Re: Topband: Dayton 2024

[Brian Campbell]

In my haste to hit send ( I'm still trying to catchup on my sleep )  I forgot 
to mention the most important thing!

Dave W0FLS did a fantastic job on his presentation on his amazing TopBand 
stations and achievements! So a big shout out to Dave and a Big Thank You Dave 
for doing it for the rest of us.

73,
Brian
MGY



From: Topband  on behalf of 
Brian Campbell 
Sent: May 20, 2024 8:02 AM
To: topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Topband: Dayton 2024

Good Morning fellow Topbanders,

To say that it was absolutely fantastic to meet my fellow Topband Friends ( and 
Legends!! ) of the Topband fraternity would be the understatement of the year!!

I thoroughly enjoyed each and every conversation, handshake, and "eyeball" QSO 
with each of you.

I would love to have copies of the selfies that we took together for my 
collection if possible.

Thank you in advance and VY 73,
Brian
MGY




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Topband: Dayton 2024

[Brian Campbell]

Good Morning fellow Topbanders,

To say that it was absolutely fantastic to meet my fellow Topband Friends ( and 
Legends!! ) of the Topband fraternity would be the understatement of the year!!

I thoroughly enjoyed each and every conversation, handshake, and "eyeball" QSO 
with each of you.

I would love to have copies of the selfies that we took together for my 
collection if possible.

Thank you in advance and VY 73,
Brian
MGY




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Re: Topband: CQWW160: Night 2

[Brian Campbell]

Correction on the opening time typo ( still tired ). It was from 0251z to 0623z 
( not 0215z ).

From: Topband  on behalf of 
Brian Campbell 
Sent: January 30, 2023 9:24 AM
To: Don Kirk ; Michael Tope 
Cc: topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Re: Topband: CQWW160: Night 2

This enhancement also happened in SW Ontario. I was also LP ( unassisted ) so 
as I S'd I would enter each call into the bandmap ( dupe or not ) to keep 
track of what trace was who so I could pop back between runs to try and grab 
the unworked ones. At about 0215z all the EU traces I was watching on the 
bandmap suddenly got noticeably stronger - and then shortly after that happened 
EU started calling me on my run QRG. EU Sigs went from ~S1 to ~S5 and the 
opening lasted to 0623z. During that time I put 24 10 pointers ( from 12 DXCC ) 
in the log between running NA stations.

I agree it was a real good shot of adrenaline at the time.

73
Brian
VE3MGY

From: Topband  on behalf of 
Don Kirk 
Sent: January 30, 2023 7:46 AM
To: Michael Tope 
Cc: topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Re: Topband: CQWW160: Night 2

Hi Michael,

It was a very interesting opening (band improvement) into parts of Europe
from here in Indiana at the same times you mentioned.  I just looked at my
contest log and something special started happening around 0500 UTC Sunday
morning which lasted until approximately 0730 UTC (but really great between
0500 and 0630 UTC).  What's also interesting is that signals into the West
Coast of the US and also into Hawaii really improved from Indiana during
that time period.  That's why I hate leaving my operating chair for any
length of time during 160 meter contests as conditions are so
unpredictable.  I knew something special was happening when European
stations started calling my little 100 watt station, and that's exactly
what happened this time around.  What a blast of adrenaline.

P.S. I did not really notice European sunrise enhancement either night from
here in Indiana.  A YL station called me at 0514 UTC and that was 1.3 hours
before his sunrise and that's when the fun began.

73,
Don (wd8dsb)

On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 3:25 AM Michael Tope  wrote:

> There was a decent opening from here in Southern California to Europe on
> Saturday night around 0500 UTC that lasted approximately two and a half
> hours.
>
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Re: Topband: CQWW160: Night 2

[Brian Campbell]

This enhancement also happened in SW Ontario. I was also LP ( unassisted ) so 
as I S'd I would enter each call into the bandmap ( dupe or not ) to keep 
track of what trace was who so I could pop back between runs to try and grab 
the unworked ones. At about 0215z all the EU traces I was watching on the 
bandmap suddenly got noticeably stronger - and then shortly after that happened 
EU started calling me on my run QRG. EU Sigs went from ~S1 to ~S5 and the 
opening lasted to 0623z. During that time I put 24 10 pointers ( from 12 DXCC ) 
in the log between running NA stations.

I agree it was a real good shot of adrenaline at the time.

73
Brian
VE3MGY

From: Topband  on behalf of 
Don Kirk 
Sent: January 30, 2023 7:46 AM
To: Michael Tope 
Cc: topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Re: Topband: CQWW160: Night 2

Hi Michael,

It was a very interesting opening (band improvement) into parts of Europe
from here in Indiana at the same times you mentioned.  I just looked at my
contest log and something special started happening around 0500 UTC Sunday
morning which lasted until approximately 0730 UTC (but really great between
0500 and 0630 UTC).  What's also interesting is that signals into the West
Coast of the US and also into Hawaii really improved from Indiana during
that time period.  That's why I hate leaving my operating chair for any
length of time during 160 meter contests as conditions are so
unpredictable.  I knew something special was happening when European
stations started calling my little 100 watt station, and that's exactly
what happened this time around.  What a blast of adrenaline.

P.S. I did not really notice European sunrise enhancement either night from
here in Indiana.  A YL station called me at 0514 UTC and that was 1.3 hours
before his sunrise and that's when the fun began.

73,
Don (wd8dsb)

On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 3:25 AM Michael Tope  wrote:

> There was a decent opening from here in Southern California to Europe on
> Saturday night around 0500 UTC that lasted approximately two and a half
> hours.
>
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Re: Topband: NVIS Antenna

[Brian Campbell]

Back in 2017 I put up a 160M Inverted V with the apex at about 35' and the ends 
at 8' with the only goal being to try inband SO2R on 160M. My reasoning was the 
V "should" be able to work stations out to ~500Km ( 300 Miles ) and more 
importantly hold my run QRG while I went up the band to S for Mults with the 
second radio and my "real" antenna ( Inverted L with 105' vertical and with 
>20,000' of radials ).

To my amazement I was getting RBN hits from coast to coast in NA as well as the 
northern part of SA. The reports were on average about 10db - 15db lower than 
my TX vertical "but" I was still being heard. So in the 2018 and 2019 CQ160 CW 
and ARRL 160 contests I was SO2R and both years I was called by stations from 
as close as 100 km to as far as the West coast of NA ( ~3,500 km ), and as far 
south as the  Southern Caribbean ( also ~3,500 km ) on the low Inverted V. So 
not only did it hold my QRG but it worked a lot better than I had thought it 
would beforehand.

Then on 2018-03-27 at 11:10z ( SR -4 min ) I even worked VK3HJ ( thanks Luke ) 
16,116 km away with it as well so as Carl says "it's better than no antenna". 
Also that QSO was most likely ducting propagation as it only happened after I 
had lost all of Luke's signal on my vertical and then switched over to the V 
where he was Q5 and ~S3.

All the above was done with 100 watts so if you ( or I ) had run legal limit 
power the results would have been even better.

FYI I am no longer doing inband SO2R on 160 ( or any other band ) after having 
too many close calls with frying a front end. So caveat emptor if you try it.

73,
Brian
VE3MGY













From: Topband  on behalf of 
Carl Luetzelschwab 
Sent: March 15, 2020 3:47 PM
To: topBand List 
Subject: Re: Topband: NVIS Antenna

For those who are antenna challenged, don't sell a 160m inverted-vee at low
height too short.

My 160m antenna at the moment is an inverted-vee at an apex of 45 feet.
Additionally, the last third of each end is at 90 degrees to the main
portion and horizontal at only 7 feet or so off the ground. It's what fits
on the property.

In the CQ 160m CW contest in January 2017. I came away with 44 states
(missed ME, ID, NE and AK), 7 Canadian provinces (VE9, VY2, VE2, VE3, VE5,
VE6 and VE7) and 17 DXCC entities (mostly Caribbean, Central America,
Mexico and South America, with a few Europeans, a North African and a KH6
in the mix). I was seldom #1 in a pile-up, but eventually I usually got
through with 800 Watts to the inv-vee.

It's better than no antenna.

Carl K9LA
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Re: Topband: CQ WW Contest

[Brian Campbell]

I couldn't agree with you more Guy.

Condx were reported as being any where from poor to below normal for some to 
being excellent to the best ever by others. The latter mostly being from 
Eastern NA. It appears from the 3830 comments that some had more enhancement 
than others and from slightly different areas of Europe and opening and closing 
times differed a bit but all were Saturday evening in NA. Since I have only 
been on 160M for 29 yrs now I can't comment about the 70's and 80's but in all 
my time on the band since then I have never once seen any European station 
being S9 here but Saturday night ( Sunday morning in Europe ) all the European 
stations I worked were between S7 - S9 here.

It started Saturday night at ~2330z when I started being called by a few DX 
stations - which rarely ever happens here. So I took the hint and quickly 
started S Cluster spots and in 1 hour my score increased by ~60,000 pts. 
In the next 4 hours I worked about 75 DX stations, mostly in Europe. I know 
that really pales compared to others that experienced the opening but it took 
me 7 years to work 60 DXCC on TB with LP and Saturday night I was able to do it 
in ~4 hours. So that was huge to me. Then at 0430z EU signals suddenly dropped 
right back down to ~S1 and I had a very hard time working any DX after that. 
What I did work was a struggle, as usual.

So at least for some of us it was an amazing once in a lifetime opening - or at 
least once every 30 years or so.

73,
Brian
VE3MGY




From: Topband  on behalf of 
Guy Olinger K2AV 
Sent: January 28, 2020 10:10 PM
To: Roger Kennedy 
Cc: TopBand List 
Subject: Re: Topband: CQ WW Contest

Hi Roger,

Just want to be sure we are both talking about the weekend of 25, 26
January, 2020, the weekend of the 2020 CQ 160 CW contest. If so, I must
register my decidedly firm impression that was the best 160 meter weekend of
my lifetime, what has to be a counterpoint of the amazing 1958 sunspot
maximum.

In the contest I worked 1349 stations including 339 10 pointers (almost all
the 10 pointers were European), let's just say 300+ European stations. In
all of that I worked a 160 meter worked all states (48 CONUS + AK & HI),
plus 9 Canadian provinces, 78 countries ("country" per the contest rules).
That was a claimed score from the southeast USA (decidedly not the
EU-advantaged northeast US) of 752,780.

It was, by an enormous margin, my personal lifetime best for any 160 meter
contest. The antenna did work very well, but, seriously, could not possibly
have accounted for that bump up, nor for sure could my personal operating
skills.

Just think we need to leave room for the idea that maybe the band was a bit
better than "open".

Station here K3 + KPA1500, Inverted L over FCP, no RX antennas (working on
that), NOT a superstation.

Wowser, I wonder if we'll get that again before the sunspots start in
again. I can hope.

73, Guy K2AV

On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 3:27 PM Roger Kennedy 
wrote:

>
> Well conditions were reasonable over the weekend . . .
>
> I spent a total of about 3 hours on the band, and managed to work 48 NA
> stations through all the European QRM.
>
> I'm sure I would have worked a lot more, as I heard many others calling
> stations that were calling CQ . . . but I'm reluctant to put out a CQ call
> in a contest, as I don't want to work hundreds of Europeans (I'm up in the
> middle of the night to work some DX !)
>
> As I say, I wouldn't say conditions were particularly good, but the band
> was
> open.
>
>
> Roger G3YRO
>
>
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Re: Topband: ZK3A

[Brian Campbell]

Hi Shelby,

The exact same thing happened to me. However on a later update both the 160 CW 
and FT8 QSOs were in the log.

73,
Brian
VE3MGY


From: Topband  on behalf of ShelbyK4WW 

Sent: October 8, 2019 2:21:52 PM
To: Topband Reflector 
Subject: Topband: ZK3A

Anyone else work ZK3A today about 0610Z, and the contact not appearing in
their online log search? Online log search indicates last QSO is database:
08/10/2019 1103Z
Thanks

73, Shelby - K4WW
As I don't have an iPad nor iPhone, sent from my PC
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Re: Topband: 160 skip distance

[Brian Campbell]

Sorry, the second QSO was at 1726z not 1717z.

From: Topband  on behalf of Brian Campbell 

Sent: September 17, 2019 3:38:35 PM
To: K4SAV ; topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Re: Topband: 160 skip distance

Hi Jerry and group,

I was one of those stations Jerry. I worked you at 1712z and 1717z on 
2008-01-05. I was running 100 watts and the distance was 1200km. We gave each 
other 549 reports IIRC ( from my log ).

I was on for about 7 days at or just after local noon here doing tests and I 
worked about 14 stations ranging from 200 to 1200 km out.

However my best "DX" was W8JI at 1270 km who gave me a 579 at 100 watts. I then 
went to 5 watts and he gave me a 479(!) But then again it was W8JI...

So yes there IS prop on 160 even at high noon - at least out to 1000km or so. 
But like you said it helps if people are QRV. I self spotted at the time to let 
everyone know which definitely helped.

73,
Brian
VE3MGY




From: Topband  on behalf of K4SAV 

Sent: September 17, 2019 9:14:49 AM
To: topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Re: Topband: 160 skip distance

A few years back guys on this forum decided to see what could be worked
at noon time.  There were a few stations on at that time and I worked
stations up to 600 miles.  That will vary with band conditions.  It
doesn't work well if there are no stations on the band.

You can observe the same thing during a major contest when there are
stations working the band during the day (usually multi-op class stations).

Jerry, K4SAV
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Re: Topband: 160 skip distance

[Brian Campbell]

Hi Jerry and group,

I was one of those stations Jerry. I worked you at 1712z and 1717z on 
2008-01-05. I was running 100 watts and the distance was 1200km. We gave each 
other 549 reports IIRC ( from my log ).

I was on for about 7 days at or just after local noon here doing tests and I 
worked about 14 stations ranging from 200 to 1200 km out.

However my best "DX" was W8JI at 1270 km who gave me a 579 at 100 watts. I then 
went to 5 watts and he gave me a 479(!) But then again it was W8JI...

So yes there IS prop on 160 even at high noon - at least out to 1000km or so. 
But like you said it helps if people are QRV. I self spotted at the time to let 
everyone know which definitely helped.

73,
Brian
VE3MGY




From: Topband  on behalf of K4SAV 

Sent: September 17, 2019 9:14:49 AM
To: topband@contesting.com 
Subject: Re: Topband: 160 skip distance

A few years back guys on this forum decided to see what could be worked
at noon time.  There were a few stations on at that time and I worked
stations up to 600 miles.  That will vary with band conditions.  It
doesn't work well if there are no stations on the band.

You can observe the same thing during a major contest when there are
stations working the band during the day (usually multi-op class stations).

Jerry, K4SAV
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Re: Topband: RFI on TB

[Brian Campbell]

You can put me in that group as well. Here are just two recent examples.

VE3MGY 2018 ARRL 160 -1001 QSOs - QSOs Received on TX antenna alone - 996 (99.5 
%)

VE3MGY 2019 CQ160CW - 938 QSOs - QSOs Received on TX antenna alone - 930 (99.1%)

I usually run diversity in which case I will have a couple of beverages,  
Inverted V, or loop in one ear to choose from and the Inverted L in the other 
ear but if it's relatively quiet on the L ( S1-S2 ) I will just stay there at 
times. I needed RX antennas more at the previous two QTHs but here not so much 
( at least not yet... ) In any case every QTH is different so YMMV...

73,
Brian
VE3MGY


From: Topband  on behalf of Mike Waters 

Sent: July 25, 2019 2:16 PM
To: g...@ka1j.com 
Cc: topband 
Subject: Re: Topband: RFI on TB

I'm with you both, never rule out your vertical!

During one ARRL 160 contest a few years ago, conditions were such that I
used my inverted-L over 90% of the time *even though I had two 580'
switchable-direction Beverages*. Signals at my central USA location were
coming in from all directions.

73, Mike
www.w0btu.com

On Thu, Jul 25, 2019 at 12:13 PM Gary Smith  wrote:

> I agree with Ed, never rule it out. Me, I
> tried beverages over my available space
> (Salt marsh with phragmites everywhere)
> and they were more than worthless in this
> specific location. I think between the
> proximity to salt water and the dry leaves
> making static, the beverages were much
> louder than my L.
>
> I tried several Rx options and the 3
> element HI-Z triangular was my first
> genuine success for low band Rx. Loved
> them so much I bought an 8 element and now
> use the 8 & 3 for diversity with the K3s.
> Best choice I made.
>
> There are times though when I listen to
> the transmit antenna and hear a specific
> signal the best. Very rare, but it
> happens.
>
> Just my 2 pence.
>
> 73, Gary KA1J
>
> > I use beverage "almost" all the time for receive on 160M.  However,
> > there are times, clearly a minority, when listening on my phased array
> > of 2 verticals is better.  When conditions are super quiet in the
> > winter and signals are weak from a very distant station.  Don't rule
> > out your Transmit antenna all the time.
> >
> > 73
> > Ed  N1UR
>
>
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Re: Topband: Unsubscribe

[Brian Campbell]

Subscribe   
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Re: Topband: : V84SAA

[Brian Campbell]

Hi Gary 'et al'

Don't feel too bad. I haven't missed a V8 SS yet and only this morning did I 
hear them for about 10 sec on 80 at 219 and then I heard them briefly at 109/ 
ESP on 160 a bit later on. There were no Pre, Post, or Post Post SR peaks here 
yet. ( FYI There is no common darkness here at NA SS / V8 SR )

So... The surveillance continues.  Unfortunately without an amp its very 
doubtful ( but definitely not impossible ) that I will have a chance even if I 
get to hear them. But at least I can fine tune my RX antennas if nothing else 
lol.

73 es good luck to all,
Brian
VE3MGY

From: Topband  on behalf of Gary Smith 

Sent: February 11, 2019 10:39:29 AM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: : V84SAA

This morning I set two alarms to get up in
time for the V8 SS, my timer failed to do
the job Sunday. Nothing heard on 160 &
then I see they're active on 80. I barely
hear them but I try, my only V8 was on 10M
in 91. Then comes that they're on 160 so I
switch bands. Barely can hear them on 160
& I'm trying but I see the ALC on the amp
is bright in the red, not good.

No HF bands working, showing an open to
the antenna. A quick test & it's not in
the shack. Pitch black outside, decide to
fight in better conditions, pick up the
cat & go back to bed.

Come daylight I find out, thankfully, it's
not the remote coax or worse, the
Polyphaser Lightning protector at the
ground rod outside the shack gave up the
ghost. One of the "non replaceable" tubes
in it. Jumpered over for the moment, I'll
back on the air for tonight's foray. need
to see if I can find/fit/get a replacement
in there. The SWR is a bit too high,
doesn't bother the tank or tubes but looks
like the gas tube doesn't like it.

The best laid plans... We've all been
there. Hihi

73,

Gary
KA1J

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Re: Topband: VE1ZZ has passed on - Very Very Sad news! (Long)

[Brian Campbell]

A friend of mine ( who to this day knows absolutely nothing about radio, 
propagation or especially antennas  ) and I worked together about 30 years ago 
and when he found out I was doing radio he immediately said " Do you know 
VE1ZZ?"  No I replied not personally but I know "OF" him because he is a legend 
to all Topbanders.

He then went on to explain how, when he was a kid back in the early 60's or 
70's, he and his friends would sneak over to Jacks place to climb his towers 
for fun and that Jack would sometimes catch them and run them off. "Funny thing 
he said, sometimes when we were on the towers they would start humming" and he 
started laughing. I asked him if he knew why they were humming and he said he 
had no idea. So then I started laughing and told  him why - and then he stopped 
and got little pale...

That became a running joke between us for the many years we worked together.

I even had the chance to tell Jack about it during one of the CQ160 SSB 
contests about 10 or 11  years ago. Jack laughed on the air when I relayed the 
story and said " I know who you are talking about!"

R.I.P. Jack es TU for the countless 160 QSOs...

You will be missed but not forgotten my friend.

73,
Brian
VE3MGY







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Re: Topband: Inv L in Tree

[Brian Campbell]

Ed, Gary and All,

Seeing as I have had my Inverted L ( 85' / 27M  vertical ) against my tree's 
trunk ( actually touching it - oops ) since I installed it, and as I  also have 
tress in the elbow, I may have to try and move it out some after reading all 
the suggested articles. The only reason it is like it is, is for convenience, 
as I have no towers ( or trees in the right location ) to hang it off of atm so 
it was either that or no Inverted L.

All I can and will say is that just "anecdotally" speaking and nothing else, it 
will still work, not as good as one that is stood off a few feet I am sure but 
better than nothing if it gets you on the air. Or to put it another way, a poor 
antenna is much better than no antenna at all.

Good Luck and remember YMMV

73,
Brian
VE3MGY







From: Topband  on behalf of Gary Smith 

Sent: October 3, 2018 9:27 PM
To: Topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Inv L in Tree

Ed,

FWIW, I'm using what used to be an INV-L.
I laid out a radial bed as well as
possible, next to a marsh. I am in a
hurricane area and with the winds, the
trees have fallen over. I originally shot
a line over a tall branch with a spud gun
I made (see it on my QRZ page, at the
bottom), at that time it was an "L".

The branch came down and I used another
branch, albeit farther away. With
attrition, I am now using a tree maybe 30'
away from straight up. Doing it the way I
did allows me to have a radial bed away
from the trunk of a tree. I can't move the
bed so the type of antenna had to change.
I am using WD-1A field telephone wire for
my antennas, with its SS solid core it is
incredibly strong and it is so thin it is
very hard to see.

It's not nearly as good of an antenna as
many here use but it is quite good, even
as a sloper. I was able to work 9X0T on
160 tonight and could barely hear him with
the QRN & RFI but he heard me. Point being
that a sloper works very well on 160, you
don't "have to have" an INV-L.

Whatever you go with, I wouldn't run the
antenna next to the trunk. I would keep it
some distance to the trunk and as long as
you have enough length for radials &
antenna & I'd use some method of getting a
stealthy wire like WD-1A up over & into
the tree-top and down to the radial plate.

73,

Gary
KA1J

> Has anybody snaked a wire up a tall tree trunk to make an Inv L?
>
> Any interaction?  Success??  Has to be stealthy because the tree os
> my neighbor's :-)
>
> Thanks,
> Ed NI6S
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Re: Topband: low inv-vee

[Brian Campbell]

"So are the others (Brian?) talking about a true coax-fed 160m
inverted-vee?  If so, I'm interested!

Jeff  VE3CV"



No, Jeff.


I feed it with ~320' of Ladderline to a 4:1 Balun and then around another 150' 
- 200' of RG213 to the shack.


I am on a hill here with sloping terrain to EU and most of NA ( as per HFTA 
analysis ) and it works gangbusters on all bands - even with LP - as I do not 
have an amp so I am stuck with 100 watts - which is enough or me :-)


However YMMV


Brian

VE3MGY




From: Topband <topband-boun...@contesting.com> on behalf of Jeff Wilson via 
Topband <topband@contesting.com>
Sent: March 28, 2018 3:31 PM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: low inv-vee

I have always used an 80m inverted-vee (66.6 ft per side) with apex at
50ft at top of a yagi-free tower attached to a steel workshop and fed
with 450 ohm ladder line and shorted at the tuner in the shack to work
as a top loaded vertical (35ft is actually vertical, rest of the
feedline mostly hortizonal 3ft above a steel roof!

Just worked JA8EAT with 100W on March 12 at 1040Z (thanks Yaz for LOTW
confim and number 131 QSLd on topband...138 worked in 10 years).  No
160m amp hereyet.   Use 16 radials (100-130ft) and temporary winter
600ft Beverages and 200ft Bogs for RX.  Helps being on a hill in the
country as well.  I always feel loud in the ARRL contests to the West
Coast and KH6, but usually have to wait past 0300Z to work any EU even
though I hear them at my sunset.

So are the others (Brian?) talking about a true coax-fed 160m
inverted-vee?  If so, I'm interested!

Jeff  VE3CV


On 3/28/2018 12:00 PM, topband-requ...@contesting.com wrote:
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2018 19:26:41 +
> From: Brian Campbell <ve3...@hotmail.ca>
> To: Carl Luetzelschwab <carlluetzelsch...@gmail.com>,
>"topband@contesting.com"<topband@contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: Topband: low inv-vee
> Message-ID:
>
> <cy4pr12mb18627341f91e72b246d5c847ff...@cy4pr12mb1862.namprd12.prod.outlook.com>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I put up a 1/2 wave Inverted V ( each leg is about 140' ) for 160M in January 
> of this year just so I could do inband SO2R in the CQ160 CW contest. It has 
> its apex at 40' and the ends are at 5'. I would have been very happy to just 
> work any East coast stations during the contest but I found that I was being 
> called by stations from as far away as California down into the Caribbean and 
> everything in between.
>
>
> This morning I worked Luke ( VK3HJ ) on my Inverted L here at 1110z ( SR-5 
> min ) and we exchanged Q5 reports - nothing unusual. Then at  SR he 
> disappeared into the noise. Again nothing unusual. After a java refill I came 
> back into the shack and could hear NA stations calling and working him but he 
> was still NIL - not even a single ping could be heard on the Inverted L. Just 
> for fun I switched over to the Inverted V and there he was  539 to 549 - a 
> real booming signal almost as loud as when we worked earlier when I gave him 
> a 559 on the Inverted L. Now it was SR+28 min so when there was no one coming 
> back to his CQ's I called and I almost fell out of my chair when he came back 
> to me. No we didn't make the QSO as he didn't get my full call but the fact 
> that he heard anything is amazing. Had I been running more than 100 watts I 
> have no doubt we could have finished the QSO.
>
>
> So the Inverted V definitely stays up.
>
>
> Carl I am a believer :-)
>
>
> 73,
>
> Brian
>
> VE3MGY
>
>


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Re: Topband: low inv-vee

[Brian Campbell]

I put up a 1/2 wave Inverted V ( each leg is about 140' ) for 160M in January 
of this year just so I could do inband SO2R in the CQ160 CW contest. It has its 
apex at 40' and the ends are at 5'. I would have been very happy to just work 
any East coast stations during the contest but I found that I was being called 
by stations from as far away as California down into the Caribbean and 
everything in between.


This morning I worked Luke ( VK3HJ ) on my Inverted L here at 1110z ( SR-5 min 
) and we exchanged Q5 reports - nothing unusual. Then at  SR he disappeared 
into the noise. Again nothing unusual. After a java refill I came back into the 
shack and could hear NA stations calling and working him but he was still NIL - 
not even a single ping could be heard on the Inverted L. Just for fun I 
switched over to the Inverted V and there he was  539 to 549 - a real booming 
signal almost as loud as when we worked earlier when I gave him a 559 on the 
Inverted L. Now it was SR+28 min so when there was no one coming back to his 
CQ's I called and I almost fell out of my chair when he came back to me. No we 
didn't make the QSO as he didn't get my full call but the fact that he heard 
anything is amazing. Had I been running more than 100 watts I have no doubt we 
could have finished the QSO.


So the Inverted V definitely stays up.


Carl I am a believer :-)


73,

Brian

VE3MGY



From: Topband  on behalf of Carl Luetzelschwab 

Sent: March 27, 2018 2:49 PM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Topband: low inv-vee

Pete N4ZR said one option was to "Suspend inverted vees for 80 and 40 from
the top of the rocket launcher (right under the tribander)."

Gene AD3F commented on low inv-vees:  "From what I've read on Topband and
TowerTalk over the years, a low Vee as you're proposing is likely to be a
cloud warmer."

Yes, a low inv-vee will radiate more energy at the higher elevation angles.
But it still radiates energy at the lower elevation angles that are useful
for longer distance contacts. For example, a 160-Meter inv-vee at an apex
of 45 feet is about 10 dB down (approx 2 S-units) at an elevation angle of
15 degrees compared to a quarter-wave vertical over average ground.

For the CQ 160M CW contest in January 2017, I used a 160-Meter inv-vee at
45 feet, with the last third of each end running horizontal and bent 90
degrees from the main portion to fit on our property. Yes, it's a
compromise antenna, but I worked 44 states (missed ME, ID, NE, AK), 7
Canadian provinces and 17 DXCC entities (mostly Carib, Central Amer and
South Amer, with some EU and a North Africa). My amp at 800 Watts certainly
helped, along with a Shared Apex Loop array for receive.

I wasn't first in most pile-ups, but perseverance got the job done most of
the time. So don't count out a low inv-vee if you have trouble putting up
something better. The inv-vee is relatively easy to erect and it's
efficient in terms of not needing a ground system. Of course an 80-Meter
inv-vee at 45 feet will be better than a 160-Meter inv-vee at 45 feet, as
it's twice as high in terms of wavelengths.

Carl K9LA
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