ooops....I said.,
it's laid out running east / west so
the radiation should be going north and south

It's *maximum* radiation is going e/w...
Not all of it...

typing too fast for my own good....
yea, if it's e/w, *maximum* radiation is broadside
at n/s like you say...Assuming it's pretty close to
a 1/2 wave or so, and not real long for the WL...

Ken Bessler wrote:
As I understand it, my dipole shoudn't work - it's flat
(non inverted V), it's laid out running east / west so
the radiation should be going north and south and it's
only 20-25 feet above ground.

The antenna is a coax fed (no balun), 220' long 80/160
trap dipole.

By my way of thinking, this antenna should almost be a
NVIS antenna.

If so, how did I manage a QSO with K7NN on 1.893
last night? Tuscon, AZ from Wichita, KS on 100w.
EM17ip to DM42li on 160m at 04:00z

Am I missing something here?

Hi Ken,

As many have already pointed out. Propagation conditions account for a
lot. but you also have some misconceptions.. a dipole on 80 or 160m
that low to the ground exhibits almost omni directional patter not much
of a lobe off the sides. So the orientation is not all that important.

high angle radiation can work out quite well on the low bands at times,
and is useful under certain conditions. I've found here that my
Vertical on 160m is not always the best dx catcher. sometimes not often
the dipole beats it out on DX signals.. it all depend upon propagation
condx. As one old timer told me many years ago.. the Ionosphere is a
get leveler of signals.

73 Dave Kc1di

P.S. the Moral is not give up trying if your antenna is only 40 or less
feet in the air a great number of hams around the world are in the same
boat. There calls may not ever be in the top 10 of the DXCC list or
winner of the Weekend DX test , but they have lots of fun. and part of
the fun is the unpredictable nature of radio waves.. I've always found
it interesting to call CQ and have someone answer weather it's next door
or around the world. it's still fun Sort of like fishing isn't it.

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As I understand it, my dipole shoudn't work - it's flat
(non inverted V), it's laid out running east / west so
the radiation should be going north and south and it's
only 20-25 feet above ground.

Hello Ken ....My OCF dipole at the same height can only be categorized as a
real piece of crap.
Hopefully I can get something up better in the near future but that depends
on the neighbor's cooperation
with using a maple tree in her yard. I ran inverted vees for 30 years at 40
to 50 feet and have had excellent results
on 80 and 40. I am glad to hear that your set up is working.

God Bless ... 73 Tom Popovic KI3R Belle Vernon Pa.