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[TowerTalk] please advise on terminated vee beam design

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Subject: [TowerTalk] please advise on terminated vee beam design
From: K7GCO@aol.com (K7GCO@aol.com)
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 03:16:45 EST
In a message dated 11/3/01 7:04:04 PM Pacific Standard Time, basalop@gte.net 
writes:<< 
 Though I do not have the data in front of me at this exact moment,
 I do remember Ham Radio Magazine did run a number of articles on
 the Vee antenna.  

"One thing that did stick in my head, was connecting
 the terminated ends together with a ground wire." 

Besides the use of
 radials, out there, by tying the elements together, it made the
 antenna much easier to use.  This made up for changing ground
 conditions.  If I remember also, by sloping the legs, it took out
 quite a bit of the directional characteristics of the antenna.
 
 I wish I had those articles now, but I know I saved them.  I just
 need to find them.  The antenna has always fascinated me, but I
 have never had the room to give it a try.
 73 Jim K7SLI 

Jim: Could you explain this a bit more.  It sounds interesting.  Is this a 
wire between the bottoms of the termination resistors laying on the ground 
between ground rods or what?  Why not just run wires from the ends of the Vee 
beam horizontally to a single termination resistor in the middle off the 
ground.  The horizontal distance between the termination resistor has to be 
shortened from the Vee Beam wires.  There are "Magic Lengths for Vee Beams" 
like 555' that are 1/2 WL multiples for all bands.  This assures that if 
terminated, a Lo-Z is reflected back to the feedpoint on all bands. If a Vee 
Beam or LW ends in an insulator or a HI-Z and you have a length that is a 1/4 
wave or odd multiple at the lowest frequency, It will be reflect back to the 
feedpoint a Hi-Z on the higher harmonic bands.  If a Lo-Z occurs on all bands 
at the feedpoint of any antenna and the open wire feedline is my Magic Length 
or multiple of 134', you will see a Lo-Z at the end of the feedline. In the 
Stone Age of the Last Century it was possible to connect the open wire line 
and it's Lo-Z load directly to the link and a series Xc to ground and 
properly match it on any band just by changing the number of turns in the 
link of the tank circuit.  You used the link that gave the maximum output for 
a given input.  It also fed right into the balanced input of the receivers of 
the day. 

I still have a SX-88, 75A1 (mint) and a Pierson KP-81 (about 1948).  These 
were the 3 best receivers ever made back then.  I want to compare these 
receivers to those of today for sensitivity and in pile ups.  The KP-81 even 
had the Lamb IF Noise Silencer of the 30's.  He was on the Staff at QST.  

I'll have to try the "Cross Over Termination Connection" in Eznec and see 
what it looks like.  If it looks good I have a location where I can try it.  

I heard back then some one had patent of some kind on the termination concept 
and RCA wanted to use it without paying.  This story doesn't sound right.  
Anyhow whoever wanted to use it without paying royalties came up with another 
way to terminate a Vee Beam.  They dropped a wire to the ground at the end of 
the Vee Beam and then laid it on the ground for about 200'.  This seems to 
work but it's not a purely resistive termination and can vary from band to 
band.  There are several ways to compensate for this and/or improve it.  At 
the ground secure point, running Nicrom wire on the ground for say 200' is 
more resistive.  

QST had an article on variations of grounded at the end wire antennas I tried 
that do work. k7gco

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