A Multi-Band Array For The Burbs

In the winter of 2002, I relocated my family from our small ranch in the southeast corner of Wyoming to the south Denver suburbs. For my hobby, it was a difficult relocation as I had to give up my antenna farm made of numerous towers, antennas and, in particular, my 4 square arrays for 40 and 80 meters. These arrays were used primarily for my own science studies regarding short and long path DX propagation during the winter months. By relocating, I was going from 160 acres to a home development lot that offered a backyard that was only 40 feet wide by 86 feet long. My front yard was 20 feet higher in elevation than my backyard, somewhat putting my backyard antenna location in a hole. I knew that my low-band days using arrays were over. But at least I had zero covenant restrictions against antennas. Thus, my mulling began as soon as we unpacked, mainly trying to figure out a way to install an 80meter bidirectional array. For the first two years I tried to work the long path propagation with a single vertical with no luck. I had some success trying various antennas for DX QSOs on the short path, but I could not hear weak signal DX being reported either way. Suffering from S9+ ambient RF interference made it nearly impossible to work anything worth mentioning. So, I decided to do some things in the shack. It started with replacing my existing rig with an ICOM IC-756 Pro III with its new noise reduction technology. My ambient noise levels were cut on average by 2 S-units and the noise reduction was very helpful in pulling out DX. Then, I was intrigued by the new anA Multi-Band Array For The Burbs By Paul Veal, NØAH