Posted by
Jim Brown-10 on
Dec 06, 2018; 7:45pm
URL: http://elecraft.85.s1.nabble.com/Flumoxed-tp7646765p7646879.html
On 12/6/2018 5:56 AM, ANDY DURBIN wrote:
> Yes, I make this point to anyone interested in getting started on HF. I worked my first 50 or so countries with 100 W and a 20 m dipole at 20 ft agl in my attic.
Anyone who has seriously contested and analyzed their results will tell
you that 2dB can be the difference between making a QSO over a difficult
path or not. Some antennas are more efficient, or have better patterns
than others. High antennas radiate better than low ones. Big coax burns
less power than small coax. Some antenna tuners burn more power than
others.
I've worked 175 countries in about five years running 5W into very good
antennas. I wouldn't have done nearly as well loading a mediocre
antenna. Years ago, AC0C built a complex antenna system in his attic.
He's since bought property in the country and built a much better
antenna farm. When I got back on the air in 2003, it was with a dipole
running through my loft to my garage roof.
K6DGW's current HF antenna is a wire running along the top of a 6 ft
high wood fence that encloses the small backyard of his condo. Fred
drives it with a barefoot K3, and manages to make enough QSOs in
contests to have fun. Many years ago, N6BT wrote up his demonstration of
working all continents using a light bulb as an antenna. The article was
titled "Everything 'Works.'"
73, Jim K9YC
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