Good afternoon.
The local terrain also enters into the picture. I prefer to have the low band
antennas as high as possible; however, at our new location, am presently using a
35' tower trailer. After using it on 40-10, I am quite surprised at the results,
even in the westerly direction, where the hill rises immediately about 15'. As
an example (obviously anecdotal), I worked 8Q7CC through his JA pile-up this
morning and made it on one call (he was coming in over Japan from here). Working
Europe in the evening early and late openings the past week are also easy, even
at 150 watts, as last night. So.....for 40, as high as possible, but 2el 40 mtr
Yagis can be effective even at low heights; perhaps not first layer in contests,
but not all that bad, either. At our former location in the SF Bay Area, I had a
42' tower for several years (75-79) and was very good on 40 mtrs (interlaced
3el40 and 5el 20), even long path. The long path effectiveness was probably due
to Pedersen wave (or chordal hop) propagation. Short path to EU was all right
when the band opened. The tall antennas opened and closed the band.
Have a great day & 73,
Tom Schiller, N6BT
President, Force 12, Inc.
Amateur Antennas, Commercial Towers & Antennas
P.O. Box 1349 Paso Robles, CA 93447
Phone: 805.227.1680 FAX 805.227.1684
Web Site: http://www.QTH.com/force12
--
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