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A Case of Hobby Radio Antenna Envy in Wichita Falls
The doorbell rang one evening. No one rings my doorbell except those trying to sell me something or convert me. I peeped through the peephole and saw the offending bell ringer, clipboard in hand. Having no intention of giving him even the "time of day", I went back to my computing chores. A minute later there was a knock at the back door. No, he didn't! Yes, he did! He came to the back door since I wouldn't answer the front door. Peeping through the blinds of the adjacent window, I could read his lanyard-mounted ID card that said: Direct Energy. I don't ever recall a salesperson being so eager to talk to me.
While continuing to not answer the door, I saw him look over to my massive Zero Five ground plane antenna with its six huge 100-inch radials and towering vertical element. It's mounted about 25 feet from the back door - close enough to look big to the casual observer. He soaked in the view for a few seconds, then departed for other homes on the block.
A week or so later, a driver for one of the well-known delivery services left a package at my back door. Just as he reached the door, my wife said he let go of an expletive that contained the letters "M" and "F". She said he didn't trip, fall, or bump into anything, so she couldn't figure out the reason for the bad word. I thought about it for a second and offered the theory that he was, like others, simply impressed with the sight of the massive Zero Five ground plane antenna. What can I say?
You might be thinking that a ground plane antenna, barely off the ground, is no big deal. At a previous location, I had a 65-foot tower topped with a Cushcraft A-4 tri-band Yagi with a 40-meter add-on, stacked 11-element beams for VHF, and a single 11-element beam for UHF. No amplifier. Making HF contacts anywhere was like "shooting fish in a barrel." Where's the sport in that? I decided not to put up a big tower at my present location, and I'm having a great time. As with everything on this site, your mileage may vary.