Topband: E51D and OHQP

[Jim Brown]

On 8/24/2023 3:35 PM, Steve Maki wrote:
> And conversely (not that I'm an expert topbander), it might be true that 
> a good DX antenna is more than *adequate* for close in contacts in most 
> situations.

It IS true that a dipole up a half-wave is down only a few dB at NVIS 
angles. So yes, higher is almost always better until it starts lobing.

Few of us mere mortals can get a topband antenna higher than a quarter 
wave. I had one for a couple of years after I moved here, at qbout 120 
ft in my redwoods. In hundreds of comparisons. my 100 ft Tee vertical 
over lousy ground almost always beat it.

The first three hours of topband contests are in daylight here, and the 
Tee can consistently work good stations out to 800 miles. That 
horizontal antenna never even got a QRZ?

73, Jim K9YC