[TowerTalk] Something new in the air...

[David Gilbert]

I'm here to confirm everything that Gary just said.  I would often 
listen to Gary (who lived maybe 30 miles from me at the time) work VK/ZL 
one after another, giving them S9+20 reports while I couldn't hear them 
at all .... and I have a K3 at a very quiet location.  On the other 
hand, I've been in major contests where I was able to work Europe a full 
hour before anyone else west of Texas.  As Gary says, the difference 
between a huge antenna and a simple one is a very few db, whereas the 
difference created by terrain or propagation can be several tens of db.

The HFTA plots of my QTH at http://www.ab7e.com/HFTA/AB7E_HFTA.html tell 
the tale.  The dark blue lines represent Europe, while the light green 
ones represent Oceania (aka my dummy load).  It's amazing what a primary 
lobe less than 2 degrees can do ....

73,

Dave AB7E


On 7/13/2016 8:18 AM, StellarCAT wrote:
> not to thread on your enthusiasm, and I'm sure you know this, but the 
> reason why he (or anyone for that matter) is above the rest of the 
> stations isn't the antenna - or at least its just a factor in the 
> overall scheme of things ... propagation is a key factor as is 
> location, location location.
>
> Before I recently moved to South Carolina I used HFTA extensively to 
> vet every home we were looking at .... in 6 months found zero that met 
> all our criteria - so instead I found 11+ acres that was great re HFTA 
> (and ok for most other things) and bought it - built a house and am 
> now assembling a station ... angle is the most important factor 
> (assuming propagation is there - or compared to another station 
> nearby) in that it can make an average antenna - even a dipole - out 
> perform a large array ... HFTA will tell you this and I personally 
> know - when I was in Arizona Dave, AB7E, was on the side of a mountain 
> with a gentle slope towards EU out for miles - when modeled his 
> location equipped with a dipole at 40' would outperform my 3/3/3 on 20 
> meters - towards EU .... and I'd hear VK's 20 over that he couldn't 
> tell were there!
>
> I only write this because it appears you're suggesting that it is this 
> antenna that makes all these stations above the pack. Generally 
> speaking the difference between an average 3 element beam on a 
> compromised boom (length) and a monobander is only 2 or 3 db...
>
> Gary
> K9RX
>
> -----Original Message----- From: PAUL924 at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 4:17 PM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Something new in the air...
>
>
> Hi Guys,
> I recently had a QSO with Amir 4X6TT and even during these  poor
> propagation conditions he was 59+ 20db on 20 meters. I asked him what 
> type of antenna
> he was using and he said a GPX 16-3 which I had never heard of before. I
> located the website  _www.gpxantennas.com_ 
> (http://www.gpxantennas.com/) .
> owner SP7GPX. After I signed with him several other stateside stations 
> using
> antennas  from this site called him and they were also very loud.
> I wanted share this information  with those members of TowerTalk who may
> not be familiar with these  antennas.
> 73,
> Paul  W2JGQ