One of my all time favorite antennas was an old vertical I dragged around
with me all over the world during my Army days. It was an old HyGain 14AVQ
and I mounted it on a 33' pushup mast with four sloping radials of telephone
wire cut for 40 through 10.
After getting out of the Army, I put it on the roof of my two story house
where the vertical was about 35' up and the radials went to the four corners
of my roof. Memory always improves things, but I was always amazed how well
that antenna worked for DX, especially 40M. I later put up a TH-6DXX at 75'
and the high bands became as good as that old vertical was on 40M. If I
could hear 'em on 40M, I could work 'em, and I received amazing signal
reports.
A ground plane up 1/4 to 1/2 wave works very well indeed on the low bands.
I used a R-7 for six years in Russia at 230' and often compared it with the
A4S I had about 15' higher, and the yagi was better almost all the time, but
often there was not that much difference. Of course the R-7 was a killer
antenna on 40M. I even had two R-7's phased on 40M at one location. Now,
all that Russian elevator noise early in the morning was another story.
We recently ran a special event station here for the Sharks Tooth festival,
and everyone was surprised how well the R-7 worked, better than the Force 12
Sigma 5 at the same height. I've used R-7's every Field Day for easy to put
up, easy to change bands without worrying about SWR, and gets out very well.
The Cushcraft R-7's were 3/8 wl verticals with a counterpoise and were quite
good antennas for what they were. Easy to put up, instant band change 40
thru 10 including WARC, and simple to disassemble and store. I still use
one at my Breckenridge, CO QTH on a 40' Rohn push-up mast. The 80M Zepp I
put up there at 75' (plus 10,000') is quieter, and sometimes better, but
certainly more work than the R-7.
YMMV,
Jon Hamlet, W4ZW
Casey Key Island, Florida
"A little piece of paradise in the Gulf of Mexico"
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