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[TowerTalk] 80-m. Inverted Vee vs. Dipole Performance

To: TowerTalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] 80-m. Inverted Vee vs. Dipole Performance
From: RLVZ@aol.com
Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:56:09 EDT
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
 
Hi Guys,
 
I'd appreciate your thoughts and recommendations on the following 80-meter  
antenna setup:
 
I operate portable from a QTH in Wisconsin for several weeks each  year.  
This site has a short 50' tower, a small Hy-Gain TH-3 Mk3  Tribander on top, 
and non-conductive guy wires.  For a 80 meter  antenna I've been using an 
Inverted V with apex at 47' and the ends at 15'  above ground.  This 80-meter 
Inverted V seems to work pretty well  on Stateside q's and fairly well on 
DX... but I've never done an A/B comparison  with another antenna to compare 
results.  I base my results on how  well it busts pileups in contests.
 
Thought: Most people I've heard of who have modeled Inverted  Vee's 
typically say "the Inverted Vee is a poor performer" and "you're  much better 
off 
with a flat-top dipole".  But a few people  contend that an Inverted Vee has 
some vertical  polarization which lowers the angle of radiation.  So in  
this case, if the flat-top dipole was at 47' (less than a quarter wave) it  
would still be a cloud warmer.  
 
Question: Since the flat-top dipole at 47' would be a cloud warmer, it  
seems to me that even if the Inverted Vee only had a very small  amount of 
vertical radiation that the low Inverted Vee  could perform as well as or 
better 
than the low dipole on qso's over 1,000  miles.  Do you agree that the low 
Inverted V might outperform the low  flat-top on q's of a 1,000 miles or 
more?  If anyone has done A/B  comparisons on a low Inverted Vee vs. a low 
flat-top dipole please share  the results.  I am thinking that modeling 
software 
may not give the  Inverted Vee any allowance for vertical polarization... 
which could be why they  often model poorly.
 
I'd really appreciate it if anyone had A/B comparison information  you 
could share on a low Inverted Vee do compared to low flat-top  dipoles.  I 
relaize I could shunt feed this tower but that would require  radials and it's 
more work than I'd like to invest into a portable  antenna.
 
Thanks & 73!
 
Dick- K9OM/9    
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