Extremely happy with my now, 3 element reversable 40 quad but of course now it's time to mess with it. I would like to add the ability to change from horizontal to vertical polarization from inside the shack, Winter has arrived, my concern is that the unused feeder for the horizontal polarization, though going to ground on the Ameritron remote antenna switch, will add electrical and physical length to the driven element and vice versa when changing feedlines from top corner to side corner on the diamond quad.
Not sure if this is even possible with my present configuration having the two outside element stubs at top corner for the reverse capabiliy.
Any help or ideas would be appreciated,
Bob, N4JTE

Hi Bill, I just downloaded that program a few days ago for the free trial period. To me it's just another VOIP similar to echolink with a pretty picture of a fake transceiver to simulate ham radio contacts. It might be a useful way of staying in touch with some friends when the band propagation is gone or meeting some DX stations over the internet, I will probaly get bored real quick with it, to me it ain't real unless it's coming from my antenna. To answer your question, I don't worry about novices "talking" out of frequency on this program any more than if they were on a long distance phone call talking to a DX station, maybe it will inspire them to do "REAL" ham radio and upgrade for voice priviledges on the air.
Tnx for the interesting question bill 73, Bob N4JTE

I've had an Alpha Delta twin sloper laying around unopened for a few months and figured I'd give it a shot. Not expecting much but I would like to try it on 160 and 80 meters. I'm not to familiar with the "theory" of twin slopers with a grounded tower so I'm curious, would the addition of a few radials at the ground rod connection have any benefit that anyone might have first hand experience with ?

Tnx, Bob N4JTE

If I'm not mistaken that antenna uses the tower or a wire as the ground connection for the feedline. On 160 I would think it would appear real short and might be a TVI generator. Perhaps adding some length to that ground side connection will alleviate the problem on 160.
Good Luck
Bob N4JTE

First of all the noise canceller was the best purchase I ever made from MFJ, I was getting an horrendous cycling 15 over frequency shifting noise that made ham radio almost my ex hobby. It takes a little getting used to with the various controls but for once the manual directions should be followed closely. I do have a concern with your setup because you are using a vertical as your main and potentialy as your noise antenna. Setup here is horizontal for main and a pushup mast used as the noise receive right in the middle of the transmitting antenna.I have used 1000 watts often enough to know there is no reaction between them EXCEPT; the little led light burns out real easy and is a common problem with an easy fix. As you probaly know most man made interferance is vertically polorized but I'm wondering how hard it will be to tune out with both elements vertical, perhaps a simple low dipole near noise source might make life simpler. Anyway good luck when you finally get it back and feel free to email me if you have any questions. Bob  N4JTE

Thank you guys, I really appreciate the well thought out responses in the true spirit of hams helping hams.
Bob, N4JTE

Hi Tom, I may be a little over my head here but I am very happy with my experiment with the 40 meter quad 2 ele reversible wire parasitic with the stub insertion, {never could get that crossfire phasing thing working}, so I started wondering about relays versus traps for a multi band capability on a 75 meter inv. vee. Instinct tells me that at 100 or 1200 watts a 12 volt relay will work if configured correctly to dissapate voltage in the on or off position and maintain switching capability, like I said I'm way over my head on this one because I have no clue what the relay would have to deal with, voltage or current wise, in the closed or open state. That why I'm checking with the Elmers, meaning you, hi. Bob, n4jte

Tnx, but was kind of hoping a cheap $10 radio shack lightweight relay might be configured to accomplish the goal someway.

Oh yeah,  one more thing, assume resonance for forty at the insertion point, and resonance at 75 with at full length.

I have only used dtdp relays in parasitic elements for stub insertions etc, but I'm thinking about giving a full size 75 meter inverted Vee the ability to convert instantly to a 40 meter antenna without the need for traps or tuner. So the idea is to use the relay to short out the extra length on both legs. Question for the experts is: Am I gonna fry the relay when it is shorting out the remaining antenna length and maybe would soldering a good dissipating resistor instead of straight wire across the normaly open terminals make this idea practical.
Tnx Bob N4JTE

Hello all, I spend most of my time on 40 meters and use a parasitic 2 element wire "almost" flat top at 50 feet spaced at 1/4 WL.Ends are at about 35 feet. I was thinking of a way to get something going on 20 meters and remembered the Old ex. Zepp idea. In theory all I need to do is add about 8 feet (.64WL)or so to each of the four ends to acheive some decent gain in the fixed direction (West) that the property here dictates. Works pretty good as is on 17 meters as the lenght needed for Zepp is pretty close anyway, but wondering if wide spacing of 1/2 WL will be effective on 20 and do you think the extra wire will screw up what is now a very good 40 beam? BTW, fed with 450 ladderline. Any thoughts ?
TNX in advance
Bob N4JTE

Forgot to address the "steerable" part of your question. If you use 2 elements in a vee or dipole configuration you can arrange for reversal of direction by various means; delay lines, feed systems etc. I think that after checking the Cebic website you will get a wealth of good info. The antenna book from the ARRL is a must for any antenna experimentor, you don't need the latest, greatest version as lucky thing for us, antenna theory doesn't change year to year.
Bob N4JTE

First of all welcome back. A good start to your experiments would be to visit www.cebik.com. A wealth of info there to get you started. From my own experience I would advise you to shy away from phased systems for the moment as they never seemed to out perform the inverted vee 2 ele parasitic 1/4 wl spaced wires I am presently using.Good luck, have fun.
Bob N4JTE

Thank you all for your input and perhaps the question posed and the answers offered will be of interest to all of the other wire antenna experimenters out there. Really appreciate EHAM and you guys offering good advice and expertise to us all. BTW, I'm gonna do the ground screen thing anyway to hopefully help my next antenna project, a 3 ele vertical phased array, no room for a four square. Hope to see you on 7.263.5 some evening.
73, N4JTE

Tom, My question arose from a DOS program that R.J. Edwards; G4FGQ created for inv. vee antennas. It only addresses a single antenna but allows many variations such as end heights, feedline etc, and efficency, it does not address gain, only the differance between it and a flat top dipole at same height. It became clear to me that substituting 450 for coax increased efficency by almost 20%. Not a big deal for a single Vee but I think very useful when part of a 2ele array.
I could see that by modeling better ground conductivity that I could better the efficency even more and possibly get a little more gain and lowered T/O angle. Thus the genesis of my question. Tnx for your comments, great website.