Sometimes beverage pattern performance is poor because nearby towers or
other antennas will re-radiate signals or noise sources on the band of
interest. The problem is the same for any band where antennas couple and
interact on each other. The problem with 160 is that the wavelength is so
long so getting a beverage 260 feet away from any antenna or grounded
tower that happens to be happy on 160 (approx 120' grounded tower is real
happy!) is like putting 10 meter beams 16 feet apart and expecting them to
work. One way is to float the 120' tower above ground. This very bad
solution from a safety standpoint. I have had lots of luck dropping skirt
wires from the offending towers at my old QTH. With some trail and error
it is possible to make any tower electrically disappear. ;My only problem
at this QTH is that I have stacked beams that rotate around the tower at
various heights making tower de-tuning almost impossible. I'll let you
know how I figure this one out! If you have a suggestion, please let me know!
73, Tim K3LR
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