Of course, there was also the usual contingent of people who turned the discussion into one about on-ground dipoles - which my antenna isn't - and model results not based on the correct antenna or ground types. Takes all sorts, on the internet...
Meanwhile, as some argue among themselves about the earth loop being a 'dummy load', I was busy making real (split operation) QSOs with JA-land, with signal reports at the same level as seasoned G4 operators on 160m using full dipoles:
Not bad for a 'dummy load'!
John, I read this post with great interest. JA using 35W on FT8 on topband with a couple of copper rods in the ground....Wow.
ReplyDeletePushing the boat out a bit further, so to speak, have you given any thought to trying JS8 using this antenna? I mean, if you are reaching JA with FT8 surely JS8 will work also? The big addition being a keyboard QSO.
The possibilities of this are rather exciting in this low sunspot time. My garden is only about 20m long so the 30 M needed for this are beyond me but maybe, just maybe, I'll give it a whirl. Antenna experimenting is my main interest in radio.
Darren/Mi0YPT
Hi Darren. No, hadn't thought of JS8; not a mode I've used at all, actually. If there's a drawback to this antenna, it's the susceptibility (I suppose) to varying ground conditions. The theory says my high conductivity ground should produce a much more direct path between electrodes, and so a shorter antenna. I can't know what actually happens in the ground, but it's the only antenna I've ever managed a UK-JA QSO with! A lot of testing is needed, given the variability of 160m propagation. But seeing as this was just a 'can I receive well on 160m?' test, getting a QSO to JA was quite a nice surprise!
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