Jose':
You obviously have two choices:
1. Spend time and effort improving your Ls performance and never hear 8Q7
again or
2. Enjoy your wide bandwidth.
You have apparently done everything right, from installing a goodly amount
of radials in the grass to detuning the tower. Put the rest of your planned
radials in the ground and have fun.
Remember Costellos' Corollary to Murphy's Law: The more you leave it
alone the better it works.
Congratulations on your successes on Topband.
73 de
Gene Smar AD3F
> Good Evening...
>
> Put up my 160M INVERTED L two days before the contest...and I could NOT
> be happier!
> Did a LOT of planning work ahead of time (like months <smiling>)...but
> in a nut shell....
>
> Have 72 feet vertical 4 feet from tower....complete with 1.5" PVC
> standoffs...
> 68 feet horizontal at 70 feet bearing 210 degrees....(if you care to
> know...)...
>
> For radials...I took an back issue of teh Contesting Journal (picked up
> from W3PP's QTH...)
> and read an article about what length of radials to have based on amount
> of wire used...
> Well, I am currently only at (30) 65 foot radials and will be taking
> that to 69 in a few weeks...
> I made ground staples out of coat hangers...and have it pinned downed
> every 2 feet!!!
>
> I have a 1000 pf Mortor Driven vacuum variable capacitor in a tupperware
> box at the base of the "L"...and
> man do I "think" this baby plays....In a previous posting I indicated my
> first QSO was with 8Q7DV!!!
> I thought, "Not too bad"...but really seemed to work very well in this
> weekend's contest....
>
> I connected an RF current meter at the base of the tower and saw
> indications that I needed to detune the tower...
> SO...I did that...Go it so the RF Current meter moves NOT!!! and I mean
> ...NOT AT ALL!!!
>
> Here is my question for the masses......:
>
> When I tuned the Vacuum Variable Cap for min SWR...(Flat by the
> way.....) I was VERY shocked to see that I had under a 1.4:1 SWR from
> 1.8 to 2.0 megahertz!!
> This is NOT what I expected as the few local hams here who have INV L's
> said they have a 2:1 SWR curve of about 100KCs.....SO.....
>
> I have had a LOT of big antennas over my amateur career...(28 to be
> exact)...and this is fairly impressive......
>
> Your thoughts please and or experiences with this bandwidth I am
> experiencing!!!
>
> Hard to argue with success I think....
>
> Worked 5T5SN on TopBand this afternoon at 4:30 PM local time
> (2130Z)....hmmmmmm GOTTA LOVE IT!!
>
>
> Jose Castillo
> N4BAA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather
> Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
> and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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