[TowerTalk] best coax/receiving

[wa4dou@juno.com]

Hi Dave and Gang,
  With all due respect to Maurio, and the others who feel like him, on
the issue, generally speaking, all tests prove something and mean
something. 

  It has been my experience that many, if not most hams, give up
listening, before signals fall into the noise. You have proven that, at
least in the time you conducted your test, that your qth is noise
limited, that external noise limits your receiving ability. I'm not aware
of your antenna type, nor the gain-F/B figures, nor would it seem very
germaine since you found no heading where the noise disappeared
completely, except to say that it might be conceivable that a larger
antenna might benefit you slightly. If your qth is about average there
might be times where the external noise falls to such a low level that it
could be demonstrated that you can't avail yourself completely of its
benefit. In that sense, and circumstance, your feedline might be one of
your limitations. Those limitations might be minor to you, or perhaps
even inconsequential. How long is your run of "cheesy" RG-213? (Ha!) 

  I am a ham that will listen to signals in the noise. QRP'ers develop an
affinity for trying to hang with signals, and any ham who has used very
modest antennas and wanted to work lots of dx, has to be willing to do
so. 

  I do understand the "contester" mentality. To these guys, winning
dictates that any edge, no matter how slight, must be gained and taken
advantage of. Personally, i think the victory is hollow, which is why i
do not share their enthusiasm for the "winning" mentality. I do not fault
them for it. I enjoy contesting, but i enjoy the "participation", and
could not care less if i win or not. I don't have anything to prove.
Besides, my opinion of "contesters", good or bad, or even indifferent,
isn't even important here. I must admit that it never dawned on me that a
contester might spend $50,000 on a station, antennas, towers, etc.

  In all things, studied carefully and dispassionately, there is such a
thing as the cost/benefit ratio. My arguements are predicated on the
premise that for most hams with rotatable type antennas that exibit gain
,front to back ratio, directionality, etc., there is a point of
diminishing returns, beyond which, costs escalate disproportinately to
the perceived value. A contester perceives a db as a valuable asset.
Knowing that a db is "just barely discernable", that 3 db "isn't
remarkable", that 5 db is "a worthwhile change" and that 10 db is "a
whole new level of performance", i am only willing to go but so far. What
do you expect of one  who made a "clean sweep" in the 1977 Sweepstakes
and didn't even bother to send in the log? My station? A Drake TR-4 and a
270 ft. longwire.

  Last year, while building my tower(first, and only in 38 yrs. as a
ham), it became possible for me to acquire 250 ft. of Andrews LDF-4 1/2"
heliax, never wet, not even very old, clean outside, loss characteristics
just as new, for about $.90 a foot. , providing me the opportunity to
have two runs to the top of the tower, one for H.F., one for 6 meters. I
could just as well done with RG-213, and in fact ,i acquired 150 ft. of
RG-213 for a backup run. There can be other reasons for using very low
loss line. I wanted to be able to bury it in pvc conduit. That ruled out
open wire line. I didn't want to risk having lightning puncture the
dielectric in the feedline, since my driven elements are not at d.c.
ground. I'm using transient protection at both ends of the runs, which
will likely "clamp" below the critical voltage and i have an "under 5 ohm
ground." The power handling capability is of no importance to me. I
personally would not have paid $1.85 to $2.50 per foot for 1/2" heliax .
I took advantage of a good deal. 

  You contesters will "cringe" when i tell you that i once worked VK9, on
30 meters, in the early morning hours, dead band otherwise. My power? 1
watt. My antenna? An inverted vee, 35 ft. high at the apex, fed with 100
ft. of RG-58c/u. Sure, i was the only one calling him in the whole world.


  I love ham radio, i fell in love with radio at age 9. I made  radio my
career(technician), but i like to remind myself, that they throw our
qsl's in the trash when we die. There really are other things in life
besides radio. 

  I wish everyone of you, every db you want and deserve! No matter how
much it costs you! Ha! 73 Roy WA4DOU
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