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Michael Coslo · August 2nd 07, 08:16 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna

wrote:
On Jul 31, 2:45 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:

What I did learn was that at any given moment, either the vertical or
the horizontal antenna was "the best". While some generalizations could
be made for distance and the angle the signal was likely coming in at,
there was a lot of variation within it. The difference could vary over
time also.

I did the same thing at one time on 40m. "Compared a 1/4 WL ground
plane vs a horizontal dipole. You see some strange things at times.
The distance of the path has a large bearing over which is best.
In my case, 800 miles seemed to be about the crossover point
where both would be about the same on peaks. But even then,
sometimes you will see peaks on the vertical that are the strongest.
The ionosphere seems to tumble back and forth.
On the longer paths at say 1500 miles, the peaks on the vertical
would almost always be the strongest. And the farther the distance out,
the larger the difference would be.

That was similar to my findings. The vertical seemed to have generally
better performance, esp on receive. It seemed noisier, but its possible
that that was because everything was louder. That will be another
experiment for another day. 80 meters was very interesting. There were a
few signals that were barely readable on the one antenna, but solid copy
on the other. I did not get to try it above 20 meters, as those bands
were pretty quiet at the time.

That being the case, I questioned if assuming that the angle for best
reception is also the angle for best transmission, especially with what
appears to be a change over time.

I think it's quite accurate.. I use my switch and compare.. Whichever
receives the best signal gets the nod as far as transmit.
BTW, my vertical was pretty good compared to many you see...
Was full sized, with the base at 36 ft with sloping radials. Not much
loss involved compared to some you see on the ground with a
few meager radials.. It was a lot better than the 1/4 wave I had
ground mounted with 32 radials. It would always seem just as "hot" as
my dipole on receive. It was
just vertical. So it's quite possible for a lesser vertical not to see
the results I had. As an example, the ground mount with 32 radials
was barely better than the dipole to CA. You didn't see the 2 S unit
difference as on the elevated GP I used later. So in the case of
the ground mount, the distance where it would overtake the
horizontal antenna on peaks would be farther out, vs the GP.

My Butternut has a fair radial system. Probably around the 32 you
mention. I'm embarrassed to say that I lost count of how many I have.
I'd just get a weekend free, and lay down a few more radials until my
back and knees start barking at me. Nothing as nice as a full size
vertical though.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -