Aerial Question

[flintstone mop]

Hello Gang
The 'MOP radio station is doing pretty good for the first radio season in Pa.
I was in QSO with K8IBE and K3KEM and they said that my inverted VEEE might perform better with the ends 10 feet off the ground. Right now they are about 30 feet and the antenna is kinda like a flat top. The center is 65 feet, so it's almost a Vee.
It's untuned and fed with open ladder.
What are your thoughts mates?
G'day
Fred

[K1JJ]

Hello Gang
I was in QSO with  *****  and they said that my inverted VEEE might perform better with the ends 10 feet off the ground. Right now they are about 30 feet and the antenna is kinda like a flat top. The center is 65 feet, so it's almost a Vee.
It's untuned and fed with open ladder.
What are your thoughts mates?
G'day
Fred

Hmmmm....     Lower the ends making the apex angle even sharper [< 90 degrees] AND lower the average height of an antenna that is already at the minimum height for good performance?   

I would love to hear the reasoning behind that.  Maybe they have a good  reason I've not heard yet.

There's an old wives tale out there about lower takeoff angle with an inv vee having more vertical polarization vs: a flat dipole.....  NOT!    Any vertically polarized components introduced into a system need a great ground radial system to support them, else ground losses at the lower angles - waste. Even a vertically hung, balanced dipole needs a radial system under it. Check out TCI, the broadcash curtain antenna company, and you will see ground screens recommended for all of their balanced VERTICAL log periodic dipole driven arrays... Same principle here. Even if you DID have a great radial system under the dipole, I would not lower it in any way.

You really want full horizontal polarization and the ~60 degree or so take off angle for the type of 75M AM work you do, Fred.   If you're looking for AM DX, then you'll need a low angle system supported only by a very high dipole up > 90' or a full blown vertical with a 60+ radial system out in the clear - at least a 100 yards clear perimeter.

Leave your antenna as it is, Fred - it's a great antenna. Or better yet, get the ends up even higher. There is nothing better than a FLAT, straight and horizontal configuration for any dipole, no matter what length it is, OM.

T

[Jim, W5JO]

Leave your antenna as it is, Fred - it's a great antenna. Or better yet, get the ends up even higher. There is nothing better than a FLAT, straight and horizontal configuration for any dipole, no matter what length it is, OM.

T

T is telling you true Fred.  In fact if you can get the ends even with the center, do it.  That old 10' story goes back to when I was middle aged and is a bit of a tale.  Prop is iffy at best on 75 so in 5 years they will tell you the opposite.  The voltage near the ground only provides heat for the worms and moles.

[W2VW]

Ariel
    (Dean Friedman)

    Way on the other side of the Hudson
    Deep in the bosom of suburbia,
    I met a young girl, she sang mighty fine,
    Tears on My Pillow and Ave Maria.

    Standing by the waterfall in Paramas Park,
    She was working for the Friends of B-A-I.
    She was collecting quarters in a paper cup,
    She was looking for change, and so was I.

    Ariel, (Ar-ar-ari-el) Ariel.

    Her name was Ariel, she was a Jewish girl,
    She wrote her number on the back of my hand.
    I called her up, I was all out of breath,
    I said, Come hear me play in my rock and roll band.

    I took a shower and I put on my best blue jeans,
    I picked her up in my new VW van.
    She wore a peasant blouse with nothing underneath,
    I said, Hi, and she said, Yeah, I guess I am.

    Ariel, (Ar-ar-ari-el) Ariel.

    We had a little time, we were real hungry,
    We went to Dairy Queen for something to eat.
    She had some onion rings, she had a pickle,
    She forgot to tell me that she didn't eat meat.

    I had a gig at the American Legion Hall,
    It was a dance for the Volunteer Ambulance Corp.
    She was sitting in a corner against the wall,
    She would smile, and I melted all over the floor.

    Ariel, (Ar-ar-ari-el) Ariel.

    I took her home with me, we watched some T.V.,
    Annette Funnicello and some guy going steady.
    I started fooling around with the vertical hold,
    We got the munchies and I made some spaghetti.

    We sat and we talked into the night,
    While channel 2 was signing off the air.
    I found the softness of her mouth,
    We made love to bombs bursting in air.
    Ariel, (Ar-ar-ari-el) Ariel.

    Ariel, (Ar-ar-ari-el) Ariel.

[WA1GFZ]

I wanna take you higher Fred.
I just put up a new antenna and 1/2 wat through it I had a sloping inverted Vee.
It didn't work very well. The second weekendi got the ends up 75 feet and 65 feet
works very well now. But the worms would welcome the heat.

[flintstone mop]

I loved the Ariel song, Dave!
It was an intersting QSO with these guys anyway. It was possisbly the 'standard' setup for a VEE. I'm kinda stuck here on retirement with a limited money source. I only have one tall structure for antenna support. The trees that hold the ends up are what I have to live with.............for now. If I get some sort of part time or full time job, then the wild spending can start again.........HA!
I did have an accidental A-B of an inverted L and a vee from K8IBE, Bill, Oscoda, Mich. His L was very weak, when he switched to the Vee, he was booming into New Castle, Pa. The other station was located in Pittsburgh 50 Mi South of me.
It convinced me to leave my present system alone. I'll put up an L and the radials when I'm rich and can afford a 80 foot tower.
Thanks
fred