Sorry I didn't get this to the list sooner. Computer crash at home added
to the negative balance of my available time.
>From K5NA:
Bill, I had several 10M antennas at the New York station and they were all
Hygain 105BA or BASs. The first 10M antenna went on the first tower. And
when it was installed, we had no thoughts that there would be future,
additional towers and antennas. That 10M antenna was at 128 feet but was
part of four stacked monobanders (40, 20, 15, & 10M) on the same mast. It
worked, kinda half-assed, but never impressed me as being an outstanding
performer. I am certain now that the antennas below and above it effected
it's directivity and performance.
I then put up two 10M antennas on a dedicated tower. The top one was at 87
feet, with a rotator, and the bottom one was at 50 feet and fixed on
Europe. This was an OUTSTANDING setup. When the band was open good, I could
run 10 meters as well or better then anyone else. Randy (K5ZD) was in DL
land for some contest and told me later that K5NA was the loudest USA
station on 10M most of the weekend.
Later we put up a 190 foot tower with a 4 element KLM 40M yagi at the top.
As an added experiment, I also put up at 10M yagi at 200 feet, above the
40M yagi. The 10M antenna was actually at 199.99999999 feet (you know what
I mean). This was an interesting antenna and when we put it up, we were
still at the high end of the sun spot cycle. It stayed up until we dipped
into the poor sun spot time.
During high sun spots, the 200 foot 10M yagi would hear surprising things
before sunrise and after sunset. I could work mults in the pacific with it
after sunset well after the rest of the east coast had given up trying.
Before sunrise, I would hear the middle east running JAs and Eu stations.
If I switched to the stack, those signals would drop out. However, when the
band opened up, it was a different story. A little after sunrise Europe
would pop in on the stack and it would be run, run, run all day long. When
I would switch to the 200 footer during the day, the signals would drop out
like I had switched to a dummy load.
During low sunspots, the situation changed. 10 meters was no longer a
running band, but it was still a multiplier band. I found then that the 87
foot 10M yagi was good for North/South hops and middle of the day stuff.
However, most of my daytime QSOs would come from 200 foot antenna when it
was pointed due south. I could usually work one JA from that direction and
assorted other things. Surprisinly, the middle Pacific area up to the KH6
area was still usually better on the 87 foot high antenna. I guess that was
akin to a North/South path. At night, the 200 footer was still the best (of
course) if we heard anything at all.
I hope the preceeding made some sense to you. If you have any questions,
feel free to ask.
>Where is N4AR when you need him?
Eight days ago I saw him walking around Maud's backyard with a beer in his
hand. Maybe he is still over there.
73, Richard
K5NA@BGA.COM
http://www.realtime.net/~k5na
Bill Fisher, W4AN (EX KM9P)
http://www.contesting.com
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