Topband: Low 160m dple - trash or treasure?

[EUGENE GABRY]

Hi Mike,

When we moved and retired to TN in September of 2021 after a lifetime of living in IL, I didn't have much time to put up any "real" antenna for the upcoming 160 season. The plot of land we built on (1.5 acres) is completely treeless (old tobacco farmland). All I had to make work for supports for any wire antenna was the house roof and shed roof about 130' feet behind the house. I strung 125' of 14 gauge house wire from the side of the house roof about 17' above ground to the peak of the shed roof behind the house to the SW, also at ~ 17' above ground. I attached the center conductor to the wire and the shield to the house gutter system, which happened to be the end of the line of the gutter system where the wire was strung. The gutter system wrapped around 85% of the house and was ~ 125' total continuously connected. So I had a 160m dipole at about 17' above ground, and the wire sagging a bit to ~ 15' above ground. Fed the contraption with an ugly balun. After tweaking the wire a bit
 , I settled on a 2:1 VSWR, and called it "GOOD"! I got this up in time for the ARRL160 contest in Dec. 2021. I made 350 Qs, 60 sections and 4 DX, V3 ZF C6 and PJ2. 
This cobbled together antenna would be my only antenna for all bands until August of 2022. In that time frame I accomplished mixed mode WAS on several bands, and DXCC mixed mode.
On 160 for the year and a half it was up. I completed WAS mixed mode, mostly CW and some FT8. Both AK and HI were worked on CW.
Most of the regular DX worked in contests has been Caribbean and Central America. However, I have 11 EU confirmed with this antenna in the 2022 160 season, and they include, ER20Z, EA, LY, OM, 9A, LZ, HB9, ON, YO, E7 and OH0. 50/50 CW/FT8.

So my bottom line answer to your question is YES, a 25' above ground will get you on the air and making contacts when all other antennas have failed!!

Truth be told, all I've ever operated with on 160m have been low compromise antennas, and I've had a blast! Now that I live on 1.5 acres, age has set in and I don't have the physical energy any longer to deal with putting up and maintaining a tower.
My current antenna is a 6BTV ground mounted vertical with an added full size 1/4 wave 160 inverted L at the feed point, 25' to the knee. So far with this antenna and the 160 low dipole I have worked 68DX and confirmed 60DX on LOTW here in TN, and have added 12 new DXC to my original 160 DXCC bringing that total to 118.

BTW, 5 of the 17 Qs we have  since I moved to TN were on the low 160 dipole!

I hope this helps Mike.

73 and looking forward to more Qs with you.

Gene, N9TF
Clarksville TN
EM66IJ
   
> On 01/13/2025 8:44 AM CST Mike Smith VE9AA <ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
> 
>  
> So, this past weekend I pretty much got skunked on Topband as my 160m
> inverted L died after the first QSO in the NAQP CW contest and I had no 160m
> backup antenna.(only band I don't currently have a backup for)
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> About the only thing I would be able to manage as a "backup" antenna here is
> a slightly ends-bent horizontal dipole, but only up 25' (that's roughly like
> having a 20m dipole up ~3.3' if I've done my math correctly.)
> 
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> Has anyone used a low 160m dipole at only 25'?
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> Have you worked coast to coast (NA) or any DX?
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> I know all about verticals, inverted L's etc. I have a yard chock full of
> them.   I have terrible soil conductivity here, but am at pretty good height
> ASL, so do "OK" on VHF/HF.
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> My specific question is for a low (cloud warmer) dipole on Topband.
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> Tnx All!
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> CU (all of a sudden!) in the next one.
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> Mike VE9AA "NB"
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> Mike - Keswick Ridge, NB, Canada 
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> Mike - Keswick Ridge, NB, Canada 
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