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 <topband-boun...@contesting.com> on behalf of Carl Luetzelschwab <carlluetzelsch...@gmail.com> 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 _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband Topband Archives - Contesting Online Home<http://www.contesting.com/_topband> www.contesting.com Topband Mailing List Archives. Search String: [How to search] Display: ... _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband