Re: [HCDX]: Re: Beverages

[mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx (Patrick Martin)]

Hi Dave and everyone else:

I very much enjoyed reading the stories on beverages, especially the one
there from Dave in Australia. 
It is interesting that you mention your snakes. I just finished watching
a special program on the Discovery Channel here in the states on the
most deadly snakes in the world. I think the top 10 are in Australia,
including your Brown Snakes. I don't blame you being nervous about
putting up your beverages out in that! You guys have more courage than I
would have. I guess if you have lived around such things alot of your
life you get more used to them.
Here on the Northern Oregon coast we have no deadly snakes. None. The
only snakes we have are a few garden types that are type small. We have
few bugs that are any threat either. So I can run around pretty much
where I want and work on my antennas, Day or Night.

The rule of thumb, I have heard on beverages are: To make them as
straight as possible and no more than 10 feet about 3 meters off the
Ground. Above that, you lose  directivity. I have never gone about 10
feet on beverages. I have found out that the beverages a foot or two off
the Ground do not seem to have the same gain, one abit higher seems to
have. Maybe it is because the Ground is wet around here so much of the
time. I have read that a ideal beverage should run over dry land and
terminate in a swamp. I don't have that here. The land around here is
wet most of the year.

As far as running the beverage over the barbed wire fence, I am sure it
affects it abit, but I can't do much about it. I have tryed it right on
top of the barbed wire fence and it doesn't work too well. I have it
about 10-15 inches above the fence and it works pretty good. I have
logged many stations on crowded frequencies from the East Coast on NA,
over all land. I am also about 10 miles from the foothills of the coast
range to the East. If it was flat for 100 miles to the East, the
reception would be better too. But as all DXers do, is to use what
he/she has.

Again, the beverage stories are sure interesting!

73s, 
Patrick Martin
Seaside, OR

P.S. I do get abit tore up with blackberry brambles though.
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