"while I await it's arrival next week.'

You sure?

I've worked well over 100 countries just on 40 meters in the CQWW CW in 48 hours.

Some multi-multi contest stations have gone over 160 countries just on 40 CW!

Hi Aadu:

I have a DXEngineering fast taper MBVE-1 which is made of 3' tubing sections. I thought of replacing two or even more sections with 6' sections. That might require a stronger base and surely a set of guys or two.  

Like you, I have clutter nearby. I figured that a taller vertical would be slightly less lossy on 80 and 160. Above all a 50-55' vertical would better clear nearby homes including my own and tall trees about 150' away. Bandwidth would improve. Increasing the height would cost little, especially if I replaced thin top sections rather than the costly 2" diameter bottom sections.

My question, posed on Eham a few weeks ago, was where to add the length, top or bottom, to make the strongest vertical. There was some agreement that replacing bottom sections was the way to go.

Of course, lengthening the radiator beyond about 43' would destroy the vertical's low angle performance on 20 meters. But the telescoping sections could be easily shortened to return the antenna to an ideal length for 20 meters (about 39' to 43' according to my modeling)

I see that ZeroFive is now selling a 50' vertical advertised for 160-30 meters. I don't know how the taper is handled on that antenna.

With your nice concrete base, you might consider trying a 50' tall "43 footer."  



 

would it work just as well if you buried the antenna and had 120 radials sticking up?

"I think burial is the tradition in many cultures"

Around 100 kilowatts, radial cremation can occur

Jeesh!

This comes up here every 2 weeks. It has been the subject of a zillion articles in the ham literature and professional journals. There must be dozens of eHam posts about radials, many squarely on point.

GROUND MOUNTED RADIALS REQUIRE NO TUNING. Whether they are on the soil, under it a few inches or over it a few inches makes no discernible  difference.

----------------------------------------------------
How would someone go about testing radials on the soil versus two inches below? Soil conditions constantly change. They vary from one part of the yard to another. And even if you could devise a test, the results would be unlikely to differ by 1/100 of a dB!

If one is using a 43' vertical with all its myriad  limitations, why would anyone worry about such radial system minutia? Worry about the 43 footer's huge losses on 80 and 160 and your signal going straight up on 17 meters and higher bands.  

"like to see a response to any and all that have tried both"

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I believe W8JI had a system of 120 (precisely cut) radials that could be raised and lowered over a range of several inches by means of prop pitch motor.

Wish all posts here were so wonderfully documented!

That greenhouse is 37 feet but only at its closest point. It appears to be about 10-12 feet tall. Your vertical is 43' feet high. There are big tall buildings surely containing metal not much farther away. I would think the greenhouse would have only a minor effect on the pattern.

My own 43' vertical has survived 4 months on a 4' pipe stuck in soil. No concrete, no guys. Have you noticed that the new MFJ/HyGain version claims it's self supporting?

With such a strong base you may want to consider adding to the radiator's height which would hurt 20 and higher, but benefit 30 on down. Would help clear the nearby clutter. With the tilt base you could shorten it when you decide to play on 20 and up.

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Yep, run as many radials as you can as long as you can. No need to measure. Looks like you have a nice setup there.  

I had the same problem with the home across the street about 250 feet away. The neighbor hired someone to work on the system which didn't do much good. He finally solved the problem by turning off the ancient intercom.

You say the lots are small so I gather the home is too. Does he really need it?  

"I measured 6dB improvement on a signal pinger"
What's a signal pinger, Dan?

--
I used to have a 160 wire inverted L, 45' up to the top of a tree, and maybe 90 feet over to another treetop. Could work eu easily with my AL-1200 amp but it wasn't competitive on rare DX with the guys using tall shunt fed towers supporting large yagis.

The low bands are finally quieting down. Some EU DX is making it into the Midwest. So last night I tried out my "43 footer" (with excellent radial system) on 160.

What a quiet antenna, I thought. Atmospheric noise was 2 to 3 S-Units below that on 80. Nice! But then I realized that signals were averaging several S-units below those on 80, too. And it's no great performer on 80.

Unless last night was some propagation anomaly, 43 footers seem pretty worthless on 160... just as EZNEC predicts. Mine does transmit on 160. A few months I made my only Q there, a 599...from a pal 6 miles away.

(and I "got him on the first call")

"So it won't tilt over at night? Perhaps the mechanism is solar powered?" Funny!

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I have a feeling MFJ hasn't even designed it yet. Maybe the ad is a "trial Balloon" to test demand. DX Engineering's heavy tilt base is a nice feature that must be costly to make. But it's not a necessity for many hams. I certainly wouldn't call a 43' vertical without a tilt base something one could raise and lower daily. Heck, even when lowered, who wants a 43' aluminum tube laying across the yard.

So much isn't said in that ad. They claim the feedline isn't lossy but they don't say the length is critical in determining loss. To their credit, MFJ  suggests that low angle performance is limited to 17 meters and below. (Actually it's not low on 17)

Hilarious: "Very inconspicuous antenna looks like a tall tree" Actually my fast taper DXE is quite sleek and hard to see among trees. But I wouldn't say it looks like any species of tree I've seen (maybe a distant relative of the aluminum Christmas tree).

And this: "hide it behind a fence" That might help if you had fences like Jurassic Park.



 
 

Was reading about the vertical in MFJ's nice pdf catalog which can be downloaded at their site. I'm unclear on whether their model has a nifty tilt base like DX Engineering and ZeroFive. MFJ's description says, "Easily tilt-over in the day time." But must you remove the 43' radiator from the base and lay it over? That wouldn't be easy. The base in the photo doesn't look hinged.

Base OD is said to be 2" versus 2 1/8 for the other brands.

Interesting that MFJ prominently boasts that their 43' vertical is self supporting. My DX Engineering MBVE-1 has been up for 4 months without guying. DX Engineering (and ZeroFive I think) "recommend" guying.

MFJ has apparently re-engineered the radiator for 6- meters using 6063V vhf rated aluminum.

How is it possible that I've been calling A25/DL7DF on 3505 with my 43 footer....for 30 minutes.

All the ZeroFive reviewers say they work EVERYTHING on the first call. I figure I'm up to fifty.  

Maybe those ZeroFives only work on 20 meter lists.

"The Oceania contest is coming up soon."

You won't hear much in the contest. CQWW Phone is your best bet; CQWW CW is even better. DX on 40 CW will be found up to 7080 or so when the band is hot.