Topband: LU5OM shortened dipole (inverted vee) doing a nice job

[K1FZ-Bruce]

Good information Gary.
         
Lot  of the fun of low band DXing comes from  getting new countries, and finding what antenna works best.

Yes, In the transition  that takes place  at gray line time,  there is often  high angle taking place.

As in the past, building our own radio from scratch  is not so easy, but  lets "have at it"  with our antennas.

73
Bruce-K1FZ
http://www.qsl.net/k1fz/beverage_antenna.html

 On Tue, 25 Jul 2017 08:21:27 -0400, "StellarCAT"  wrote:

that’s a pretty ‘general’ statement! I had a 90’ high inverted L with the bend supported by a tower – it was only about 50’ from a 143’ tower ... it had ~30 100’ radials under it ... and I managed to work 100 countries in 89 consecutive days - from Arizona! That included some pretty rare/distant entities. It worked VERY well as far as I was concerned. 

I say this only so that someone reading your comment, having only this as an option, isn’t dissuaded from trying it ... if it is what you have available – go for it! 

As for comparing a V at a low height (for most everyone it WILL be at a low height) to a vertical and saying the V was better would, I believe, suggest a feed system issue I’d think on the vertical. I’d think it would beat out a horizontal, for long distance DX, most of the time – and substantially at that. The vertical that is. OR the ground losses are really substantial. Or both.  

Just because DX is worked using a low horizontal antenna doesn’t imply something is “good” ... it only implies it is sufficient. “Good”ness is very subjective. 

but as they, as we all say – do what you have to ... 

Gary 
K9RX