Late fall antenna tweaking...

Wasn't real happy with a few of my antennas so I decided to attempt to improve the match. 

20m 1/4 Vert ...just behind the house. 

Took some length off the Vertical element SWR is now

Freq        VSWR
14.0          1:1
14.5          1:1
14.1          1:1
14.15        1:1
14.2          1:2
14.25        1.3
14.3          1.4

Super happy with that ,  worked an RU this morning CW.  Tried to work a guy in Bulgaria but wasn't successful switched to the 160m vert at the top of the hill and was successful. 

80m inverted L ( 1/4 vert ) 

Took a wee bit off this antenna too but its not nearly as broadband as the 20m antenna.  Suspect a tweak of the radials might help that out but its not happening until the snow goes which may be April.

Freq      VSWR
3.45        1.9:1
3.5          1.45:1
3.55        1.4:1
3.6          1.5:1
3.65        1.8:1
3.7          2.2:1

So yeah,  I am mostly CW and FT8 on 80m so its great there however go up and not so much.   Think I may try a low dipole cut to 3750 for SSB. 

160m inverted L ( 1/4 vert )

Same this goes took a foot off the vert radiator

Freq        VSWR
1.7            2.1 :1
1.75          1.4:1
1.8            1.4:1
1.85          1.7:1
1.9            2.1:1

Again great for CW and FT8 but not so much for SSB.   This is my " magic " antenna that loads up on 40,  30,  20,  17, 15,  12, 10, 6 meters with just the antenna tuner in the radio!     I have had success on 6m meteor scatter running 100 watts into this antenna.   A while back ( in the blog somewhere ) I compared the 20m 1/4 behind the house with the 160m L up the hill and the big guy performed better! 


Here is how the 160m loads ...no antenna tuner!

Freq   VSWR
80m NO WAY ,  does not work
40m    3.6:1
30m    3:1:1
20m    2:1:1
17m    2.1:1
15m    1.5:1
12m    1.6:1
10m ( 28 MHz ) 1.4:1
10m ( 29 MHz ) 2.1:1
6m    (50 MHz ) 1.5:1
6m    (51 MHZ ) 1.3:1
6m    ( 52 MHz ) 2.1:1

From 50.6 to 50.9 MHz its a dead flat 1:1 VSWR...go figure

I use the 160 antenna when work FT8 remotely ,   no antenna switching required and I can flip around between bands super easy. 

Diggin a Hole

Late 2019 project is underway trying to get my 6m Yagi to the top of the hill!

Step 1 - DIG a hole ,  a really big hole.     Its  glacial deposits ,  about a foot of topsoil and rocks then a sandy gravel ,  rock dirt and root mix.

Step 2 -  Drop tower sections in the hole

Step 3 - Put all the rocks back in the hole.

Step 4  - admire the result

The rocks are as good as setting it in concrete.  The tower below was put up 20 years ago.  I use it to discharge the hill to cut down on lightening damage ... it works!

6m Amp

Picked up a 6m 600W amp a year ago!  It was sold as working but didn't work and is in the process of being brought back to life by VE3RIP... me an HV don't get along.  

Below is the Amp...

Lightneing Maps and 6m

Had some local lightening out over Lake Huron.   It shows up on the spectrum as well as on lightening maps .  Its cool to correlate where the strike that I am observing with the radio.

Lightening Induced Sporadic E

Being heard in Oklahoma as a result of lightening induced sporadic E.  

Its not meteor scatter and its a very short lived path so I deduce that its probably lightening induced sporadic E.

Hat Trick

Thought this was unique ,  worked VK Land 3 consecutive times on 20, 30 and 40 meters all using the same antenna the 160m inverted L.

More Magic

Nothing quite like the 160 meter inverted L...once again my magic antenna. 

Been using 20 meter FT8 this morning.   The band is open towards the S. Pacifc and VK land ,  hit and miss but lots of good openings for a few minutes here and there,

Just worked ...

Used PSK reporter to see how my RX compares to others in NE NA....

I am not just a little bit higher in RX but 10-20 db better then most,  Clearly this antenna has great RX on 20m.   TX,  not so much but I get through,  my report to VK4FB was +8 ,  I got back -19...yeah propagation can go one way or the other better ,   so flicked.