Hello Mack My experience:
I have operated 28 years on 160 meters from the same QTH. I started out with Beverages - which I thought worked great. The 880 foot one aimed at Europe was amazing. So I thought. 10 years ago I started experimenting with short vertical RX arrays. Passive elements at first. The comparison between short RX verticals vs. the Beverage antennas was encouraging. Four years ago I installed an 8 circle active RX array (23 ft elements) and never looked back. Two years ago I took down all the Beverages as they were never better than the 8 circle at this QTH. Last year I added a RX four square (same layout as the 8 circle, but just with 4 elements) that is broadside (500 ft spacing to EU) to the 8 circle. With both in phase - now achieving 15 dB of RDF. The RX is really good! One additional data point, Frank W3LPL is no longer using Beverages on 160 meters - just his passive BSEF short vertical arrays. There are many stations the have great RX results on the Topband with Beverages. 73, Tim K3LR -----Original Message----- From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Mack McCormick Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2014 9:12 AM To: topband@contesting.com Subject: Topband: Recommended Antennas for 160M/80M Receiving Friends, I need to really increase my country count on 160M so I've decided to installed dedicated receiving antennas. My home is on a 6 acre rectangular lot so I have room for a couple of 800 ft beverages at 90 degree angles or an 8 element circular array. I've been carefully following the discussion about the merits of various 8 element arrays and beverages. *I "believe" the consensus is that a set of bi-directional beverages will generally perform better than any 8 element circular array. Am I correct? I'm specifically speaking about working countries on 160M and 80M.* I also "believe" the bi-directional antenna choices come down to two flavors. The DXEngineering ladder line version or the BevFlex-4 that uses RG-6. *I'm leaning toward the BevFlex-4.* I would REALLY appreciate your views on the recommended receive antenna system if space and money are not big concerns. I'd like to do it correctly one time and the first time. Vy 73, Mack W4AX _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband