Antenna choices
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Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or the
Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on the bands that it's designed for? I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a KPA500 to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out what will give me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. 73, Joshua Gould K8WXA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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The problem with any wire antennas, (as you can see on this map
https://goo.gl/maps/MFdXQ) is a complete lack of places to attach the ends of the dipole to... The property is long and thin, but is also very open... The only trees are at the back of the property, and would be hard to climb. Per the Landlord (not the XYL,) I am not allowed to attach anything to the house... Joshua Gould K8WXA On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 8:56 PM, Walter Underwood <[hidden email]>wrote: > That is several very big questions, and enough that I suggest getting a > copy of the ARRL Antenna Book and reading before spending much money. And > talking to a lot of hams that already have towers. > > Multi-band Yagi antennas are multi-band, but not wideband. They are tuned > for specific bands, like 20m or 15m. They do not work well on bands they > are not designed for. > > A vertical on a tower might give a few dB of gain (on the bands it is > designed for). A Yagi (beam) will typically give 10dB or so of gain on each > band it is designed for. > > The G5RV works for a lot of people, but it is a compromise on many bands, > and could cause problems when run with high power (500W). > > Since you are going to the bother of putting up a tower, I'd also put up > dipoles cut for most of the lower bands and feed them from a common point. > This is called a fan dipole or parallel dipole. If you'd like that pre-cut > for you, I recommend Hy-Power Antenna (http://www.hypowerantenna.com/). > > wunder > K6WRU > http://observer.wunderwood.org/ > > On May 25, 2014, at 5:31 PM, Joshua Gould <[hidden email]> wrote: > > > Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or > the > > Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... > > > > I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a > G5RV > > that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to > attach > > the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put > up > > a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep > > throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover > more > > bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. > > > > Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work > on > > the bands that it's designed for? > > > > I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a KPA500 > > to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out what will give > > me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. > > > > 73, > > Joshua Gould > > K8WXA > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > Message delivered to [hidden email] > > -- > Walter Underwood > [hidden email] > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
Joshua,
I'm going to second the suggestion that you get a copy of the antenna book. This isn't a Ford vs. Chevy debate, which is based mostly on preference. There is physics involved here. If you put an HF vertical near the top of the tower, you'll need two radials on each band you want to operate. Want to work 80? You'll need two radials 5% or so longer than an 80 meter dipole. You can't run 'em down the tower and then spread them out on the ground somehow, they'll need to be resonant, and kinda straight away from the base of the antenna. Doesn't have to be perfect, but to 30, 40 and 80 you could put up dipoles (as an inverted-V) and have less wire up in the air. Alternately, you could put up the tower and the beam, and put a vertical at ground level (so you don't need the radials). I had a multiband HF vertical most of my ham career, on the roof, and it worked well. I also had the opposite problem you report: just too many things around to do anything but put the antenna on the roof. Rig something on the tower (some sort of halyard) so it's easy to pull wires to the top, and get a bunch of wire for experimenting. Don't worry if one end of the wire is down around ten feet above ground as long as someone can't easily grab the end of the wire. Good luck, and have fun experimenting. 73 -- Lynn On 5/25/2014 5:31 PM, Joshua Gould wrote: > Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or the > Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... > > I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV > that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach > the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up > a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep > throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more > bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. > > Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on > the bands that it's designed for? > > I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a KPA500 > to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out what will give > me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. > > 73, > Joshua Gould > K8WXA > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
Joshua, Multi-band yagis operate on the bands that they are designed to work on. If they worked on other bands, then all of the bands that it worked on would be listed just as all of the others. A tuner may be able to tune an antenna up on a band other than what it was designed for, but it would likely generate terrible SWR, and would therefore be very inefficient. Determine what bands you want you yagi to cover, and buy one that matches your needs. The cost of a rotor depends in large part on the size of the yagi that it will be turning. A yagi with a 14 foot boom could be turned by a very small rotor, but a yagi with a 50 foot boom will require a very large, and very expensive rotor. HTH Alan/KD7GC Alan R. Downing Phoenix, AZ From: Joshua Gould [via Elecraft] [mailto:[hidden email]] Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or the If you reply to this email, your message will be added to the discussion below: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Antenna-choices-tp7589505.html To unsubscribe from Elecraft, click here. |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
> The problem with any wire antennas, (as you can see on this map > https://goo.gl/maps/MFdXQ) is a complete lack of places to attach the ends > of the dipole to... I don't see a problem with that property. A single tower or a pole will support the center of any number of "inverted vees". The ends can go to screw anchors in the ground. It would be handy to have other supports, but what you have there is way better than most. You could put up anything up to 160 meters with that kind of room. Gary ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
Joshua,
You are already planning to hang the G5RV so can you put up a 20-foot pole at the far end? That provides lots of bands and cost little extra. The 2m/70cm vertical sounds fine. You could load the tower as a vertical with a tuner. One way is to run a vertical wire up to the tower top from the tuner and tie the wire to the tower top with a short side arm so the wire is parralel and offset to the side of the tower 6-12 inches. This forms a folded monopole which you ought to be able to load on several bands. Sink a ground rod at base of tower and see how that works. Not as efficient as having radials but sounds like you are renting and have limitations. I have a 3-element triband trap yagi and I run it on 18m by use of a tuner fairly well. It does not work as well on 24m, though I have made some contacts. 73, Ed - KL7UW ------------------ Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or the Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on the bands that it's designed for? I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a KPA500 to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out what will give me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. 73, Joshua Gould K8WXA 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com "Kits made by KL7UW" Dubus Mag business: [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
I have tried a number of different things over the years. I have finally settled on a 3 element Steppir. I got it used and paid half the cost of new, so it was not exorbitant. With a little care they can be made to function as good as new.
The 3 element stepper and K3 are a potent mix. I can get pretty much everywhere and am able to get through most pileups with 100 watts, I find I really don't need an amp. The 3 element is infinitely tunable and will give you near perfect performance on all bands 40 and above. You can add an inverted V under the tower to get down to 80 meters. You will need a rotor. You don't need a huge investment however, they work well with the commonly available Ham IV rotors. Lots of reliable and attractively priced used ones on the market. I would put my money into the antenna instead of the amp. The 3m----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Walter Underwo Sent: Sunday, May 25, 201 > Joshua Gould > K8WXA't > > > On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 8:56 PM, Walter Underwood <[hidden email]> wrote: > That is several very big questions, and enough that I suggest getting a copy of the ARRL Antenna Book and reading before spending much money. And talking to a lot of hams that already have towers. > > Multi-band Yagi antennas are multi-band, but not wideband. They are tuned for specific bands, like 20m or 15m. They do not work well on bands they are not designed for. > > A vertical on a tower might give a few dB of gain (on the bands it is designed for). A Yagi (beam) will typically give 10dB or so of gain on each band it is designed for. > > The G5RV works for a lot of people, but it is a compromise on many bands, and could cause problems when run with high power (500W). > > Since you are going to the bother of putting up a tower, I'd also put up dipoles cut for most of the lower bands and feed them from a common point. This is called a fan dipole or parallel dipole. If you'd like that pre-cut for you, I recommend Hy-Power Antenna (http://www.hypowerantenna.com/). > > wunder > K6WRU > http://observer.wunderwood.org/ > > On May 25, 2014, at 5:31 PM, Joshua Gould <[hidden email]> wrote: > > > Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates > > or the Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... > > > > I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have > > a G5RV that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm > > going to attach the other end of it to, One end will go on the > > tower.) I'm going to put up a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near > > the top of the tower. I keep throwing around an HF vertical or a > > beam. The verticals seem to cover more bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. > > > > Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only > > work on the bands that it's designed for? > > > > I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a > > KPA500 to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out > > what will give me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. > > > > 73, > > Joshua Gould > > K8WXA > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this > > email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > > [hidden email] > > -- > Walter Underwood > [hidden email] > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > [hidden email] > -- Walter Underwood [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
> The 3 element is infinitely tunable and will give you near perfect > performance on all bands 40 and above. > You will need a rotor. You don't need a huge investment however, they > work well with the commonly available Ham IV rotors. Lots of reliable > and attractively priced used ones on the market. These two statements are conflicting. If you're going to have a StepIR that will go down to 40 meters, you aren't going to want a Ham IV on it. That's way too light, for this country anyway. In fact, a T-Twister isn't enough for that. If you were going to limit it to 30 and above, I might go with a T-Twister, but I really feel my TH7DX tri-bander puts mine through more than it wants. It needs to be rebuilt now and then. StepIRs are heavy too, at least the ones I've seen. But you're right. It's really nice to have the tunable frequency range Did you follow his link? He's got tons of space and can put up wire for anything out to 160M dipoles, with a single support tower or pole. Further, he can go almost any direction with wires without having to weave in and out of tree branches, etc. I sure wouldn't mess with anything like a G5RV or OCF in that situation. The gold standard basic antenna on the lower bands is a simple half wave dipole. He's got room to do that down to 160M. Why go with less? On upper bands, a ground plane does wonders, but a simple 3 element yagi is excellent. Gary -- http://ag0n.net 3055: http://ag0n.net/irlp/3055 NodeOp Help Page: http://ag0n.net/irlp ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
On May 25, 2014, at 8:31 PM, Joshua Gould <[hidden email]> wrote: > I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV > that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach > the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up > a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep > throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more > bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. > > Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on > the bands that it's designed for? I would not use a multi-band yagi on a band it was not designed for. That said, I would recommend you put a tribander yagi on the top of that tower. You can then hang dipoles for the WARC bands, as well as for 40/80m. You also might consider shunt-feeding the tower for 160/80m. I have an article on my blog on how I support 9 bands from one 50 foot tower: - A3S/A743 - supports 10/15/20m, and the dipole attachment for 40m. (http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/07/cushcraft-a3sa743.html) - homebrew trap dipole supports 12/17/30m. (http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2010/02/warc-trap-dipole.html) - Shunt feed with matching network supports 80/160m. (http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/04/shunt-feeding-short-tower-on-80-and.html) And here’s an article where I talk about the experience of using a tribander: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/03/tribander-experience.html Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [hidden email] Quote: "Boot, you transistorized tormentor! Boot!" -- Archibald Asparagus, VeggieTales Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [hidden email] Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!" -- Wilbur Wright, 1901 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Joshua Gould, K8WXA
Joshua...
I am using a Bencher SkyHawk at 60 feet. For whatever reasons of design, it does work well on 30, 17 and 12 meters using the Elecraft KAT500. On those bands I have worked 123, 176 and 115 DX entities, respectively. No doubt it's not as good on those bands as the three HF bands for which it is designed. The tuneable Stepp antennas may do even better. ...robert On 5/26/2014 00:31, Joshua Gould wrote: > Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or the > Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... > > I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV > that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach > the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up > a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep > throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more > bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. > > Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on > the bands that it's designed for? > > I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a KPA500 > to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out what will give > me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. > > 73, > Joshua Gould > K8WXA > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > -- Robert G Strickland, PhD ABPH - KE2WY [hidden email] Syracuse, New York, USA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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The problem with tuning a rotary beam to some other frequency with an antenna matching device is that the directional antenna becomes a rotatable dipole with the parasitic elements still acting at their physical length. Can you make contacts? You bet, I made a bunch of contacts on the WARC bands with a Cushcraft A4 with a rotary dipole kit on 40. A rotating dipole has directivity, just no front to back ratio and does not have the multi-element directivity typical of a three element beam. No the SteppIR is a three element beam on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 and will have a nice front to back ratio. On 30 and 40 if you have the trombone element it will have a front to side ratio of about 2 or 3 S units if it is 60 feet high. You will notice the gain on 17, and 12 that gives you a bit more punch than the competition. The down side is that you have more stuff to buy and more stuff to break. Nothing if free! But, I like my 3 element SteppIR with
the 30/40 dipole kit. I now have 322 current countries and 1800 band countries. I don't think I could have done that with my A-4 and 40 meter dipole, but I would have a couple grand to spend. Willis 'Cookie' Cooke, TDXS DX Chairman K5EWJ & Trustee N5BPS, USS Cavalla, USS Stewart On Saturday, May 31, 2014 8:29 PM, Robert G Strickland <[hidden email]> wrote: Joshua... I am using a Bencher SkyHawk at 60 feet. For whatever reasons of design, it does work well on 30, 17 and 12 meters using the Elecraft KAT500. On those bands I have worked 123, 176 and 115 DX entities, respectively. No doubt it's not as good on those bands as the three HF bands for which it is designed. The tuneable Stepp antennas may do even better. ...robert On 5/26/2014 00:31, Joshua Gould wrote: > Ok, I know that this is a topic much like the Ford vs. Chevy debates or the > Android vs. Apple debates, but I do have a few questions... > > I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV > that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach > the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up > a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep > throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more > bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. > > Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on > the bands that it's designed for? > > I'm thinking long term and I'll probably be adding a K3/100 with a KPA500 > to the mix in the next year or so... Trying to figure out what will give > me the best bang for my buck, so to speak. > > 73, > Joshua Gould > K8WXA > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > -- Robert G Strickland, PhD ABPH - KE2WY [hidden email] Syracuse, New York, USA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Been licensed 61 years, made my first ... and only ever ... 6m QSO about
4 years ago, loading my tri-bander with the K3/KAT3 ... he was a KH6. There is the electromagnetic physics of antennas, which can be overly precise, and then there is the reality -- a lot works that actually shouldn't have. The "Last Bastion of Ham Homebrew." :-) 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 - www.cqp.org I'm in Northern California On 5/31/2014 7:34 PM, WILLIS COOKE via Elecraft wrote: > Can you make contacts? You bet, I made a bunch of > contacts on the WARC bands with a Cushcraft A4 with a rotary dipole > kit on 40. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Well, I've "only" been licensed since 1958 and although I was using CW and SSB
in the early 60s on 2M and working MS and EME in the 70s, I too never set foot on 6-meters until 2009. On Field Day (operating from home) I tried the K3 on six. Of course, it's stone deaf so I cobbled up a preamp from an old broadband Avantek amplifier, and hooked up my 40/80 meter wire dipole, fed with almost 200' of RG8. The coax loss was my "matching network" since I don't have the ATU. There was a local yokel club operating from a nearby mountain cluttering up 50.125 and there was some Es ongoing. I tuned around a bit and heard a CW CQ on 50.123 under the splatter from the local on SSB. It was Jl8GFB. I called and worked him at 0014Z. At 0122Z I heard another CQ on 50.096 and worked JA7WSZ. So the band was open to JA for more than an hour. I worked 43 stations and never heard another station work the JAs. Wes N7WS On 5/31/2014 8:18 PM, Fred Jensen wrote: > Been licensed 61 years, made my first ... and only ever ... 6m QSO about 4 > years ago, loading my tri-bander with the K3/KAT3 ... he was a KH6. > > There is the electromagnetic physics of antennas, which can be overly precise, > and then there is the reality -- a lot works that actually shouldn't have. > The "Last Bastion of Ham Homebrew." :-) > > 73, > > Fred K6DGW > - Northern California Contest Club > - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 > - www.cqp.org > > I'm in Northern California ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Bill Coleman-2
I've been having fun and some success with a 5 band hex beam. It's only at 20 ft and 50 ft would be much better. Its SWR is less than 1.5:1 on each band 20-10m. There is an option to add 6 m for little or no cost.
It's only 2 elements so it doesn't have a lot of fwd gain (9-10 dBi) but good f/b of 20 dB. Not too expensive if you HB it. Brian, K0DTJ > On May 26, 2014, at 16:29, Bill Coleman <[hidden email]> wrote: > > >> On May 25, 2014, at 8:31 PM, Joshua Gould <[hidden email]> wrote: >> >> I am going to be acquiring a 56 foot Rohn BX tower. I already have a G5RV >> that I am planning on putting up (still not sure where I'm going to attach >> the other end of it to, One end will go on the tower.) I'm going to put up >> a 2m/440 vertical at some point up near the top of the tower. I keep >> throwing around an HF vertical or a beam. The verticals seem to cover more >> bands, but the beams are directional. (Would also need a rotor,.. >> >> Can a multi band yagi be tuned to a different band, or will it only work on >> the bands that it's designed for? > > I would not use a multi-band yagi on a band it was not designed for. > > That said, I would recommend you put a tribander yagi on the top of that tower. You can then hang dipoles for the WARC bands, as well as for 40/80m. > > You also might consider shunt-feeding the tower for 160/80m. > > I have an article on my blog on how I support 9 bands from one 50 foot tower: > > - A3S/A743 - supports 10/15/20m, and the dipole attachment for 40m. (http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/07/cushcraft-a3sa743.html) > - homebrew trap dipole supports 12/17/30m. (http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2010/02/warc-trap-dipole.html) > - Shunt feed with matching network supports 80/160m. (http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/04/shunt-feeding-short-tower-on-80-and.html) > > And here’s an article where I talk about the experience of using a tribander: > http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com/2009/03/tribander-experience.html > > > > Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [hidden email] > Quote: "Boot, you transistorized tormentor! Boot!" > -- Archibald Asparagus, VeggieTales > > Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [hidden email] > Web: http://boringhamradiopart.blogspot.com > Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!" > -- Wilbur Wright, 1901 > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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