[TowerTalk] the proverbial wet noodle

[Ken Hirschberg]

Right on, Bob - anything is infinitely better than nothing.  And working the
world with 100 watts and a piece of wire definitely builds character!  Some
study to determine a good shape for that wire certainly helped.
Ken

Finger, Bob wrote:

> Here is a story that may interest some of you.  I have been severely antenna
> restricted during the past 15 years, and consequently have been inactive for
> the vast majority of that time.  Figured I had to get back on the air to
> rekindle my pile-up and cw skills prior to making the big retirement move
> and getting real antennas up and operating. I also have this nagging
> question about living without ham radio, as I have been doing for so long.
>
> In preparation for this past weekends ten meter contest, a thought came to
> me, thanks to ON4UN and his Low Band book.  John devotes considerable space
> to the delta loop on 80.  A full wave delta, fed ¼ wave down from the apex ,
> with the base at low height models well.  Would such an antenna work on ten?
> I have a tree about 30 feet from the rear of the house, and I can reach a
> house corner about 20 feet up.  Shack is on ground level.  I constructed a
> 20 meter delta loop,(1005/14=71.7 feet) and fed it ¼ wave from the apex with
> 450 ohm line.  Antenna was hung with the apex down, between the house and
> tree with one corner at 20 feet, and the other at about 32 feet high.  I
> tied the apex to a stake in the ground with twine to pull the antenna into a
> triangle shape.  Results were I worked anything and everything I heard.  I
> could not hear much from South Pacific/Asia, but Europe/Africa/South
> America/North America were very good indeed.  This antenna was quiet!
> Nothing heard on the band but receiver noise floor and signals.
>
>  Moral:  Do not let not having a tower and beam(s) be an excuse to not be on
> the air.  It was great fun to S&P up the band on CW, working every station I
> heard.  Nice to know that I can still break a pile up with finesse rather
> than power. It was a real ego booster to be on ssb on Sunday afternoon,
> S&Ping up the band to be told in more than one instance what a loud signal I
> had to the west coast.
>
>  I know, it is ten meters at the height of the cycle and we can work
> stations by loading a bed spring.  But it was fun! This delta loop must come
> down tonight, but will be stored and is going back up for the ARRL DX
> weekend. Stacked arrays and multiple towers are nice, but not necessary to
> have fun.  Be creative, get on with what you can put up and enjoy!  73 de
> W9GE
>
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