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

[Mark - N5OT]

Yep.  Just work guys, right?  I think I learned this from N6AA and N6ZZ 
in about 1975.
Thanks, Bob.
Mark

On 9/10/2019 3:44 PM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M wrote:
> 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 <mailto:r-emails at n5ot.com>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, September 10, 2019 4:11 PM
> *To:* towertalk at contesting.com <mailto: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)