In a previous post, I described how the ATB-75 Tiltover mechanism gave up the ghost…
Rain Gutter Antenna, Part 2
The rain gutter antenna is up and running.
A-B testing against the attic dipole shows that it is best on 40M and 80M. It is quieter and the signals are stronger. On 20M, both the signal and the noise are both down, but the noise is down more than the signal.
I’m tuning it using an SG-230 SmartTuner and it’s fun to watch the SWR-meter as it is working. When I go key-down the SWR-Meter needle dances around for a second or two and then BAM! the SWR goes to almost 1:1.
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How’d the “rainguttertenna” work out?
Curious. We recently moved back in our home after moving out to sell (that didn’t work out, and wife was diagnosed with a cancer which we’re fighting – and hope to get her able to set sail by the end of the year – but all that’s another story). The important part is we removed the tower, all the antennas, etc.
Now I’ve got rigs, wires and power but no antennas and want to install something that works “pretty ok” but without the hassle of putting up more long wires, dipoles etc.
I figure if I can drive a grounding pole I can attach to the gutter system (it’s all new, it’s all aluminum, and it’s all freshly painted) and can probably swing a 40 meter antenna out of this…
Suggestions?
Hi Rick,
In comparison to my Alpha-Delta DXEE shortened multi-band trapped dipole in the attic:
1. Receive signals are stronger on the dipole
2. The Raingutter is a quieter antenna than the dipole.
3. When I look at the plot in EZ-NEC, the raingutter is directional off the end that is being fed. In other words, the raingutter is oriented north-south. The radiation pattern is skewed north.
You’ve given me an idea! Over the next few days I’ll do some comparisons between the two antennas using WSPR and Reverse Beacon Network and publish the results here. So stay tuned 😉