I am very happy with the rx improvements my own K9AY system have given
me. The antenna space here is just about 1/4 of an acre. The K9AY is
very poorly located, yet still shows good nulls to the rear.
How poorly located? Very. City sub-urban locacation. It is nestled into
a corner of the yard, bordered by chain link fence on the SE(3 ft
setback) and SW(2 ft setback) sides. The NW quadrant contains a 10x12
wooden shed(full of random "junk"). The antenna support is a tree in
the center. There are four other trees inside the antenna area. a leg
of an 80m vee, a 40m vee, and 20m dipole all are overhead nearby, and
the 80m leg terminates about 25' above the NE wire on the K9AY.
So. Still like rx on the K9AY. It is almost always the best RX antenna
on 160m. Unless the noise on 80m is very low, the K9AY is usually the
better rx antenna on 80m also(80m folded dipole is good, but noise is
often very high). Most of the benefit to me is the lower noise level,
but directivity can't be ignored. When it is pointing NW the stations
in GA/FL mostly disappear. That null seems much more pronounced, so I
suspect interaction with other wire/fence/trees/junk is to blame/credit.
I don't think you would regret installing one. But if you do, it is
easy to remove. Very easy to test a single loop, then add the second
loop and switching network later.
73 de w4kaz
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