It's kind of interesting that hams see buried/on ground On Saturday, July 25, 2015, dyarnes <w7...@cox.net> wrote:
> Hi All, > > I cannot improve, or add much to, the excellent commentary provided by Jim > Brown and others. However, I can say that my "experience" tends to confirm > a lot these findings. > > First, I originally had an R7 vertical ground mounted. Performance was > "O.K.", but certainly not very exciting. Later I elevated that antenna to > about 15 ft. above ground, and the improvement was very noticeable. > Subsequently I have replaced the R7 with an F8 (acquired in an estate > sale), and the results are very much the same--the antennas are not all > that much different anyway, but the R8 is a bit taller, and does cover 6 > meters (after a fashion!). If you look at the study Ward Silver, N0AX, did > many years ago on various vertical antenna systems, the R8 is rated one of > the very best. In any event, I've worked well over 100 countries QRP on 40 > meters using this arrangement. > > After hearing Rudy Severns' presentation about ground systems at Pacificon > several years ago, I began elevating radials when using my portable antenna > systems while camping. Most of this was done using either an MP-1 or a > Biddipole configured as a Buddistick. Again, the results were very > rewarding. As Rudy indicates, elevating your radials even just a small > amount can result in significant benefit. Usually I try to deploy 4 > elevated radials. Sometimes, though, only 1 or 2 are practical under the > circumstances. Still, it helps! > > I also acquired a used Sigma 40XK, and now use it as my primary 40 meter > antenna at home. That antenna is raised about 6 feet off the ground, so > the overall height is about 20 feet or so. I wish I could go higher, but > neighborhood restrictions prevent that. I get a 1 to 3 Db improvement with > this antenna over the R8, measured by comparisons using the RBN system. > I've become a big fan of vertical dipoles! When I go QRO (500 watts for > me), I get some reports from DX stations that I consider to be exceptional. > I also monitor myself on the RBN, so I have some idea as to who might hear > me and who can't. It's almost better than trying to interpret some of the > propagation software. > > I also have one of N6BT's Bravo 7 antennas, which he calls vertical > dipoles also. By the way, N6BT also designed the Sigma 40KX when he owned > Force 12. Anyway, the Bravo 7 works pretty well as a portable system, but > I'm not quite as happy with it as a 40 meter system. Still, it is very > portable, and easy to put up and take down. N6BT makes some pretty > aggressive claims about the performance of this system, but I am pretty > sure most of his "testing" was done over salt water. In any event, the > higher up I deploy that system, the better it seems to work. I think Jim > Brown's suggestion of adding a better radial system to vertical dipoles may > be exactly what I need to try and do with the Bravo 7, particularly for 40 > meter operation. > > Soil conditions here in Arizona are pretty awful. It's not very often > that I go camping anywhere that offers anything much better. Deploying > elevated radials can be problematic, but it certainly seems worth the > effort most of the time. > > Dave W7AQK > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to k2av....@gmail.com > -- Sent via Gmail Mobile on my iPhone ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
