I ran a 5/8 vert on 15 for a few years. At the same time I had a 1/4 wave GP for 15 on the roof. I did many A/B comparisons and shockingly found they were about the same on DX. I always wondered why.
Years later, while reading the Low Band DXing book I got my answer. Turns out the taller verticals are much more dependent on ground conductivity in the far field. If your ground conductivity is not great, you actually do better with 1/4 wave over many radials than with 5/8 wave over many radials. My current vert is 32' tall but I've varied the height. At 24' it gave stronger signals on 20 meters than it does at 32'. Of course, at 32' tall it works better on 40 and 80 so I leave it there for now. These days I consider 3/8 wave the optimal height for a vertical over average ground. If I ever win the lottery, I'll move to an ocean side QTH and put a 5/8 wave vert on the beach and will CRUSH the competition :-) - Keith N1AS - - K2 5411.ssb.100 - - K3 wave 3 - -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of JT Croteau I wish I still had my 5/8-wave 20M vertical, it was about 39' tall if memory serves. That was a great antenna for DX work on 20. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
