Topband: Some experiments with a short beverage, not succeeding very well

[Brad Rehm]

Mark,

I didn't see any mention of a preamp.  Signals from a good Beverage are
typically 20-30 dB below what you'd hear from a dipole or a vertical.
Everything else you've done looks good.  Keep it up!

73,
Brad  KV5V
Salado, Texas

On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 1:57 PM Mark Lunday <wd4elg at outlook.com> wrote:

> "Beverages just want to work" is what I have heard.
>
> Not having much luck with that here.  I suspect operator/installation
> error.
>
> I did a lot of reading and I must be doing something wrong.
>
>
>
>   *   250 feet of insulated wire strung out in 030 degrees direction
> toward EU, pretty straight, varying in height from 4 to 6 feet, running
> through thick brush with no metal objects or artificial elements along the
> run.
>   *   9:1 transformer at feed point with ground rod
>   *   300 feet of coax, mix of RG-8, MMR-400 to get to the edge of the
> woods from the house
>   *   No terminating resistor
>
> On bands 160-40, the signals are very weak. I am monitoring WSPR, FT8.   I
> can hear signals on 160-40 but they are way down compared to dipoles and
> inverted L on the same bands. Like 20-30 db down. From what I read, I
> should NOT need an HF pre-amplifier, right?
>
> Signals on 30 and 20 seem to be better and I can copy some DX from EU on
> FT8.
>
> I will try installing a new ground rod, the old one is 10 years old and
> perhaps not making a good ground connection at the feedpoint.   The
> transformer is brand new, so that's not an issue.  The coax has tested out
> fine.  Soil is central North Carolina clay, a bit dry at this time.
>
> I am guessing performance is poor on 160-40 because of the short length
> and that it's bi-directional (no terminating resistor), which I am seeing
> on 30 meters. But I did not think it would be THIS bad on 160-40....
>
> Mark Lunday, WD4ELG
> Greensboro, NC  FM06be
> wd4elg at arrl.net<mailto:wd4elg at arrl.net>
> http://wd4elg.blogspot.com
> SKCC #16439  FISTS #17972  QRP ARCI #16497
>
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