DL3TU - Topband

We live on the outskirts of the city in a house with virtually no garden of our own. Only the roof offers a little room for small antennas.
That's why I never dared to dream that I could become QRV on Top Band one day.
By chance I spotted a possibility to stretch a sufficiently long wire through the courtyard. To my great surprise it worked far better than I had expected. Contacts outside of Europe are possible with low power if condx are good.

My antenna consists of a 41 meter long wire that runs to a nearby tree at a height of about 15 metres. As a counterweight I use a 16 meter high steel beam on the outer facade. Most likely this one is radiating as well.
The ground is quite damp, because the water table is only about a metre below the grass. Maybe that helps too.

The QRM- level at my place is not catastrophic but still fairly high. S5 at an IF- bandwidth of 400 Hz is standard. Hence I started playing with Rx antennas. They make listening more pleasant. With my current setup I can hear much further than my transmitter signal carries. It occurs fairly often that I can hear the DX, but am not heard by them. Increasing transmit power would be possible but I don't want to be an alligator.

My first Rx- antenna is a "Mini Whip". The second RX- antenna is a shielded loop. Both are located on the roof top as there is no room elsewhere. Due to its size, I prefer setting up the loop only temporarily during contests.

DXCC on Top Band is very close and up to now I worked 25 US states...