New 160-meter vertical antenna
The new 160m vertical (topband antenna) is up and tuned. The entire operation was physically very demanding, as it required climbing up and down the ladder countless times, securing anchor ropes, and stretching out the radials. The tuning is ultimately in the form of an L-section: approx. 29 uH in series and 1700 pF in parallel. With this combination, the best matching is achieved at 1890 kHz, and the bandwidth for PSV < 2 is approximately 80 kHz.
Even a single person can set up such a tall vertical antenna by stacking the tubes. The first step is to raise the upper part of the antenna to a vertical position and loosely tie it at several points (as high as possible) to a support—such as a tree. From the ladder, we push the antenna upward until it is high enough to insert another tube. Care must be taken to avoid tilting the entire vertical antenna, which can cause the tubes to bend. Of course, it’s best to set up this type of antenna in calm conditions.