such a low dipole is very successful when you want to receive signals from
nearly straight up. I have not plotted it, but Id expect very poor
"pickup" below about 30-40 degrees arrival angle. A similar ( but straight
line) antenna accounted for well more than half of the stateside QSOs for
XZ0A. This antenna performed well in the somewhat unusual propagation
conditions we experienced where the sunset arrival angles appeared to be
nearly straight down for the first hour.
This antenna may not do well for you a lot of the time, but, you probably
will find the occasional set of conditions where it is the ONLY antenna to
hear the signal you want. Great to have in your RX arsenal, but don't
count on it as a primary antenna
73
robin critchell, WA6CDR/XZ0A
At 07:24 5/5/2003, you wrote:
>I was out cutting down a few small trees yesterday.
>While surveying the available supports, I found out
>that I had room to install a low-to-the-ground dipole
>for 160/80M at 8-10 ft high. Actually, it would be in
>the vee configuration with a 90 degree angle at the
>feed point. I could get each arm about 70 feet long
>with no bends (100 ft long if I bend the end of one
>arm). I'm thinking of this configuration as it puts
>the antenna as far from the tower (40ft) and the TX
>vertical (80ft) as I can manage on my property. I
>previously had a EWE in between the tower and vertical
>but it never performed all that well. It was probably
>too close to the other structures. I'm wondering if
>anyone had used a low RX dipole-type antenna with any
>luck. Is it a useable antenna or just a waste of wire?
>
>73, Stew K3ND
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