I suppose I'm 'Mr. Bad Example' of how to not think too much about my 160m
inverted L. Verily I have spent way more time trying to figure out how I
was going to get the wire as high as I could, and the horizontal portion as
short as possible (HINT: at my age, climbing gaffs bad, crossbow good). The
result is about 85' up to a tree limb (6-8' from the tree trunk), then out
horizontally to the east for the rest. For ground radials, each season I
lay out six quarter wavelengths (roughly) of old computer CAT cable with
all the wires soldered together on both ends. I literally pull them out
across the pasture (once the cows are gone for the winter), and loosely tie
them to fiberglass stakes at the ends to keep them somewhat straight. With
the height of the grass, they are what I would guess to be 6-8 inches
'suspended' over the dirt.
We have a LOT of deer; each hunting season this place becomes a refuge for
them. Rarely do I have a deer trip over a ground radial enough for me to
have to do anything about it. I'll go so far as saying they get to know
they are there, and walk around, or jump over them. The only recurring
deer trouble I had was when I had my beverages at 6'. Raising them to 7-8'
solved that completely. Not a single deer issue for the past two 160m
seasons.
The inverted L works wonderfully as my xmit antenna, and is very tolerable
on rx, using a noise antenna and mfj-1025. Six radials laying on the
ground works for me.
And no, they do not come together in a perfect ring surrounding the
feedpoint. I use a giant split nut about 8 inches away from the vertical
wire to which they are all attached and placed under a tupperware
container. The whole thing is happy with 1kw, although I most typically run
100-200 watts.
I'm sure I have horrible interactions between my L's, the beverages, and
maybe even the 5-circle a bit. But it is still fun, and I adore 160m, and
BCB dx'ing. Even during the peak, such as it is.
I do enjoy reading the threads here, but rarely chime in. Thanks to all who
are diving deep on these topics. Heck of a knowledge base here. Many tnx to
VE6WZ, et al. for your contributions that stoke the magic fire of this band.
And many tnx to all for the Rudy Severns info. I remembered coming across
that several years back, but lost in the bookmarks.
~ tu de N8UX
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