Jim, Tim, and Tim, Thank you all for some really great advice. Perhaps I should look more closely at the 8 element receiving arrays. Are most of the 160M contest stations now using receiving array's vs. beverages? Since I'm moving to a new QTH I'd really like to have a best practice installation and not have to experiment a lot.
Vy 73, Mack W4AX Mack On Sun, Dec 21, 2014 at 9:58 AM, Jim Garland <4cx2...@miamioh.edu> wrote: > Mack, I use two DXE bi-directional beverages, each 720 ft long, fed with a > single 300 ft length of direct burial quad shield RG6. The DXE transformers > and relay switching boxes use high quality weather-proof construction. That > said, the ladder line caused me nothing but continuing maintenace > headaches. > Furthermore, the little DXE plastic ladder line clamps are very flimsy and > broke within a few months. I finally gave up and replaced the ladder line > with parallel lengths of WD-1a field telephone wire (the twisted pair > version), supported on 4x4 posts with ceramic insulators. The electrical > performance appears to be the same as with ladder line, but it makes for a > much more robust installation and the field wire is much cheaper than > ladder > line. > 73, > Jim W8ZR > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Mack > McCormick > > Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2014 7:12 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 > _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband