Re: [HCDX]: One last beverage question

[David Onley <donley@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for all the interesting replies to my message regarding partially
running the bev along the ground..

I think Paul Ormandy summed it up when he said that all bevs have their own
little charcteristics..

Height off ground, soil, proper earthing, surrounds such as hills, trees,
buildings, fences with km of wire etc.

At the Coorong in South Australia we have often ran the antennas along the
ground over very rocky & dry landscape. Its desert like and even  if you
wanted to put poles in you couldn't without a jack hammer.. We have had some
fantastic dx with these antennas however I always wondered what it would be
like putting up a carefully constructed bev.

We did this over Jan 11 -16 however it  did not perform that well & I
suspect it was only conditions and not the antenna. The bevs on the poles
were the quietest as far as noise goes and you could just tell they were
doing their job.

Another little experiment I tried was running the antenna 600m across the
water. The Coorong is only 3 feet deep in places (Salt water 3km wide and
150km in length). I put the antenna on poles towards Africa and I would say
even on the poles the antenna was  only 2 foot off the water in places.. It
turned out to be the worst performing antenna.. but I needed to try it <grin> 

At Woodside  Beach in Victoria it is a completely different scenario. It is
a very swampy area through Jack Smiths lake and we run usually 800m towards
Central America & USA. We have had fantastic results running then antennas
at about 6 feet off the ground.. So I'm still a little bit confused as to
what are the ideal ground conditions.. the dusty desert or the swamp.. I've
had great results from both.

As for slanting the antennas. Our site at Junction Hill just out of
Melbourne is quite steep in places and although it blocks a lot of
groundwave signals it tends to be a dud at times. I have a feeling its too
steep and in fact some parts the antenna is 30m off the ground through trees.. 

Speaking of which at Gilwell Park outside Melbourne we tried running an
antenna through some very tall trees for 600m. Thanks to some fishing line
and a sinker we got it up 30 -40 metres. It was an unbelievable effort.
However it turned out to be a dud antenna for dx.. It was the best looking
antenna we have ever erected however..

Finally my great aim in MW Dxing has been to put up a beverage that I know
will work to the max. I want to know that I've done the best with my bev and
it is only up to the conditions to do the rest.

I'm at the stage now where I feel 600 - 800 metres is enough.. I don't like
being under 600 and I feel that over 800 really doesn't make that much
difference except for direcivity. The poles? Well I prefer 6 foot wooden
tomato stakes with a ring or hook through the top..  

I have thin twin bell wire (Very light) it is easy to keep straight. We have
used thicker wire however it droops under its own weight. I use the heavy
wire for bevs along the ground.

Interesting observations guys. It's good to get diverse opinions from everyone.

73
Dave
 


This Email originated from David Onley
Mediumwave & Tropical Band Dxer
Melbourne, Australia
Http://www.vds.com.au/~donley/dxing.html

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