Hi Todd,
I'm somewhat new to serious TopBand as well, but the 2 things that have
helped me the most are a good receiving antenna(s) and changing my inverted
L to be as vertical as possible. When I installed my first Beverage antenna
it opened up a whole world or signals I didn't even know were there. After
changing my Inverted L to 1/4 wave with as much vertical as possible, I've
been able to work a lot more countries with just 100W.
Sam (N3XZ)
-----Original Message-----
From: Topband [mailto:topband-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Todd
Goins
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 3:55 PM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Topband: Inverted L improvement question
Hello,
Yes, I'm a 160m newbie but have been licensed and active since 1990. I have
CW/Phone experience on HF but I'm just getting my feet wet on 160m. I
participated in the ARRL 160 CW contest and had a great time. I will also
be particiapating in the Stew and the CQ contests in January. I'd like
some opinions or thoughs on making my modest antenna a little better. I
have worked and confirmed 40 states in a couple of weeks on CW and FT-8 but
the DX (both hearing and transmitting to by PSK Reporter stats) has been
elusive.
So, here's my setup. I made an inverted L using a DX Engineering 43'
vertical and I attached a 90' horizontal wire (that slopes up a little) to
the top. I have a radial field of 60-70 radials with varying lengths from
125' to around 40' with the overall average being about 60' in length. I
have a remote tuner at the base of the vertical. Also, I'm only running 100
watts, so that may be an issue. Furthest I've completed and confirmed a QSO
is South Africa but nothing to Europe. I am in the Seattle, WA area.
Overall, I guess I'm happy it works at all but I'm ready for some ideas on
improvement.
My situation/question is this: I could, with minimal effort, attach a
vertical wire to a tree limb at about 100' height right over the existing
radial field. That would then replace the DX Engineering vertical and I
would run a horizontal capacitance hat wire from the top of the 100' tall
wire. My plan would be to use the existing radial field, disconnect the
current vertical and connect the new wire to the tuner/radial field instead.
Would you wise and experienced Topbanders expect any performance increase
from the increased vertical length or should I just stick with what I have
now? Also, if I do this, what length of wire would be recommended for the
top horizontal section?
Any ideas or thoughts would be great. Be gentle...
73,
Todd - NR7RR
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