[TowerTalk] 160 dipole?

[Jim Brown]

On Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:25:17 -0600, Jim Miller WB5OXQ in Waco wrote:

> Is a 1/2 wave wire dipole the best antenna for the band

NO! You said you have an 80 ft tower. If you can put a lot of 
radials on the ground around it, I'd load the tower. That is likely 
to work MUCH better than a low dipole (and a dipole at 80 ft on 160 
is a LOW dipole). Radials should be at least 60 ft, longer is 
better, more is better than longer. Symmetry of the radial system is 
not crucial.  

I have a 160 dipole at 100 ft and an 86 ft top-loaded vertical with 
60 radials. I hardly ever use the dipole on 160 any more. It's a 
multiband dipole that also covers 80, 40, 30, 15, 17, and 12, and I 
use it to great advantage on those bands. 

It's more that the difference in radiation pattern, and, I believe, 
has to do with how vertically and horizontally polarized waves 
propagate on 160M. 

73,

Jim K9YC