[TowerTalk] beverage questions

[Dennis OConnor]

Well, if you ask ten hams a question like you did you will get 11 opinions - because one will change after hearing the others...

So, my opinions are:
Yes, running a second beverage parallel and close to the first will cause significant interaction...  The accepted rule of thumb is that minimum lateral separation between Beverages that are at less than a 45 degree angle should be at least their height above ground... In my opinion it should be significantly  more than that...  If you check the published Beverage installations you will find they all (including me) make wires cross at a fairly acute angle and not run nearly parallel...

Next, there is not a nickel's worth of difference between the transformers wound by the various vendors... 
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The difference is that the transformer's primary winding impedance (and coax turns ratio) needs to match to the impedance of your Beverage wire as installed...  (repeat this to yourself ten times as it is the key to understanding life, the universe, and everthing - well that and 43)
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 I have not used KD9SV's transformers... I have used K1FZ, DX Engineering, and multiple ones of my own winding - both single toroid and binocular core...  After a massive lightning storm exploded all but one transformer in my Beverage array a few months back - an amazing display of lightning strokes slashing across my South 40 like Irish River Dancers - I am currently using DX Engineering boxes- 2nd day delivery - both the single direction and the reversibles... I feel they work just fine and do not see/hear any difference to my hand wound except their SS enclosures and hardware are first rate compared to my usual Tupperware and Margerine containers.....

On ladderline versus twisted pair - I am opinionated - I don't use either...  Ladderline is a pain in the butt to keep up if you have any wind at all... Ladderline is heavy, it has amazing wind resistance and flails and flops like a wounded fish in a strong wind...  It takes double the amount of poles to run ladderline compared to anything else.. 
 And a twisted pair annoys my sense beauty...  I run two parallel wires, no twist, nicely tensioned...
I use aluminum fence wire - 17 gauge - it is cheap and light and you can tension it with two fingers. It runs nicely with a pole every 100 feet. and it works..  My reversibles use 4 inch spacing...  A 450-600 ohm transformer seems to about right...

I have not tried using 2 spaced wires as a single wire... It will work, but there may be subtle problems... I am not in favor of giving Murphy an unecessary opening for mischief... 

denny / k8do