[600MRG] Basic, Non-Technical Details of my Tree-Tenna

[Laurence KL7 L]

Thanks Andy - very interesting :-)  Im not a fan of coax braid for bonding as it has for some reason been the cause of much head scratching of "why does it do that..."
 
Not directly related to your set up but..
 
Back a few years ago whilst I was teaching in far flung places I had a list of trees which I favored in relation to coupling with or against the tree trunk or branches on 137kHZ - I think I said that (without tapping in the tap/sap, that Acacia ( which seems to be a global phenom) was my favorite and gave the best gain/couping and typically the by Salt Water Coconut Palm my least..actually I don't think the Banana plantain was much good either...but yuymmy side bar in any case
 
I spent a little time in the jungles of Borneo over the years with Bruneis' special forces and did the load up the tree bit (a la Vietnam) on NVIS HF links back to base but we always ended up using a dipole (which you cant under "normal" operating conditions) which proved more "stable" - I never did look down at MF but probably should have 
 
Anyway enough tall tales - Im on WSPR2 this evening and also DFCW 2Hz delta Dash high 475.010  rpt every 6 mins or so- sort of made it to VK2 last night but only a partial XP....
 
good luck...
 
Laurence KL7L etc
 

 
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2014 23:33:44 -0400
> From: ku4xrradio at gmail.com
> To: lowfer at mailman.qth.net; 600MRG at w7ekb.com
> Subject: [600MRG] Basic, Non-Technical Details of my Tree-Tenna
> 
> Greeting everyone :
> 
> After getting several requests for the details on my Tree-Tenna
> experiment setup;
> I decided to post it to the lists for anyone to read who wants to..
> I'll throw in this disclaimer that the following is for entertainment
> purposes only.. hi - hi
> 
> As far as for Antenna Theory, or Why does this thing even work ? ;
> Any explanation is possible with this experimental antenna.. I have
> done nothing,
> " By the book " to say.. I live in a 14 X 48 aluminum sided trailer home..
> I have the body of the trailer connected to the power company ground
> at the service pole.. The steel frame that the trailer sits on is also grounded
> to service ground.. I have an 8 foot rod driven in at the window to my radio..
> There are 2 more 8 foot rods, spaced 8 feet apart, to form a
> triangle..I did this
> back when I was running my lowFER beacon on 1750 meters.. All the rods are
> connected to each other, as well as service ground.. I have 12, - 32
> feet insulated
> radials on top of the ground in a semi-circle connected to the main
> ground rod..
> no radials go under my trailer.. The radials are bonded together with
> a perimeter wire..
> There are 12, - 50 foot aluminum fence wire radials laying on the
> ground which are
> connected to the main ground rod.. They were the first radials I put
> down in 2009,
> so they are starting to deteriorate.. The bond from the trailer to the
> service ground is
> done with coax braid, connected to the trailer siding, and buried for
> about 10 feet over
> to the power pole..It is connected to the ground wire going up the
> pole, using a brass
> clamp.. That pretty much describes my grounding.. " Everything " Is
> bonded together
> in the ground system - be that good, or bad..
> What I call the antenna is insulated #18 rotator wire.. It is
> terminated into the
> root of the tree using a 1-1/2 inch lag bolt and stainless steel
> washers to pinch
> the wire into the tree root.. The wire is buried just underneath the
> soil for mowing,
> and runs about 60 feet, which reaches the back side of my trailer.. I
> run the wire up
> the side of the trailer, tieing it off to several screws that hold the
> siding on.. It goes up
> to a height of about 10 feet.. The wire runs 14 feet across the end of
> the trailer, then
> turns around the corner, and goes upward at a 45 degree angle for
> about 8 feet or so,
> up to about 15 feet above earth.. I wedged the wire behind a fake
> window shutter just
> for holding it in place, and then it drops down to about 4 feet above
> the earth, and
> comes in the window thru a short piece of PVC pipe.. Inside the
> window; it turns up
> the wall and goes to a " J " hook in the ceiling, and then crosses
> over the window,
> going about 6 feet, where it is tied off to the wall, and turns down
> to end at the radio
> desk..
> Matching.. if you want to call it that, goes like this.. The end of
> the wire ( antenna ) ,
> which is a total length from end to end , of 100 feet.. The radio end
> is wound 11 turns
> thru an unknown value toroid, scavenged from an old monitor..I have not measured
> the Inductance value of the toroid coil, I just wound it until the
> noise level peaked in
> the 630 meter range.. I then have a variable Inductor out of an old AM
> radio, in series
> with the antenna wire to peak it.. I have a 9 to 1 balun that the
> antenna is connected to,
> and the ground of the High Impedance side is connected to the station
> / service ground,
> with the Low Impedance side going to the radio.. I Must, have the
> balun in line or the
> reception is very weak, and, it must be connected to the station
> ground, or the noise level
> is S-9.. with the balun grounded; the noise level drops to S-1 and is
> only radio static, and
> some weak powerline buzz..
> This is only an experiment for fun, and to see what it would do, and
> was never intended to
> " prove " anything at all.. Interestingly; it works way beyond my
> expectations, and for
> reasons that are way beyond my knowledge..
> The Tree-Tenna receives decently all the way down to 30 KHz, but the
> tuning gets very
> touchy the lower in frequency I go, which is to be expected..
> To continue my experiment further; there is another Hickory Nut tree
> with the same
> proportions as the one I am connected to, spaced about 10 feet from
> it.. I may tap into
> the root of the other tree for another " just to see what happens "
> deal... hi - hi
> 
> 73 to all,
> 
> Andy - KU4XR
> 
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