I left 474.2kHz WSPR running overnight using the 15m baseline earth-electrode running vaguely E-W. Results were encouraging.
Don't anyone say they can't erect an antenna for 474.2kHz! If even THIS works, almost anything is possible.
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474.2kHz UNIQUE WSPR spots in last 24 hrs on
15m baseline earth-electrode "antenna" |
Some stations are actually stronger on the earth-electrodes than on the conventional "wire in the air". Best DX 701km with an ERP around 5mW MAX and no conventional antenna is not at all bad. I am sure a proper Marconi antenna would be better but the earth-electrode ground "antenna" is a good compromise system when options are limited. It is totally invisible too - VERY neighbour friendly.
On the receive side, 10 unique stations copied in 4 countries. Not bad for a less than 24 hr period.
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474.2kHz UNIQUE WSPR spots in last 24 hrs on
15m earth-electrode baseline on receive |
Good to see you are back on the air again on MF, Roger. Conditions on MF and LF were not good at all last night due to a geomagnetic storm.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your earth-loop seems to work well, I would encourage you to try something vertical with topwires. I recently built a Marconi-T antenna at only 7 meters height. It only needed a coil of about 50 turns on a plastic bucket to resonate on 475 kHz. The Marconi-T is about 3-4 dB better than my 100 m2 loop!
Good luck!
Robert LA4ANA