160 meters how to....???

[Grogan]

Wanted to see how I would get on 160 and do it right.
reading all kinds of stuff and now I am confused, It seems Antennas coax loss etc is a problem and throw a wire up in a tree just wont work if you want to talk 3 states with the S9- 20 over crew.Long high antennas remote tuners and ladder line oh boy.
i would like to do it home brew but how. should I put up a giant Vertical or a long wire and what is the best way for an efficient wire system I want more than 2 watts from amp and radio to go on the air., Thanks Guys ,

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

It all depends on how much money you got. What is your budget? I would start small and work your way up. There is a wire antenna you can make and it is very effective with the longer wave length bands. I forget what it's called something like a horizontal loop.

 

[543_Dallas]

A vertical TX antenna will be most effective unless you can get a dipole up over 100 feet...that's still low on 160m. The better you are at making matching devices the more efficient it can be.

A dipole at 40 ish feet will be good for a couple hundred miles with good band conditions and an amplifier. Go vertical if you can and lay as many radials as possible. elevated radials are good and can be tuned.

 

[fogdog]

The EFHW 1080 I have up in a tree 35 ft in an inverted L works well for me on 160m. I bought a tuner just so I could use my Icom 7300 on this band with this antenna. There's a group I'm in daily that covers TN,NC,SC,KY,AL,GA, so it works ok.
A cut wire for the band is always better, but this one works. My elevation (3000 ft) might be helping me.

 

[BJ radionut]

It seems Antennas coax loss, etc is a problem and throw a wire up in a tree just won't work if you want to talk 3 states with the S9- 20 over crew

Grogan: Actually coax loss on 160 meters, is not the factor you think.
For example 9913 Belden (RG8) 300 feet at 2 MHz = less than .6 DB loss.
Using 300 feet with VSWR at 1.5:1 input 1000 watts at the transmitter end you will STILL have 880 watts radiated.
Using Ladder Line the loss is almost unreadable.
So that being said forget the feedline loss on 160 meters.

https://ez.analog.com/b/engineering-mind/posts/a-160-meter-antenna-for-a-small-backyard

https://www.dxzone.com/dx7466/low-band-antennas-for-80-and-160m.html

https://www.dxzone.com/qsy2566-linear-loaded-inverted-v

https://rsars.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/160m-top-band-inverted-_l_-antenna-g8ode-iss-1-31.pdf

All the Best
Gary

 

[wavrider]

Just put up a half wave dipole as high as you can get it.

My best guess is only a few percentage of ops actually have an antenna 1/2 wl AGL for 160 meters.

neighbor use to work 160 and half his dipole stretched across my back pasture.
actual height AGL was around 20 feet using a push up pole for center support.
He worked all through the Eastern US.

Put the wire in the air and work what you can, have fun

 

[Wire Weasel]

If you have enough yard or tie-off points for 3 corners (triangle) or 4 (square or rectangle), then I would always go with a Horizontal Loop. For Loops, which are Full-Wave designs, use 1005 divided by freq. So for middle of band, (1.8mhz), you're looking at approx. 600 feet of wire. But seeing as you're folding it around into a shape, the sides will be much shorter. Loops are awesome and present many benefits. They work on ALL HF bands above the one you make it for up to 6 meters, so if you made one for 160 .... you'll have an all-in-one antenna with just this one antenna and will work all bands 160~6. Loops are "cloud burners" in that their radiation is strait up and down .... which makes them perfect for close-in regional talking on 160,80 and 40 ~ their radiation pattern tends to be omnidirectional when horizontal and in one of these shapes. A Circle pattern would be perfect but most folks can't manage to make a circle. ANY shape will actually do (work). It does not have to be a perfect shape. An ugly loop works about as well as a perfectly shaped one. Loops are low-noise antennas and increase in gain as you increase in freq. They will have many natural resonant points on or near EACH band .... but you will still need to use a decent Antenna Tuner to make use of all parts of every band. Tons of info about Loops are all over the internet. It's the only HF Wire Antenna I've used for years and probably the only one I will ever use. The higher you can get any antenna is always better, but mine have always been only around 22-25 feet off the ground - as high as I could reach tree limbs for tie-off corners by climbing a 21' extension ladder. Good luck with whatever you do