You can see our new 86 ft inverted-V-non-resonant dipole on top the "Whitfield" building at Evergreen Woods, our new QTH. Fed by 400 ohm ladderline to our 2nd floor apartment at the right, it was a long slog to get installed. Lots of help from friendly facilities staff, however. A 4:1 balun connects our ladderline to either the Flex-6500 directly or through a Heathkit SA-2060A Antenna Tuner.
First test shows it's a good 40 M antenna, easily matched with the built-in ATU of the Flex-6500. Other bands can be a challenge, but the SA-2060A will tune this system over 160 - 6 M -- at least if you're willing to crank those knobs!
My first on-air test was on 80 M with the SA-2060A. This is a difficult match, because the 86 ft dipole is close to a quarter-wave at 3.6 MHz. Does it work? I set it up with WSPR at 5 W transmit power to see what came back. Partial results of the first few minutes:
| Timestamp | Call | MHz | SNR | Reporter | RGrid | km | az |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-11-18 02:36 | AA6E | 3.570022 | -24 | HB9TMC | JN46lj | 6279 | 55 |
| 2019-11-18 02:38 | AA6E | 3.570021 | -24 | PA0O | JO33hg | 5815 | 48 |
| 2019-11-18 02:36 | AA6E | 3.570022 | -24 | TF1VHF | HP84wl | 4091 | 34 |
| 2019-11-18 02:34 | AA6E | 3.570025 | -27 | KA7OEI-1 | DN31uo | 3263 | 284 |
| 2019-11-18 02:34 | AA6E | 3.570023 | -18 | VE6JY | DO33or | 3250 | 309 |
| 2019-11-18 02:38 | AA6E | 3.570022 | -27 | KX3DX | DM79 | 2723 | 276 |
| 2019-11-18 02:34 | AA6E | 3.570022 | -25 | N6GN/K | DN70ll | 2697 | 279 |
| 2019-11-18 02:34 | AA6E | 3.570022 | -26 | N5SNT | EL09wq | 2618 | 249 |
| 2019-11-18 02:38 | AA6E | 3.570018 | -25 | KI5WA | EM11jk | 2435 | 251 |
So I think we pass. Best DX is HB9TMC in Switzerland, 2279 km = 3901 miles, with a Kp index of zero suggesting OK propagation..
I had been worried about interference from our building HVAC and other systems. It's there, but so far it's no show-stopper. My first tests, inside the apartment, were a total disaster, but being 20-25 feet above the roof gets rid of most of it.
