[Towertalk] Terrain Analysis

[Steve London]

I have recently purchased hilltop property in southwestern New Mexico for my
future QTH (No...I'm not leaving Colorado in the next year).  It's a great
QTH for my non-contesting activities, and, I hope, a good contest QTH. It
really is a hilltop, with 300-400 foot dropoff in the first .25 mile in
every direction except west.

It looks like there hasn't been much discussion on terrain analysis on
towertalk in the past few years.  Thus, I have a few questions :

- Are the results from YTAD credible ?  What is the benefit of using YT vs.
YTAD ?  Can I get YT without a copy of the ARRL antenna handbook ?

- Is TA (K6STI's software) still available from Brian, or do I need to find
someone willing to sell me their copy ?  Are the results from TA more
credible that YTAD/YT ?

- Anything new in the way of terrain analysis software ?

- Using YTAD, it looks like it is impossible to get a big, null-free, low
angle lobe (3-12 degrees) with a single antenna or 2-stack when the antenna
almost sees free-space.  Are there any tricks for achieving this ?

- Is there any advantage to putting antennas on hillsides, with the dropoff
in the favored direction ?  Does any of the modeling software handle this
case ?

73,
Steve, N2IC