"John Doe" wrote in message
...
I am LQQking for a Hustler 160m mobile coil and whip.

73's Howard W3CQH
2 items

1] I have since found that Hustler did not make a 160m coil, but
Pro-Am/Valor makes this item (VAL PHF160 = VALOR 160M 8' 3/8-24 WHP/PHF
160B) that I might be able to substitute in its stead.

2] I live in a Antenna restricted community, and I have a 40ft pine tree
in my back yard. I thought that I might try the above mentioned item in
conjunction with lets say a "LDG AT-200 Pro" auto-tuner or equivalent.
(Note - I cannot run any wires from the house to the tree in the air - they
have to be buried. Also I do not have any fencing and my rain gutters are
grounded.)

My idea is to strap either a metal or pvc painted pole near the top of the
tree, with a mount bracket for the whip (of course all painted to look like
the tree). I will have to feed it with RG-8x (painted) run down the tree and
buried in a trench to the house.

As far as radials go - They are out of the question. Instead - what do you
think if I should just roll up say 250ft of 13ga or so of single conductor
wire about a foot in diameter, attached at the base of the mounting bracket
(hung in the tree) and use it as a counterpoise? I might be able to hang in
the lower branches of the tree - a waterproof box with a loading coil and
attach the counterpoise there instead?

If I could tune TX/RX with this configuration, then I could possibly use it
to cover all of the HF bands.

Of course, I would like to work DX, but if not possible, then at least
conus.

Comments welcomed.

73's Howard, W3CQH

John Doe wrote:
2] I live in a Antenna restricted community, and I have a 40ft pine tree
in my back yard.

Now you are getting somewhere. Run a 40 foot vertical wire
up the tree and use some of the upper limbs for a top hat
made out of small wires. Feed it at the base of the tree
with an autotuner. A 40 foot vertical will radiate ten
times as much RF on 160m as will a 10 foot vertical.
The addition of top hat wires can double that figure.
You may get such an antenna to be 10% efficient.

As far as radials go - They are out of the question.

At the autotuner, you need a counterpoise of some kind
unless you live in a salt water swamp. If you can bury
coax, can you also bury a 100 foot counterpoise? Note
that the ground causes the counterpoise to have a low
velocity factor so 1/4WL of wire is not necessary.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
. ..
John Doe wrote:
2] I live in a Antenna restricted community, and I have a 40ft pine
tree in my back yard.

Now you are getting somewhere. Run a 40 foot vertical wire
up the tree and use some of the upper limbs for a top hat
made out of small wires. Feed it at the base of the tree
with an autotuner. A 40 foot vertical will radiate ten
times as much RF on 160m as will a 10 foot vertical.
The addition of top hat wires can double that figure.
You may get such an antenna to be 10% efficient.

As far as radials go - They are out of the question.

At the autotuner, you need a counterpoise of some kind
unless you live in a salt water swamp. If you can bury
coax, can you also bury a 100 foot counterpoise? Note
that the ground causes the counterpoise to have a low
velocity factor so 1/4WL of wire is not necessary.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

1] The 160m whip assy that I originally planned to use is CENTER-LOADED
which I think is better than a base loaded whip?

2] If I decide to go with a 30 or 40 foot length of bare wire up the
tree, How long should the TOPHAT wires be?

73's

John Doe wrote:
1] The 160m whip assy that I originally planned to use is CENTER-LOADED
which I think is better than a base loaded whip?

Yep, and a center-loaded 40 ft. long wire is better than
a center-loaded assy shorter than 40 ft. on 160m. There
is no perfect substitute for length and height on 160m.

2] If I decide to go with a 30 or 40 foot length of bare wire up the
tree, How long should the TOPHAT wires be?

As long as you can make them and as many as you can
manage. Best to check the resonant frequency during
the installation process but you are not likely to
make the top hat too big on 160m with a 1/12 wavelength
vertical wire. Resonating the system using only a large
top hat would be ideal. Of course, you will be dealing
with a low feedpoint resistance, too low to be matched
without a ~1:4 unun or equivalent.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
...
John Doe wrote:
1] The 160m whip assy that I originally planned to use is
CENTER-LOADED which I think is better than a base loaded whip?

Yep, and a center-loaded 40 ft. long wire is better than
a center-loaded assy shorter than 40 ft. on 160m. There
is no perfect substitute for length and height on 160m.

2] If I decide to go with a 30 or 40 foot length of bare wire up the
tree, How long should the TOPHAT wires be?

As long as you can make them and as many as you can
manage. Best to check the resonant frequency during
the installation process but you are not likely to
make the top hat too big on 160m with a 1/12 wavelength
vertical wire. Resonating the system using only a large
top hat would be ideal. Of course, you will be dealing
with a low feedpoint resistance, too low to be matched
without a ~1:4 unun or equivalent.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

Could I use the whip configuration as the center load coil, and just add
some more wire to the top end of the whip and more wire to the bottom end??

73's

John Doe wrote:
Could I use the whip configuration as the center load coil, and just add
some more wire to the top end of the whip and more wire to the bottom end??

Using more wire would make for a more efficient antenna
but you would need to short out some turns on the 160m
coil which causes a lowering of the coil Q. Ideally,
you would just use (wind) a lower inductance coil, one
with the exact amount of inductance needed. With a
large top hat and more vertical wire, the size of the
coil is considerably lessened. But shorting out the
unneeded turns on a coil is a time honored tradition.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
...
John Doe wrote:
Could I use the whip configuration as the center load coil, and just add
some more wire to the top end of the whip and more wire to the bottom
end??

Using more wire would make for a more efficient antenna
but you would need to short out some turns on the 160m
coil which causes a lowering of the coil Q. Ideally,
you would just use (wind) a lower inductance coil, one
with the exact amount of inductance needed. With a
large top hat and more vertical wire, the size of the
coil is considerably lessened. But shorting out the
unneeded turns on a coil is a time honored tradition.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

1 more question - Instead of using either the fixed 160m stick w/whip
(stinger), or the 30 - 40 ft of wire, what do you think about using a
Screwdriver Antenna at the top of the tree and running either a counterpoise
or radials??
73's