Why did this antenna work so well?

[Bored_Technician]

Hello Antenna Experts,

NOTE: This is all in the 10m band.

I didn't feel like raising my dipole antenna one evening, so I decided to experiment and make a "random long wire antenna". I have never done this before.

I didn't even measure but its around 60 to 70 feet of an old 2 wire extension cable with the ends snipped off. I stripped the black and white wires on both ends and twisted them together so it was "one wire"

I stuck the one end into my manual tuning box, and strung the other end horizontally across my lawn to a patio. It was only hanging about 3-4 ft. off the ground. It was a serious pain to tune up. I could barely get it below 2 on the swr meter.

However I noticed I was receiving quite a few stations. I stumbled across a 10m net open to taking check ins from distant stations. Not expecting it to work at all, I threw out my call. Sure enough I got very strong and clear audio reports from the members of this net over 500 miles away.

I was then able to make contacts about 200 miles south of me in my neighboring state. Those operators were quite surprised to be hearing someone so close to them.

I was then able to make contacts in a distant state over 1000 miles away.

So this random piece of extension cord ended up getting me more contacts in one night than I have had in weeks with my dipole hung up high from a tree. Albeit, most of my dipole contacts have been out of the country, but still.

So my question is, why did this work so well? What principal was at play here? Are random wire antennas just that good? Or was it just a fantastic band opening and I got lucky? Did the fact that it was two wires twisted around each other make it behave differently than if it was a single wire?

The question that really drives my brain crazy, is would my dipole have worked better during this band opening? I didn't have time to hang it up once I stumbled into that net. I did mention to them that they would all laugh if they could see the antenna I was reaching them with.

Ideally I will be able to have both my long wire and my dipole up at the same time to do some tests at some point.

The "antenna" in question:

(note: The wire is not directly tied to that metal frame, there is a green nylon rope that meets the cable a few feet away from the metal. They are a similar color so you can't see it well in the picture)

Thanks for your time and analysis. I am still quite new to the hobby and I was NOT expecting results like that from this experiment.

Cheers!

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Once upon a time when most hams didn't own a SWR meter and antenna analyzers were unheard of, and coax was unaffordable...
a lot of haywire antenna installations were used with good results. The plate output tank circuits of the day were more tolerant of
such and could be tuned to make most any random wire "work".
So, realize that you don't need a perfect 1:1 SWR to make contacts. Just get on the air and have fun.

 

[Bored_Technician]

Hey thanks for the response!

I'm not too worried about the SWR, I just threw that into the story because it was a pain to get to a useable level lol. It was above 20:1 when I started.

The main question was why a wire barely off the ground could get me 1000 miles away. I'm guessing mother nature was just smiling upon me. Which again makes me wonder how well my dipole would have done in those conditions.

Next time I hope to get both antennas up together and do a direct comparison.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Lots of things can come into play here: height above ground, take off angle, elevation pattern, atmospherics, luck, etc.
It is beyond me to explain it. At this point in the Solar Cycle 25, when 10 is open, it is OPEN.

 

[K6GBW]

Well, whatcha did is create a high angle NVIS type antenna. Lower to the ground like that you are getting a lot less noise that probably enabled you to hear more. From your description you were mostly making contacts within a 300 mile radius. I have my antenna at about twenty feet more or less for the same purpose. My neighborhood is very noisey and lowering the antenna really helps.

 

[W4AXW]

Just last night I cut a couple wires for a 20m CF Inverted V for use on a condo balcony. The balcony is only 14' wide and the feedpoint is only 17' AGL. I've worked over 60 DXCC's with wires for 10,12,15 & 17 meters (and a Moxon for 6m) in the last year from the same balcony and 100w max. As far as South Africa, Japan and the Middle East.


Photo shows 10m wires.

So I thought I'd play with 20m before I move out of the condo shortly. As you can see there's not much room for 16' long wires in this set-up so they became a triangle shape with the ends hanging down near the center. Not an ideal situation. This was a once-only thing so I didn't bother with tuning the wires. Used the FT-710 tuner for the first time (it worked quite well). With the feedpoint only about lambda/4 AGL, I didn't expect much but was able to work Lithuania, Belgium and St. Kitts-Nevis in about 30 minutes. Just a bit further than NVIS.
Amazing what works when you violate the "antenna rules". And fun to play with.
Just get something up and get on the air. It may surprise you.

7 3

 

[kk9h]

I have found that a 10 meter end fed half wave pulled up vertically into a tree has been an excellent DX antenna. We also have a local Saturday morning net on 28.355 and that antenna is really good for groundwave communications too. End fed half waves are fairly easy to build, are a little over 16 ft. long on 10 meters and are easily scaled up to work on 12 meters. When pulled up into a tree they are fairly stealthy as well.

 

[kbrown1075]

Welcome to the magic of "Radio" and Antenna "THEORY". Like other(s) have said, much comes into play. I have tried to build antennas "by the book" and done all the calculations and measurements to a "T"and not gotten squat. While other times I have made great antennas by hastily throwing something together. I had made a 80m Double Bazooka out of used, discarded coax from work one year when I was living in Louisiana. That double bazooka blew doors on any "bought" antenna I have ever owned. I used no more than 100 watts on that antenna, used it 6m to 80m, and had contacts from Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, and even Antarctica. The antenna at its highest point was maybe 20 feet. Antenna theory is just that, Theory. Don't be afraid to experiment. Radios and antennas never cease to surprise me. That's why we're "hams"!!!! -73 de KN1B

 

[N3DXY]

Hello Antenna Experts,

NOTE: This is all in the 10m band.

I didn't feel like raising my dipole antenna one evening, so I decided to experiment and make a "random long wire antenna". I have never done this before.

I didn't even measure but its around 60 to 70 feet of an old 2 wire extension cable with the ends snipped off. I stripped the black and white wires on both ends and twisted them together so it was "one wire"

I stuck the one end into my manual tuning box, and strung the other end horizontally across my lawn to a patio. It was only hanging about 3-4 ft. off the ground. It was a serious pain to tune up. I could barely get it below 2 on the swr meter.

However I noticed I was receiving quite a few stations. I stumbled across a 10m net open to taking check ins from distant stations. Not expecting it to work at all, I threw out my call. Sure enough I got very strong and clear audio reports from the members of this net over 500 miles away.

I was then able to make contacts about 200 miles south of me in my neighboring state. Those operators were quite surprised to be hearing someone so close to them.

I was then able to make contacts in a distant state over 1000 miles away.

So this random piece of extension cord ended up getting me more contacts in one night than I have had in weeks with my dipole hung up high from a tree. Albeit, most of my dipole contacts have been out of the country, but still.

So my question is, why did this work so well? What principal was at play here? Are random wire antennas just that good? Or was it just a fantastic band opening and I got lucky? Did the fact that it was two wires twisted around each other make it behave differently than if it was a single wire?

The question that really drives my brain crazy, is would my dipole have worked better during this band opening? I didn't have time to hang it up once I stumbled into that net. I did mention to them that they would all laugh if they could see the antenna I was reaching them with.

Ideally I will be able to have both my long wire and my dipole up at the same time to do some tests at some point.

The "antenna" in question:
View attachment 165607
(note: The wire is not directly tied to that metal frame, there is a green nylon rope that meets the cable a few feet away from the metal. They are a similar color so you can't see it well in the picture)

Thanks for your time and analysis. I am still quite new to the hobby and I was NOT expecting results like that from this experiment.

Cheers!

Take off angle has something to do with it but at the top of the solar cycle when 10 meters is open it's OPEN!!! welcome to 10 meters at the peak.
73 Peter