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

[Cecil]

Receive antennas are all about S/N ratio not signal strength. They will be significantly down but should be much quieter.

Cecil
K5DL

Sent from my iPad

> On 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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