160 meters - or Bust!
NOTE: If you are a program chairman of a ham radio club I have a 20 minute presentation on the design and construction of this antenna. (Feel free to download the slide deck) and email me here if you are interested in arranging a talk.We start with my classic suburban lot (100' x 70') outside Boston which provides little room to build antennas for the lower bands.
The vertical would be fed by the same twin lead which was feeding the dipole
The EZNEC plot shows, with the vertical, I would achieve the goal of radiating most of the station's RF at an angle:
The details of the design, testing, and optimization of this incredibly successful vertical (including the why and how of installing a loading coil to improve performance) can be found on a page I call "The 160 Vertical Norse Saga" (When you read the effort required to optimize the system, you'll understand the Saga...)
Once optimized (as detailed on The 160 Vertical Norse Saga) the vertical improved performance beyond expectations, from 15 states on the dipole (all east of the Mississippi) to all 50 states using the vertical, and 12 entities (all on or near North America) to 77 - including New Zealand and Antarctica! Here are the lists of all my WAS contacts, followed by an ongoing list of entities I continue to rack up on 160:
Mode | Call | Locator | State | Date |
FT8 | AL7TC | BP15 | AK | 12/30/2019 |
JT65 | KX4X | EM62wi | AL | 11/16/2011 |
CW | W5TZC | EM34kh | AR | 11/14/2011 |
CW | N7DD | DM42lj | AZ | 1/28/2012 |
JT65 | N6KMR | CN91rn | CA | 12/31/2011 |
CW | K0RF | DN70jf | CO | 11/27/2011 |
SSB | K1OQ | FN41bp | CT | 8/24/2007 |
SSB | N3PG | FM28fw | DE | 5/6/2011 |
SSB | WD3J | EM70vk | FL | 5/16/2011 |
CW | W1IBQ | EM73um | GA | 12/28/2008 |
FT8 | K9FD/KH6 | BL11 | HI | 12/29/2019 |
JT65 | W0MRZ | EN42ea | IA | 11/16/2011 |
JT65 | N7ESU | DN17oq | ID | 12/31/2011 |
CW | K9CT | EM50aq | IL | 12/18/2011 |
JT65 | W9THD | EN71hp | IN | 11/23/2011 |
JT65 | K0ASK | EM28in | KS | 12/15/2012 |
CW | W5MX | EM77up | KY | 12/2/2011 |
JT65 | W5ADD | EM40wl | LA | 11/25/2011 |
SSB | W1KQ | FN42ip | MA | 8/24/2007 |
SSB | K3WX | FM19md | MD | 12/12/2008 |
CW | W3HBM | FN54vj | ME | 9/16/2011 |
HELL | W8LEW | EN72QP | MI | 2/06/2009 |
CW | WI0S | EN34ew | MN | 12/13/2008 |
JT65 | K0TPP | EM48rj | MO | 11/24/2011 |
JT65 | N4UPX | EM50jm | MS | 12/31/2011 |
JT65 | N3RC | DN45op | MT | 12/31/2011 |
CW | W4MY | FM15du | NC | 12/28/2008 |
JT65 | ND0B | EN07gn | ND | 3/5/2013 |
CW | K0HA | EN10lx | NE | 1/29/2012 |
CW | K1BX | FN43dc | NH | 1/11/2009 |
CW | K2TTT | FN20rw | NJ | 12/19/2010 |
JT65 | AI5I | DM65 | NM | 2/27/2013 |
CW | K7CA | DM26kc | NV | 12/28/2014 |
CW | NN2L | FN23ub | NY | 12/10/2008 |
CW | KQ8M | EN91hr | OH | 5/30/2010 |
CW | K5CM | EM25ir | OK | 12/4/2011 |
JT65 | K7ZV | CN82gk | OR | 1/4/2013 |
CW | W8FJ | FN20ic | PA | 12/28/2008 |
SSB | W1XX | FN41ej | RI | 2/27/2011 |
JT65 | N4BAF | EM84st | SC | 10/3/2011 |
JT65 | WA0GMH | Em19fa | SD | 1/29/2013 |
CW | AD4EB | EM65nt | TN | 12/2/2011 |
JT65 | W5GW | EM10ba | TX | 12/27/2011 |
JT65 | KB7EEG | DN31wd | UT | 1/4/2013 |
SSB | W4NF | FM18hq | VA | 2/27/2011 |
CW | WB2MIC | FN33jk | VT | 12/10/2008 |
JT65 | K7LFY | DN18bi | WA | 12/29/2011 |
CW | NE9U | EN54fl | WI | 12/3/2011 |
CW | KE7/8 | EM99 | WV | 1/21/2011 |
JT65 | WY7FD | DN74pm | WY | 12/10/2011 |
Now the list of entities contacted on 160. (I list Orkney Islands separately from Scotland - go to www.joeandnemo.com to learn why.) Countries marked in red were collected after extending the vertical in January 2019 from 22' to 35' (thanks to a mighty pull on a slingshot, details on the The 160 Vertical Norse Saga page.)
Country/Entity | Callsign | Grid | Mode | Miles |
New Zealand |
ZL4AS | RE43vt | FT8 | 9488 |
Antarctica | RN1ANL | JB59 | FT8 | 8792 |
Argentina | LU8DPM | GF03 | FT8 | 5567 |
Cyprus | 5B4AMM |
KM65 | FT8 | 5265 |
European
Russia |
RT6T | LN05xb | FT8 | 5125 |
Hawaii | K9FD/KH6 | BL11 | FT8 | 5031 |
Crete | SV9CVY | KM25ka | FT8 | 4915 |
Bulgaria | LZ2WO | KN22oo | CW | 4604 |
Ukraine | UX1UA | KO50em | FT8 | 4470 |
Serbia | YU1EL | KN03ev | FT8 | 4353 |
Belarus | EU1WW | KO34 | FT8 | 4187 |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | E77DX | JN84ix | CW | 4182 |
Hungary | HA7TM | JN97 | FT8 | 4171 |
Slovenia | S51V | JN86cm | CW | 4105 |
Croatia | 9A1A | JN75vn | CW | 4101 |
Lithuania | LY7Z | KO15we | CW | 4086 |
Slovak Republic | OM2XW | JN88ss | CW | 4079 |
Austria | OE8SKQ | JN76jn | CW | 4045 |
Czech Republic | OL7M | JO80cf | CW | 3977 |
Poland | SP3DOI | JO81vp | FT8 | 3972 |
Finland | OH1XX | KP10ok | CW | 3886 |
Mauritania | 5T5PA | IL40li | FT8 | 3774 |
Aaland Island | OH0Z | JP90we | CW | 3773 |
Italy | IK4ADE | JN54oe | FT8 | 3758 |
Sweden | SM3NRY | JO99ah | CW | 3758 |
Switzerland | HB3YAT | JN46bt | JT65 | 3758 |
Denmark | OZ3AEV | JO65gq | JT65 | 3672 |
Spain | EA3NE | JN11an | JT65 | 3652 |
Germany | DL8GP | JN39lh | JT65 | 3634 |
Peru | OA4AZP | FI20ge | JT65 | 3630 |
France | F6ECI | JN05sa | JT65 | 3524 |
Morocco | CN2CO | IM64 | FT8 | 3512 |
Belgium | ON4GPE | JO21nb | FT8 | 3511 |
France | F6GCP | JN16gq | FT8 | 3497 |
Norway | LA7QIA | JO29ta | FT8 | 3335 |
Svalbard | JW7QIA | JO29ta | FT8 | 3334 |
Portugal | CT7ANG | IM67 | FT8 | 3334 |
ALASKA | AL7TC | BP51 | FT8 | 3328 |
Canary Islands | EA8AT | IL38 | FT8 | 3289 |
England | G3BJ | IO82om | CW | 3157 |
Wales | GW5R | IO82 | CW | 3112 |
Scotland | MM0SJH | IO89jb | SSB | 3042 |
Scotland (Orkney Is) |
MM0EAX | IO89ka | FT8 | 3031 |
Northern Ireland | MI/3Z0X | IO64pp | FT8 | 2951 |
Ireland | EI4KF | IO54ue | CW | 2908 |
Iceland | TF3DT | IP04rr | FT8 | 2547 |
Venezuela | YV1KK | FJ66wp | CW | 2512 |
Mexico | XE1GRR | DL80ho | JT65 | 2418 |
Costa
Rica |
TI7W | EK80aa | CW | 2379 |
Trinidad & Tobago | 9Y4/VE3EY | FK90ik | CW | 2308 |
Azores | CU2CE | HM58xl | SSB | 2270 |
Madeira Is. | CT3MD | HM58qm | FT8 | 2239 |
Nicaragua | H7/RM0F | EK72is | CW | 2237 |
Colombia | HK1T | FK20ox | SSB | 2203 |
Grenada | J38XX | FK92aa | CW | 2190 |
Barbados | 8P9AE | GK03fe | CW | 2154 |
Saint Vincent | J88HL | FK93jg | CW | 2119 |
Curacao Is. | PJ2T | FK52kg | CW | 2105 |
Bonaire
Island |
PJ4A | FK52me | CW | 2103 |
Honduras |
HR1LW | EK84JB | FT8 | 2090 |
Aruba | P49X | FK52al | FT8 | 2076 |
Saint Lucia | J68GU | FK94mb | FT8 | 2070 |
Martinique | FM5CD | FK94kq | CW | 2025 |
Belize | V31YN | EK58 | FT8 | 1965 |
Dominica | J79WTA | FK95 | FT8 | 1964 |
Montserrat | VP2MSN | FK86vq | CW | 1872 |
St.
Kitts & Nevis Island |
V47KA | FK87pg | FT8 | 1816 |
St. Eustatius & Saba Is | PJ5/SP6IXF |
FK87ml | FT8 | 1798 |
US Virgin Is. | NP2J | FK77ps | CW | 1762 |
St.
Martin |
FS/VA7XW | FK88 | FT8 | 1754 |
Puerto Rico | KP4KE | FK68kl | CW | 1687 |
Greenland | XP3A | GP44de | FT8 | 1684 |
Cayman
Islands |
ZF2CW | EK99 | LSB | 1680 |
Dominican Rep. | HI3K | FK49ps | SSB | 1581 |
Turks & Caicos Is. | VP5CW | FL41aa | CW | 1495 |
Bahamas | C6ANA | FL24aa | SSB | 1315 |
Cuba | CO8LY | FK29bx | JT65 | 920 |
Bermuda | VP9/WW3S | FM72ph | CW | 792 |
Jamaica | 6Y5WJ | EN82jl | CW | 619 |
Canada | VA3WU | FN03jc | FT8 | 414 |
USA | K1DG | FN42ht | CW | 38 |