[TowerTalk] Tower and antenna decisions

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 22:57:46 -0700
From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower and antenna decisions

On 10/26/2013 10:09 PM, Jim Thomson wrote:
> 50 feet  beats out 34 feet hands down every time. 67 feet
> beats out 48 feet every time too.   Be careful  about the TA program.
> It assumes you are in the middle of a wheat field in Kansas.


BULLSHIT!

N6BV;s HFTA terrain analysis software uses USGS terrain data to model 
the behavior of horizontally polarized antennas.  It is DAMN GOOD! If 
you live in flatland, NEC is sufficient.  If you have irregular 
terriain, HFTA is critical.  Lots of serious contesters and serious 
engineers around me (the SF Bay Area) have used it extensively and swear 
by it, including me.

73, Jim K9YC

##  Lemme rephrase that slightly.  IF the ground is relatively flat....higher
is STILL better.   The 1st 45 feet doesn’t count.  You need that just to clear junk +
clutter in the surrounding neighbourhood.   OK, if ur on on the edge of a 800 ft ledge,
overlooking the pacific ocean, its obviously different.   I have been doing this
since 1969..and in this town we have everything from 30 ft  up to 150 ft.
Higher is better..and cleans house every time.

## While 70 ft may seem high....on 40m + 80m, its not.   70 ft on 40m is like 35 ft up
on 20m.    Take one of these 89 ft crank ups....and run it from 26 ft nested..up to
89 ft extended..and it’s a real eye opener.  I have a  slight uphill rise from N-S...all
facing east.   And slightly downhill.... from N-S..all facing west.   I need all the height I can get
when pointed at EU, AF, SA, etc.   Back in 1980, a local  with his 2 el quad up 32 ft..would phone
and ask me who the heck I was talking to on 10M in EU...since he couldn’t hear em.  My 5 el hb 10m
yagi up 76 ft worked  superb.   The local fella thought \I was BSing him.... so I turned on the phone patch. 
That dispelled any myths right there. 

##  Even into East Coast USA,  higher is better, esp on 80-10m.   Here on vancouver island, we have lots of
folks with stacked arrays.  They stack em for more gain.. not for height diversity.   Drive em all in phase..and let
er rip. 

Jim  VE7RF