[TowerTalk] JK 402 versus CC XM-240

[Jeff Blaine]

Jim I don't think that Tim is saying the 4sq is 6 dB better than his 
beams.  I read that as a 4sq is around 6dB of gain on a model.  Maybe 
I'm reading that wrong.  Pretty sure if it was 6 dB better than a set of 
tall stacks the entire world would be running 4sq on 40m and few would 
be using beams.

73/jeff/ac0c
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
www.ac0c.com

On 27-Feb-19 3:02 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On 2/26/2019 8:03 PM, Tim Duffy wrote:
>> With a good ground radial system (very important) here at K3LR - the
>> full size 4 square holds its own - almost 6 dB of gain over ground -
>> compared to a stack of W6NL Moxons (185 feet over 120 feet). The
>> vertical 4 square is a VERY good antenna for 40 meter DXing.
>
> Soil quality also matters a lot for vertically polarized antennas, 
> while it does not matter for horizontal antennas. Radials help 
> verticals ONLY by minimizing losses in the ground they cover; soil 
> quality strongly affects the strength of the far field. K3LC wrote an 
> excellent tutorial on this that was published either in QEX or NCJ 
> something like 10 years ago.
>
> This might, for example, explain why your analysis of the relative 
> effectiveness of your 4-square is different from Jeff's. My QTH in the 
> Santa Cruz Mountains has mostly rocky soil, so horizontally polarized 
> antennas are the winner on all bands except 160M. They're better on 
> 160 because almost any horizontal dipole that could be rigged for 160M 
> is a LOW dipole. :) I had one at about 120 ft for several years when I 
> first moved here, and it rarely beat a Tee vertical with about 80 ft 
> vertical over on-ground radials, and the vertical was usually MUCH 
> better.
>
> One blessing for 160 verticals at my QTH is that the 160M season 
> (winter) is our rainy season, and laying on top of that rock is a lot 
> of "duff," droppings from the trees that act like a big sponge to 
> retain the rain, temporarily improving soil conductivity. Once we've 
> had a lot of rain, my signal gets louder on 160M!
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
>
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