 antenna (fed as a T) and a pretty good 80-10 antenna, with just one wire and one feedline, using a tuner right where the feeder came to ground level.
> 
> I installed a 100 ft vertical later, and it was no better than the G5RV "T". As a matter of fact I just phased the 100ft tower against the G5RV to make a two element 160 vertical array with four patterns.
> 
>> Again my question:  How much better is a "T" over an "L" on 160?
> 
> No one would notice, it is not even worth one dB. We are actually lucky to notice 6 dB unless we A B test something.
> 
> You would likely notice the out and up and out half wave, though. It is far more like a messed up dipole than a good vertical.  The one I tried lost several dB on groundwave over a base loaded vertical. It kept getting better and better as I made it more and more like an "inverted L". 
> _________________
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband