[TowerTalk] Best wire type antenna for 75m/80m DX coverage

w8ji.tom w8ji.tom@MCIONE.com
Wed, 21 Oct 1998 12:36:19 -0400


> I'll second Mark's approach.   I used this technique on a flat-top dipole
> for 80/75 and it increased the bandwidth significantly. Not enough to
cover
> 3.5 to 3.8 but this antenna was quite low, abt 30' max.
> 
> I currently have a 40M 'Fan' inverted vee with the apex at 50' and it's
> under 1.5:1 across all of 40M.

I use the same thing on the elements of my four square, and on 80 meter
dipole antennas.

I space a pair of #16 wires twelve feet on the open end on 160, and on
eighty I space the ends 3 feet with a 3/8 inch aluminum tube. The nice
thing is it doesn't matter if the spreaders are metal.
  
My 160 four square is under 1.5 to 1 from 1.8 to 1.95 MHz (no resistors in
my phasing system).

Eighty meters covers the whole band.

It sure is better than messing around with switching.

73 Tom

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm