N8MR
Quest for DXCC on 160 Meters
The minimalist's approach
GOT IT!
N8MR 160 Meter DXCC Award, received 11 Aug 2007
The station
Equipment
Yaesu FT-920
No amplifier
No special receive antennas*
No preamplifier for receive*
No "small farm out in the country"
Area = 66' x 113' lot in the city
* For the first 100 DXCC Entities.
Antennas
Inverted L up 65 feet for transmit and receive
Radio Works Carolina Windom 80 up 65 feet for alternate receive
antenna
Humble Beginnings
First real 160 Meter antenna
170-Foot inverted L with one radial
After I was told by most of the members of a local radio club that operating on 160
Meters was impossible from a small city lot, Dick, W8RCM (SK), from the Motor
City Radio Club demonstrated and proved that it was entirely possible, though not as
effective as the proverbial "stations with acres of antennas."
After years of floundering along with a very low 80 meter dipole (25 feet off
the ground), Ted, K8NA encouraged me to set up a simple, yet effective antenna for
Top Band. The two 65-foot maple trees on my property, which I'd been using to support
my Carolina Windom 80 could be used to temporarily support the inverted L. After all,
this project was just an experiment to see if I could boost my usually poor totals in the
2001 ARRL 160 Meter Contest.
An inverted L requires radials for effective operation, and my back yard did not
give me enough room for many conventional 1/4-wave radials. So I got creative and
using standard electric fence wire (thanks Ted) stitched one 1/4 wave radial
through the bottom links of the chain-link fence that encircles my yard. This antenna
was all still in the experimental stage at this point.
However, it was my first real 160 Meter antenna, and judging from the ARRL
160 Meter Contest, it performed far beyond what I thought possible. I contacted
47 states and several Canadian provinces. In a little over a year, I had all 50 U.S.
States confirmed along with Worked All States CW #774.
The Next Step
Improvements
170-Foot inverted L with 14 radials
By this time, it was apparent that success was possible on Top Band with a small setup.
My Heathkit SB-200 amp is only capable of 80 thru 10 Meters, so antenna optimization
was key in getting a better transmitted signal.
Between Christmas and New Year's Day, a rare warm spell (near 50 degrees F) in the
Great Lakes region allowed me to place 13 more radials within the confines of my
property. Using electric fence wire and a sod cutter, I buried the radials, attempting
to keep them as straight as possible and keeping the ends of each separated by no more
than 0.015 of a wavelength. Because of this, each radial was a different length, the
average being 50 feet. The last radial was placed along the north edge of the cement
sidewalk and driveway. This one was 1/4 wavelength and stretched out in a direction
away from the others - to the east.
The ensuing head cold I got allowed me the time to use the new setup to get several
more DXCC entities.
The Next Step
More Improvements
170-Foot inverted L with 16 radials
Since the addition of 13 more radials seemed to have a good effect on my transmitted
signal, I wondered what two more 1/4 wavelength radials would do. The property seemed
to have room for two more radials, each of which would wrap around the house and head
in an easterly direction. These would also be the only radials placed directly under
the horizontal part of the inverted L. This time, I chose the summer of 2004 to install
these two. Taking my trusty sod cutter and a few gardening tools, I buried the last
two radials.
Taking it Further
Even More Improvements
170-Foot inverted L with 21 radials and a cold water pipe connection
I thought the north side of the tree was lacking radials, so on October 29, 2005, I
buried four more radials on that side of the tree. The radials (all electric fence
wire, just like the others) range in size from 10 to 20 feet in length. Additionally, a
75-foot bare 14 AWG copper wire was connected from the feedpoint, buried running
east under the patio and into the house. The wire was connected to the cold water
pipe system of the house at approximately the 50-foot point. From there, the wire
was run 10 feet south, then 15 feet east.
On Second Thought...
Revising those Improvements
170-Foot inverted L with 21 outside radials and 6 inside
George, W8UVZ, pointed out that the connection to my cold water system may cause leaks
eventually and suggested that I remove that connection. I did so and then soldered the
copper wire already in the house to six more that I had strung southward across the
basement. This pattern provided a better indoor radial pattern than the cold water
system provided.
Each indoor radial is either 40 or 50 feet long, depending on its location. The wire
used or the radials was taken from my scrap pile and consists of 14 and 12 AWG wire,
and also a mix of stranded and solid (romex) wire. Most of the wire is insulated,
with the exception of one near the center of the basement. That one - a bare solid
wire - was placed on top of the metal grid of the basement's drop ceiling.
At this point, I cannot conclude whether or not the additional radials made much of an
improvement, with the propagation on the Low Bands being as poor as its been. However,
I have gotten several more new DXCC entities and will use the setup as it stands to
attempt to get DXCC on 160 Meters with only 100 watts.
100 DXCC Entities Worked!!
Maybe those radials helped after all
On 25 Nov 2006, I contacted GU4YOX for my 100th DXCC Entity during the CQWWDX CW Contest. It took exactly five years, but it was a great feeling to know that the
old local ham radio urban legends that "it is impossible to work DX on 160 Meters
from the city, especially with 100 watts" had finally been busted!
On March 19, 2007, I contacted JA for the first time...two of them! Both JR7VHZ
and JA7NI heard my signal, exactly 25 days after the last JA opening - maybe there's
something to that 25-day cycle. The loop had been taken down one week earlier, but it
was resting against the house, coax still connected. Although it was on the ground, it
allowed me to hear both JA stations better than any of the other antennas. I received
QSL cards from both stations 16 days later. Amazing! These two QSOs allowed me
Worked All Continents with 100 watts.
Thank you to all of the DX stations with great ears!
I couldn't have done it without you!
The Results
These are the 123 DXCC entities that I have worked, and 119 confirmed on Top Band with my
setup.
- 3X Guinea
- 4U1UN U.N. Headquarters
- 5T Mauritania
- 6W Senegal
- 6Y Jamaica
- 8P Barbados
- 8R Guyana
- 9A Croatia
- 9Y Trinidad & Tobago
- C6 Bahamas
- CE Chile
- CN Morocco
- CO Cuba
- CT Portugal
- CT3 Madeira Islands
- CU Azores
- CX Uruguay
- CY0 Sable Island
- CY9 St Paul Island
- D4 Cape Verde
- DL Germany
- E7 Bosnia-Herzegovina
- EA Spain
- EA6 Balearic Islands
- EA8 Canary Islands
- EI Ireland
- EL Liberia
- ES Estonia
- F France
- FG Guadeloupe
- FJ St Barthelemy
- FM Martinique
- FO0/C Clipperton
- FP St Pierre & Miquelon
- FS St Martin
- FY French Guyana
- G England
- GD Isle of Man
- GI Northern Ireland
- GJ Jersey
- GM Scotland
- GU Guernsey
- GW Wales
- HA Hungary
- HB9 Switzerland
- HB0 Liechtenstein
- HC8 Galapagos Islands
- HH Haiti
- HI Dominican Republic
- HK Colombia
- HK0 San Andreas & Providencia
- HP Panama
- HR Honduras
- I Italy
- IS0 Sardinia
- J3 Grenada
- J6 St Lucia
- J7 Dominica
- J8 St Vincent
- JA Japan
- K USA
- KG4 Guantanamo Bay
- KH6 Hawaii
- KH7K Kure
- KH8/S Swains Island
- KL7 Alaska
- KP2 US Virgin Islands
- KP4 Puerto Rico
- LA Norway
- LY Lithuania
- OA Peru
- OE Austria
- OH Finland
- OJ0 Market Reef
- OK Czech Republic
- OM Slovakia
- ON Belgium
- OX Greenland
- OY Faroe Islands
- OZ Denmark
- P4 Aruba
- PA Netherlands
- PJ4 Netherlands Antilles
- PJ7 St Maarten
- PY Brazil
- PY0/F Fernando de Noronha
- PZ Surinam
- S5 Slovenia
- SM Sweden
- SP Poland
- SV Greece
- T32 East Kiribati
- T7 San Marino
- TG Guatemala
- TI Costa Rica
- TI9 Cocos Island
- TZ Mali
- UA European Russia
- UA2 Kaliningrad
- UT Ukraine
- V2 Antigua
- V3 Belize
- V4 St Kitts & Nevis
- VE Canada
- VK Australia
- VK9/W Willis Island
- VP2E Anguilla
- VP2M Montserrat
- VP2V British Virgin Islands
- VP5 Turks & Caicos Islands
- VP6/D Ducie Island
- VP9 Bermuda
- XE Mexico
- XF4 Revilla Gigedo
- YL Latvia
- YN Nicaragua
- YU Serbia and Montenegro
- YV Venezuela
- YV0 Aves Island
- ZF Cayman Islands
- ZL New Zealand
- ZP Paraguay
- ZS South Africa
Return to N8MR
Inverted L Antenna
"New and Improved" Feedpoint
Receiving Loop Antenna
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