Half wave verticals have been very disappointing to me over the years when
I had the tall BC towers in my backyard to play with after midnight on
160.
I installed a 318 ft insulated base tower in stages and watched the results.
I felt there was very little difference from 1/4 wave up to about 200 ft or
so, and then above that I started losing signal under many conditions for
almost no gain on anything. At 318 ft I lost considerable signal within the
first 500 miles for no real difference, or actually some loss, out far. When
I replaced that tower, I never bothered with a base insulator on the new
one.
The same thing was true in Ohio using BC towers, although that was just load
them up and try them.
I also remember from years ago how poor W8LT's signal was in one 160 contest
when they used a 5/8th wave vertical.
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