Looks like 10m is really waking up now.
After yesterday with very little activity I had some activity most of the afternoon here. QSOs into ZS6, UN7, 5E (Special event station in Morocco) and 4J3. The UN7 called me on my CQ. Then there was a local OZ, just e few km away.
Further heard were A93, 4X4 and CX. meaning that I had QSOs with 3 continents and heard a 4th.
Yes, 10 is really waking up.
Just shows that my own CQ calling activity helps, at least for me. the last few days I have been calling CQ for up to more than half an hour, so yes, it takes some patience ...
Now for improving my own 10m signal. What to do ? A rotating beam is not in the planning, I would reserve that for VHF/UHF (6m/4m and up). The other options will be elevating the feed point of the antenna, or find a vertical with more gain. There exists a combined 6m/10m antenna, 5/8 on 10 and 2x5/8 on 6m. The gain on 10 would probably provide me with 2dB more signal, probably in effect a bit more due to a lower radiation angle. other option could be vertical stacking or making a collinear antenna.
Fixed wire beam ? A possibility. If I could find a 9m or higher support point it may be possible to make a Double quad element, possibly with a few reflectors, creating a low hanging "Hybrid Double Quad" (Design by DL7KM). This could provide some decent gain of about 8dB if high up. I wonder how it will work in such a low height.
A simple fixed direction 2 element quad antenna. Not too difficult to construct, and should have a reasonable effective gain, even at such a low height. Probably worth looking into.
Power amplifier ? Not the option I am looking too much for, my 100W have done reasonably well with the present vertical - and it has no effect on reception.
Other ideas ?
2 comments:
Hello Jan, 10m is my favorite band for DX. I use a homemade HB9CV in winter. But have done good DX on my multiband vertical as well. You could think about a single element quad. It doesn't need a big height and is a excellent DX performer. Easy to make also. 73, Bas
Hallo Bas, bedankt voor je commentaar. (Ik ben een tijd lang ook PA9QV geweest).
For the rest of the readers I will stick to writing in English.
I had a HB9CV antenna for 10 in cycle 21 (yes, that long ago), and it was excellent, though only pointing West. I was using it for cross band 28/50MHz work during the Solar Max around 1980.
Yes, I should probably make myself a 2 elm quad to hang under the vertical, just to get some gain. when mounted in a fixed direction it is a manageable project.
Other options would be bi directional phased arrays, yes, too many options.
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