Beverage Antenna Mechanical Considerations

If you want an excellent receiving antenna for 160/80 meters, you may find this article from Tom (W8JI) most intriguing. This antenna follows suggestions given by Harold Beverage (W2BML) back in the 1920s.

Tom does an excellent job of describing the mechanical requirements for this long-length antenna.

If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwEknkqBx3A

This is post 2787 in a continuing series of simple ham radio antennas.

Here are some comments from Tom:

This is a quick overview of my Beverage antenna mechanical installation techniques. I've been using Beverage antennas since around 1970 with my primary focus on 160 and 80 meters. Beverage antennas like to be close to the ground, but not too close to the ground. Like all antennas, height and length is a matter of wavelengths....not the absolute feet or meters. Optimal height for long Beverages (Length over1 wavelength) is at least .01 wavelengths and less than .04 WL over most soils. This translates to roughly about 5-20 feet on 160 meters, 2-1/2 to 10 feet on 80 meters, and 1-1/4 to 5 feet on 40 meters. This does NOT mean heights outside this range will not work, it just means there will be some performance deterioration. For example 5 feet would be a sweet spot for 160-40 meter operation. As for length, in multiple A-B-C tests over many years I've found it far better to limit length to 1-1/2 or 2 wavelengths and use a second Beverage broadside and in phase than to extend a single antenna to several wavelengths length. My 160-80M arrays, for example, generally consist of two broadside Beverages. Individual antennas in a directional cell are about 10 feet high and 800-880 feet long with two antennas spaced 330-360 feet apart and fed in-phase. They would be the same height and length whether a single antenna, or an array of parallel broadside elements. There is very little deterioration in performance outside of the sweet spot, Beverages just want to work. As with most antennas it is more about not doing something wrong that it is getting overly paranoid about small things. I use a single 4-5 ft. copper ground pipe at each end. If I cannot get a 4 or 5 foot long ground pipe in the ground, I use multiple pipes spaced a few feet apart. If my soil were especially poor or if the ground would freeze, I would try to use deeper grounds or multiple grounds spaced a few ground rod depths apart. Trees and brush do not noticeably affect a Beverage, nor do small or modest angle or height variations. Of course we do not want multiple "leaky" direct contact points along the length to foliage or closely parallel objects like metal fences. Powerlines and other noise sources should be avoided. I use isolation style transformers at ends, I originated the use of binocular cores that have become mainstream today. My first use of binocular cores with isolated primaries was way back around 1971. My receiving antenna major advancement timeline is approximately: 1963-1964 first meandering Beverage antenna out of enameled transformer wire. 1970-1971 phase receiving loop antennas and actual Beverage antennas using binocular 73 mix cores made from single hole beads 1982-1983 large Beverage and phased loop log arrays, some phased short verticals. 1998-1999 significant investment in phased vertical arrays over using small loop arrays, Broadside and Echelon Beverages. I hope these hints help other people install inexpensive long-lasting effective antennas. Thank You and 73, Tom W8JI

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Thanks for joining us today.

Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).