K3WA Works 160M Contests from HOA on 24' Flagpole | Greyline
Customer Spotlight · 24' DX Flagpole · HOA · 160–10M Contesting
He Had Towers and Yagis. Now He Has a 24' Flagpole. He Runs Contests at Legal Limit.
Bill K3WA is president of the Potomac Valley Radio Club — one of the most decorated contest clubs on the East Coast. He ran a full tower-and-beam station for decades. When he moved to a golf course community with deed restrictions, he didn't quit contesting. He chose a 24' Greyline DX Flagpole, put a tuner in the shack, and kept running. Including 160 meters.
Bill K3WA — PVRC President · 24' DX Flagpole
“Aside from 160, I feel that I get out much better than I had any expectation. Going from the 20 ft to the 24 ft antenna made a very big difference.”
“Now I can run in most contests both domestic and DX when condx are decent on 40 thru 10. Even on RTTY. I never expected that.”
— Bill · K3WA · PVRC President · 24' DXF · HOA Golf Course Community
160M Contest Result
61 QSOs
23 sections · ARRL CW 160M Contest · HOA lot
Operating Range
750–1,000 mi
1.8 MHz · VE3 to Florida · Illinois west
Power
Legal Limit
Flex 6600 + Power Genius Amp · 160–10M
From Tower and Beam to 24-Foot Flagpole
Bill K3WA has been active in ham radio for decades. He previously ran a serious station — tall tower, stacked Yagi antennas, the works. When he downsized to a deed-restricted golf course community, the tower went with the old house. Like a lot of operators in his position, the question wasn't whether to keep contesting. It was how.
He started with a 20' DX Flagpole and ran it hard across the bands. Then he added a 4' extension, moving to 24 feet, and noticed an immediate difference on 80 and 160 meters. He went back to contesting — domestic and DX — at legal limit on 40 through 10. Then he showed up in the ARRL CW 160M Contest results.
ARRL CW 160M Contest — December 2022 — K3WA Soapbox
"I was able to work stations as far west as Illinois and north/south from VE3 to Florida. So I did have fun!"
Band QSOs Pts Sec Cty
1.8 61 122 23 0
Total 61 122 23 0
Rig: Flex 6600, Power Genius Amp, AT-Auto antenna tuner
Antenna: 24 ft flagpole
— Bill K3WA
61 QSOs on 160 meters from an HOA lot. 23 sections across the US and Canada. 750 to 1,000 miles of effective range on 1.8 MHz with a 24-foot antenna. For context: a full-size 160M antenna is 136 feet. Bill is working that band at roughly 18% of full size — and showing up in the contest logs, 100s of them.
Bill K3WA Breaks Down His Installation
“Aside from 160, I feel that I get out much better than I had any expectation. Going from the 20 ft to the 24 ft antenna made a very big difference.
Now I can run in most contests both domestic and DX when condx are decent on 40 thru 10. Even on RTTY. I never expected that. Admittedly I do run the legal limit except on 160.
In my installation I run the twin lead to a 4:1 balun at the base and then about 60 ft coax into the shack to a tuner. I have two tuners. One is a Flex Tuner Genius which I use on 80 thru 10. For 160 I use an AT-Auto which uses a traditional coil based approach. As long as I keep my power down to 400 watts or so I don't get any arcing. The bandwidth is about 15kc so I have to retune fairly often. I get the same 160M results using an old Ameritron ATR-30 tuner.
Please do remind folks to not write off 160.”
— Bill K3WA · PVRC President · 24' DXF
Bill's Feed System — What He's Running
Feedline: Twin lead from antenna to 4:1 balun at the base, then ~60 feet of coax to the shack. This is one of the three approved Greyline feedline configurations — ladder line to shack ATU is the lowest-loss option for operators who prefer desktop tuning.
80–10M tuner: Flex Tuner Genius. Runs legal limit.
160M tuner: AT-Auto (coil-based approach) or Ameritron ATR-30. 400W maximum. 15kHz bandwidth — retune as you move across the band.
The 4:1 balun: Key to 160M performance on the 24' VDA. Transforms the impedance presented to the shack tuner into a range the coil-based tuners can handle cleanly. 1:1 Current Baluns range from $30-120 depending on power rating.
The 20' to 24' Upgrade
Bill started on the 20' DXF. He added a 4' extension and moved to 24 feet — and called it a “very big difference” on 80 and 160. The additional aperture pushes you closer to the 5/8λ sweet spot on 12 meters and meaningfully improves low-band efficiency. If you're on the fence between 20 and 24, Bill's results are the data point.
4' Extension Kit → See the 24' DXF →From Greyline Performance
Bill — 61 QSOs on 160 from an HOA lot is a result worth publishing. The twin lead to 4:1 balun to shack tuner configuration is exactly what we'd recommend for operators who want to push the low bands hard without a remote ATU at the feedpoint. The Ameritron ATR-30 confirmation is useful too — good to know that tuner gets the same result as the AT-Auto on 160. Consider this shared.
Don't write off 160. Bill's right. — Jon KL2A
What Operators Are Saying
“Real DX 160–6M at my HOA.”
Verified Owner
“4 Band DXCC in 3 months at my HOA.”
Verified Owner
“If I can hear it, I can work it.”
Verified Owner
“Ham Radio is fun again!”
Verified Owner
The Antenna Bill Runs
Same 24' DX Flagpole. Same VDA physics. HOA documentation included. Ships from Sun Valley, Idaho.
See the 24' DXF → Selection Guide →Related
Ham Radio is fun again! Pass it on… 73, The Greyline Performance Team · Sun Valley, Idaho · 435-200-4902