[TowerTalk] Not just what antenna, but how high and the QTH

Sun Apr 12 22:39:23 EDT 2015

Mike brings up an interesting point.  Yes, the antenna is  important, but 
so is how high you put it up and the surrounding terrain.  I  can't stress 
strongly enough how important it is to do HFTA, especially if you  live on 
anything other than flat Florida terrain.  

I'm currently looking for a QTH that is killer.  Every place  I'm seriously 
considering gets the HFTA treatment as a litmus test.  Crappy  HFTA results 
and it gets cast aside.  Yeah it's pretty obvious if you have  a hilltop 
QTH, you'll get out quite well.

What is not so obvious is that if you sit on a 200 ft cliff facing  the 
ocean, your signal will be really good on 40 and 80, but will suffer on 20,  15 
and 10 due to rapid peaks and dips at various angles of arrival.   Without 
doing the HFTA most of us would not be aware of these  shortcomings.

Sitting on a nice smooth hill drop is preferable to one that has  rises and 
falls as it drops.  The first yields a nice smooth pattern, the  second has 
dips and rises.   The more I play with BV's HFTA the more I  learn

Now I'm not saying your signal will stink because it won't on a  cliff.  
I'm only saying that it's not just the antenna, but the location  and the 
height of the antenna too.

K4XS

In a message dated 4/13/2015 2:24:18 A.M. Coordinated Universal Time,  
mryan001 at tampabay.rr.com writes:

Jim, I  suppose going any further on this discussion, just looks like a no 
win  situation. No one is disputing the work that K7LXC and N0AX or K4XS 
(who  
has done more to study antennas, take off angles, etc than anyone I know  
since he jumps around the globe like a ping pong ball on the ocean, and  
always ending up with a killer station) have done or that it isn't the  
bottom line or the last word. On the other hand, when people have their  
minds made up....they are just made up.  Some of that is just because  they 
read what someone else has said. The point I was making about the  Mosley 
is 
that the antenna, is working for the guy.  I/you/we all  hear all the time 
how well antennas are working for this guy and  that...that what they have 
is 
the greatest antenna they have every had.  But that in some cases is 
because 
it has been the ONLY antenna they have  ever had. Not in the case for the 
op 
who now has a Mosley. But he also has  little money to spend and I felt 
that 
in the spirit of ham radio (blah  blah) that I would help him, put it up, 
and 
get him back on the air. Now,  he had a Mosley antenna sitting there...got 
it 
very reasonably priced and  did not have to pay shipping....that's two 
bonus 
points in my mind.   It is now sitting on his tower because he is too old 
to 
climb or to crank  and I am neither.
Jeff (AC0C) made the point,  and I guess to summarize, that on any 
given Sunday, given the right  conditions, the phase of the moon, the rise 
of 
the tide, and the blink of  an eye one can work dx on about anything.  I 
interjected, 'even a  Mosley' as is the case.  I have been fortunate enough 
to use  something different I suppose and would say that I'm quite 
satisfied 
with  my station considering. Were that I had a Mosley antenna, perhaps 
not. 
I  guess it would depend on the moon, etc. In any event I am not going to  
bash or belittle anyone for what they are able to get up in the air, it  
may 
be only worth so much to do it in the first place, and if in fact  would be 
worth more, perhaps they couldn't afford to do it at all.
I  hope you enjoy what you have in any event.  '73,  Mike

-----Original Message----- 
From: D. Scott MacKenzie
Sent:  Sunday, April 12, 2015 8:15 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re:  [TowerTalk] antenna choices for K4XS

That is why I gave up - my  antennas were not worthy.  I don't have multiple
towers, with multiple  wavelength mono-banders or stacked Steppers.  So I
figure that there  was little point of continuing regardless of my  DXCC
total.

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk  [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim
Brown
Sent:  Sunday, April 12, 2015 6:30 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re:  [TowerTalk] antenna choices for K4XS

On Sun,4/12/2015 2:39 PM, Mike  Ryan wrote:
> all the bashing that has been going on lately about Mosley  Antennas
> fits in well right here. My retired friend who is on a  budget, bought
> a used  Mosley TA53 ( I think that is the correct  model).

Advice based on the carefully done measurements by K7LXC and  N0AX is NOT
bashing -- it is based on FACTS.

Steve and Ward  documented their work very carefully and thoroughly, and
published it as a  bound report. They also did a study of HF verticals. I
bought both reports.  I learned a LOT about both the antenna performance
AND some technical  analysis of WHY things performed as they did.

Joe, W4TV bought the  reports too -- that's the basis of his comments.

Go to K7LXC's Champion  Radio Products website. About $20 each as I
recall. And while you're there,  also buy N6BT's excellent A Ray Of Light
book on antennas.

73, Jim  K9YC

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