John, My experience mirrors your comments. In the mornings to JA and VK on 160M, the signals are usually best on my end-fire loop arrays, but around SR there is often a rapid shift to my inverted L transmitting antenna. The signals may or may not hold up on the loops. I guess I should try a low dipole and see what happens.
Dick, K4IQJ .. On Dec 19, 2014, at 1:43 AM, John Kaufmann wrote: > A few years ago, I put up a low, non-resonant dipole, about 150 feet long > and 10 feet high for use as an auxiliary receiving antenna on 160. My main > receiving antenna was and still is an array of short verticals. What I > found at my W1 location after I installed the dipole is similar to what N5IA > described at XZ0A. > > If the band was open before my local sunrise (not always the case!), the > verticals would always outperform the dipole by a large amount. However, as > soon as we hit sunrise, the dipole would suddenly start equaling and then > outperforming the verticals. The transition would take place in a matter of > a few short minutes. Past sunrise, DX signals would drop into the noise on > the verticals but would continue to hang in on the dipole. The dipole would > sometimes extend the opening for me by 5 to 15 minutes, allowing me to make > some contacts (mainly JA and VK, if the band was open in those directions) > that would not have been possible with the vertical array. Sometimes the DX > would be virtually inaudible on the verticals but Q5, although not strong, > on the dipole. > > What is rather interesting, however, is that in the winter seasons of > 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, this dipole advantage became non-existent. The > dipole was never even close to the verticals, either before or after > sunrise. It caused me to go outside a number of times to see if the dipole > had fallen down, but that was never the case. Evidently the propagation > mechanisms at work around sunrise have changed from a few years ago, at > least at my QTH. So far in the 2014-2015 season, the dipole has still not > provided any receiving advantage around sunrise. > > I generally don't operate much around local sunset, but I have never seen > any dipole advantage at sunset. > > 73, John W1FV > > _________________ > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
