[TowerTalk] Beverages near the seawater ???

[Jim Brown]

On Sun,3/19/2017 12:29 PM, Douglas Ruz / CO8DM wrote:
> We think about the beverages but I have been reading that beverages near the sea don't work very well.

What matters is the soil conductivity under the Beverage. If the soil 
conductivity is high, a Beverage won't work. A few feet is probably too 
close.

Take a look at the VE3DO loop, and even an array of them if you have the 
space. It's VERY easy to build and rig between a pair of poles. I just 
got a pair going and it works as well as my 550 ft 
Beverage.http://www.ok1rr.com/index.php/onair/8-qmgr

For 160M, the ideal spacing between a pair is about 350 ft, which is how 
mine are rigged. The pair also works pretty well on 80M, but the spacing 
is too wide for 80, and half the spacing (5/8 wave) would be better for 
80. The pattern of a pair of loops can be steered by phasing them -- 
that is, change the phase of one relative to the other, either with an 
electronic phasing network like those used for noise cancelling, or by 
switching in lengths of coax to one of the two loops.

An ongoing study of the array is at k9yc.com/VE3DO.ppt  The choice of 
ferrite for the transformer is not critical. I used a #43 core and 
approximately doubled the number of turns on each winding. For minimum 
noise coupling, windings should be on OPPOSITE sides of the core (which 
minimizes capacitance between windings), NOT wound on top of each other 
(which maximizes capacitive coupling).

73, Jim K9YC