[IRCA] EWE setup

Doug,

You're right, I have not heard Hawaii from Vancouver. Thanks for the listings. My EWE antenna is a portable antenna. Having no tall trees in the backyard, I have to support it using two different masts. One mast is a 16' reach extension used by painters or window washers. The other is an old fiberglass Antron 99 CB antenna I have four grounding rods driven halfway into the ground the four corners of my back yard. I put a 4' PVC pipe onto each of the grounding rods -- I just sort of slide the PVC pipe right over the exposed rod.

The EWE wire is 50' long and the legs are about 12' down on both ends. It can be aimed in the NW, SE, NE and SW directions by moving the masts. I have the balum strapped to the CB mast and grounding resistors to all grounding rods. When I get off work at 1:00 am I go out and set up the antenna, usually aimed NW for TP reception. On either side of me are 2-story houses. When the antenna is aimed in the NE or NW direction, the top of it is level with the bottom edge of their roofs. Even so, this antenna performs better than any long-wire or other antenna that I've ever used. It's also real portable because the masts are collapsible to 6 foot. If I want to go camping, I can just bungee-cord them to trees. In fact at home when I'm through Dxing I just take it down (takes about 2 minutes to setup). That way the neighbors won't see the antenna during the day -- I'm in a new subdivision with CC&Rs so I want to make sure no one finds the setup to be to their disliking. The backyard is about 20'x50', with a street and power lines behind the property. I have to admit, though, that sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, when I'm carrying one mast to one end of the yard and another to the opposite side, while trudging along in a swampy backyard, with rain in my face or frost on the masts, it makes me wonder if a 5-foot loop hanging from the den ceiling was a better idea. You know how my wife would vote. HI

I also have a 10' and 5' loop made from PVC pipe for outdoor use. And I set up the H-800 active antenna, again using PVC pipe over a grounding rod to support the mast. I plan to add more wire to the 10' loop to cover the long-wave band. So was your hypothesis right???

73,

Dennis Vroom

Vancouver, WA

JRC 545

50' EWE (currently resting on grass because it's daylight)