[TowerTalk] "experts" on loading towers on low bands

[Bob Shohet, KQ2M]

Mark has nailed it!

One of the nice things about making something and seeing it it works well enough is that what you make doesn’t know how well it is supposed to work and doesn’t care.  :-)
So if it works it works regardless of what anyone thought beforehand.

Usually if it works (and no one thought it would), we find out long after the fact why it worked, and generally it was something that wasn’t known or understood at the time, and now the field advances with the “Gee, I wonder why it works so well?” study and discoveries afterwards.

Simple example...  I wanted to put up a 4-stack on 15 meters when I built my station.  I new that I needed heights of 30’, 60’ and 90’, but with 100’ of tower it didn’t seem to make sense to put another 15 above that.  The thinking was that even on a tall mast, the 90’ and another 15 at 109’ would be too close and would phase poorly especially if they were pointed in different directions.  Everyone that I asked about this said so.  These guys built great stations and are great ops.  You know all of their calls.  But I modeled the stack with K6STI’s YO and it looked GOOD!  I asked them again.  “NO!  I would not do it” came the answer in unison.   Thankfully I did my homework beforehand and I chose not to listen to the advice of people that I respect.

So I built it and put it up anyway.  The 5L at 109’ was and is a KILLER!, especially when in phase with the 90’.  I believed the modeling over my terrain.  The software was correct and my 15 meter experience has been awesome for the past 20 years.  (And I have thanked Brian, K6STI many times over the years)

Before I put it up I reasoned that if it didn’t work I could always take it down.  But if it did work, I would never want to!  :-)   Very high reward to risk ratio!

Moral of the story:  Model it, build it well, put it up and see how it does!

73

Bob KQ2M


From: Mark - N5OT 
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2019 4:11 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com 
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] "experts" on loading towers on low bands

I'm a big fan of "experiment trumps theory" and basically I have spent 
nearly 50 years doing the following:

1. Make something.
2. See if it works well enough.
3.  If it works well enough, you're done.  If it doesn't, change 
something and see what happens.

Clearly I'm just an amateur.  But because I'm on TowerTalk™ I can say I 
make "educated guesses."

Love you guys,
73 - Mark N5OT
(intended to be humorous - everyone carries a bucket of gasoline in one 
hand and a bucket of water in the other - they get to choose which one 
they throw on the fire - I choose water) (most of the time)