Which is the best 160m antenna ?
From W8JI on qrz.com:
"The fact is....... an Inverted L with
20 or more radials at least 50 feet and hopefully 100 feet long will
absolutely smoke any normal height loop antenna or dipole antenna at
nearly any distance on 160 meters. The possible exception is between 20
and 200 miles.
As a matter of fact a low full wave loop has no gain, any horizontal wire has increased earth induced loss as it is made longer when close to earth.
Do not make the radials shorter just because you have fewer radials. They really need to be as straight and long as possible, but lengths over 100 feet don't help much. Even 20-30 radials 60 feet long make a fairly good ground.
Nearly all especially successful stations on 160 use a vertically polarized antenna of some type for transmitting. That's just a fact.
I have a full size 160 dipole at 300 feet, and it is never really much better than a 1/4 wave vertical at any distance in any direction. As a matter of fact, the dipole is 10-20 dB weaker than the vertical off the dipole ends. The dipole only beats the vertical broadside to the dipole, and then only rarely!! And this is with the dipole 300 feet above ground.
73 Tom"
As a matter of fact a low full wave loop has no gain, any horizontal wire has increased earth induced loss as it is made longer when close to earth.
Do not make the radials shorter just because you have fewer radials. They really need to be as straight and long as possible, but lengths over 100 feet don't help much. Even 20-30 radials 60 feet long make a fairly good ground.
Nearly all especially successful stations on 160 use a vertically polarized antenna of some type for transmitting. That's just a fact.
I have a full size 160 dipole at 300 feet, and it is never really much better than a 1/4 wave vertical at any distance in any direction. As a matter of fact, the dipole is 10-20 dB weaker than the vertical off the dipole ends. The dipole only beats the vertical broadside to the dipole, and then only rarely!! And this is with the dipole 300 feet above ground.
73 Tom"
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=260716&highlight=beverage
The EZNEC plot below (courtesy of
E74AW) shows that you don't need a full-size 1/4 wave vertical to be
effective.
Patterns are shown for antennas 12, 16, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 meters tall. All have 60 radials, 40 meters long.
Patterns are shown for antennas 12, 16, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 meters tall. All have 60 radials, 40 meters long.
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160 is the only band I currently operate, using CW around 1825. It's a great band, and it's not called the "Gentleman's Band" for nothing. You will find that a vertical with a good radial system will work well for DXing while using a separate RX antenna such as a Beverage or a K9AY loop.
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W8JI: "A vertically polarized antenna with a good ground system will work much better than any horizontal antenna. An Inverted L is one of the best ways to make a good transmitting signal, so long as you have a good ground system.
For receiving, a Beverage is simple and easy and very good. If you do not have the room for a beverage, then some small loops will help. Look at K9AY and Flag antennas.
If you cannot have much height, a dipole would be as good or better than an extended zepp or big horizontal loop. Nothing will be as good as an Inverted L or another good vertical for transmitting."
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Unless you want to work only stations very close to you, use a 1/4 wave vertical, an inverted L, or a T antenna with about 60 1/4 wave radials. Use a separate antenna for receiving.
I think if you talk to the people who operate 160, you'll find out that few (if any) of them use a low dipole on that band. Most are using verticals or inverted L antennas. They require a modest radial ground system of about 35 radials 50 feet long. And many use separate antennas for receiving; those with the room use Beverage antennas (or phased short verticals), and those with smaller lots use K9AY loops or similar antennas.
Look at what they use on the AM broadcast band. Without exception, they all use verticals (with an extensive radial system). No AM radio station uses dipoles, horizontal loops, etc.
That's probably an oversimplification, but unless the folks you want to talk to are fairly close, you do really need a low angle of radiation on that band. A dipole is fine on 80 meters on up, but on 160, that's usually not the case.
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03-27-2010, W0BTU
Originally Posted by KJ4TIR
Q: I realize that talking on HF depends on a number of factors but in your experience, how far have you been able to reach someone on 160 meters? If you were in my posistion, the foothills of South Carolina, how far do you think I could reach?
A: Adam,
I've been on 160 since January 30, and I've worked 28 countries with a wire thrown over a tree (and two elevated radials). I listen using Beverage rx antennas. I've worked Australia and New Zealand, quite a distance from here. Others have done far better than me.
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I should warn you about something, though. ;-) If you operate 160 meters much, you may get the Topband Disease.
Perhaps I should now explain the symptoms of the disease. They are as follows:
- Desire to be on the radio at sunrise.
- Desire to be on the radio at sunset.
- Desire to be on the radio at all times in between Sunset and Sunrise.
- Desire to struggle for months to work a single station in a new country. In extreme cases, this might go on for more than a year. A good example is Riki, 4X4NJ in Israel who tried for two years to finish off working all the states in USA.
- Never being satisfied with the antenna system and constantly trying new ones.
- Only comes down to see the family after working a new country (to gloat). During the rare fantastic opening, will come down after each new country and hold up fingers indicating how many new countries were worked so far. ...
- Drinks lots of water before going to bed with the sole purpose of waking up in the wee hours of the morning to see if a new country can be found.
- Has problems getting to work on time during the winter months.
- Sends equipment and wire to people in unworked countries, hoping that the end result will be their QSL card on the wall.
- Spends thousand of dollars going to rare countries just so other people can work it. This is a problem, as they don't get credit for the country themselves!!
If these symptoms persist for more than one sunspot cycle (every 11 years), then you should strongly suspect TopBand disease.
More info at http://n6tr.jzap.com/tbdisease.html
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You would appreciate the 4th edition of Low Band DXing by ON4UN, John Devoldere, even if you're not interested in working DX.
W0BTU Beverage receiving antennas
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