Height above ground to be determined

By Andy Ikin, Wellbrook
K9AY web group, September 15, 2000

I think some experimentation is required determining the distance above ground of the lower part of the K9AY loop.
My experience is that laying the loop on the ground will degrade the front-to-back, F/B, ratio.
I suspect in my case that the E field response of the loop was reduced, hence I couldn't balance the E and H field output with the Vactrol to achieve a null.
I suspect that this feature is also related to the ground conditions.

By Patrick Martin, USA
K9AY web group, September 15, 2000

The other day I dropped the horizontal leg on the antenna right on the ground. It was up about a foot.
I found today, in checking the termination, that the nulls were poorer. So I raised the antenna back up to the one foot level. It worked better again.
I tried something different. On the east end of the antenna I raised it about two feet, so the antenna slopes downward a bit. The nulls improved on groundwave.
I tried raising the antenna on the east end even higher, to the three foot level, but the nulls worsened again.
So now I'm stuck with the two feet on the east end and one foot on the west end, and it's pretty good.
Another interesting thing about the antenna: any movement of the wire affects the nulls. The antenna is very sensitive to any changes, any. Is this normal?
If so, the antenna is going to be tough to use during the high winds in the winter.