Hi Gang,
I just had a failure of a pulley at the top of my HB mast. While trying to
free it I broke the HB 40/20 loop that was almost up. so to square one I
had to go.
I put up an inverted V, apex up at 25', legs each 72 feet, ends 6' off the
ground. Using an MFJ-259 and frequency counter I found some interesting
results.
1) This antenna is not in the same league as my HB vertical on 40M. It is
down an s-unit or more.
2) On 80 through 15 (less 30M) the ZM-1 can get me a match close to 1.2:1.
3) On the same bands the St. Louis tuner cannot get a match below 3:1 on
80 or 20, and 40 is only a bit better.
4) The ZM-1 gets the best match when the DC ground is attached *AND* the
RF readial field consisting of 6 radials from 30 to 140 feet long.
5) I guess all of this means that I should cut the antenna legs to 67'
each to optimize 80M for the CQC test Sunday night.
Oh, did I mention that the antenna is fed with 100 feet of ladder line?
CU all in the contests this weekend.
72, Mark N2VPK
Member of the Buffalo QRP Connection
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