After being off the air for some years, I installed an old American
steel tower, soon to be replaced by the 100' 45G with the big array
(TH5, 7L 6-meter yagi, 2 12L 144 and 2 11L 440s) which worked great.
However, A flock or cormorants made a mess of that and I had to hire the
antennas taken down for repair. A heart attack and stroke ended my
climbing, but we have a small home on one acre that's easily maintained
With help from hams and a contractor I've repaired most of the antennas
and installed a second tower and repaired most of the antennas. Wanting
to get back on the air, I settled for the AV640 vertical which turned
out to be a good choice. I also have two center fed, half wave slopers.
I've never had good luck, actually I've had miserable luck, using, or
even being near antennas fed with open wire line. and with the tower
placement compared to the two stations, open wire was ruled out from a
logistics standpoint.
There are several G5RVs in the area, and I was convinced from their
performance, that was not the way to go for me, so I settled for the
conventional dipoles and the AV640. A combination that works very
well. I eventually plan on getting the whole bunch of antennas back up,
except for the 144 and 440s
There have been a few bumps along the way, but after over 55 years, my
opinions of multiband antennas and open wire line have pretty much
solidified. I can tape coax to tower legs, ground the shield, top and
bottom, run it underground, and easily shield it with chokes for common
mode voltages. It also lends itself well to SO2R operation with one
station in the house and one in the shop.
.73, Roger (K8RI)
On 3/25/2017 11:35 PM, Phil Coley wrote:
Hi Steve:
In reply to your question asking for response on a "good multi-band antenna.....not
stellar performer...alreadyassembled..." I would like to give you my input.
First of all, I've been a ham for 58 years; used ALL types of antennas (large & small) from all
manufacturers, built my own...you name it. I've had those I'd rate from "average" to
"excellent" in performance.
A few years back, due to age and health issues, we downsized to a smaller home. I sold
all my big gear, antennas,amps, etc. About a year ago, I decided to get back on the air.
I purchased a mid-level 100 watt rig and thentried to decide on a "simple wire
antenna" to use. I have plenty of tall trees to help with the support. I put a
poston here asking for info on a G5RV vs OCF antenna I got shot down on how bad they
were. I have never usedeither and wasn't asking for a game changer. Like you, just some
experiences...not all the technical data.
I purchased one (yep! I didn't want to build it guys!) from MyAntennas.com and have been VERY pleased with
theantenna design/quality.. I would never have considered an end fed wire antenna in the past, but I bought
one. GASP!!I know some will say "they are very poor antennas, sky warmers, etc". But, like you, I
wanted something to geton the airways. I got the EFHW-8010KW model Being a big DX chaser (378 countries and
at one time "Top of theHonor Roll", DXCC on 8 bands with 275+ countries on each), I must say I
have been pleased with the results!I put it up in a inverted "L" config with the feed matching unit
(Un-un) mounted 12' off the ground on a wood mastgoing up 50' to a tree limb. The remaining length of the
130' of wire goes out horizontally to another tree at 50'.I use about 50' of BuryFlex coax to my rig. I
connected 10 various length radials to the ground rod at the baseof the pole that is connected to the
matching unit. For any interested, I put a review on e
ham.net for this antennaand I believe QST had a positive review of it about a
year ago.
Not expecting much, I have been pleasantly surprised. It's not a barn burner, but I get
through the pileups. Since Iput it up for example, I have worked 151 countries on 30
meters (confirmed 122 on LoTW). I've worked stations on many bands that surprised me. I
have even added some new "band countries" on some of the bands. I considerthat
pretty good considering band conditions are the worst I can remember in decades. I've
been amazed that I evenget through some of the pileups such as to A45XR on 80 meters a
few weeks back (with less than 100 watts).
I know I'll get negative comments on this antenna (I could care less on all the
tech junk or opinions) but this is myresponse to your question. This antenna
works GREAT for me at my location/installation! I'm sure one would
probablymeet the needs you were asking about.. Don't knock it if you haven't
tried it! ;-)
73 Phil K4MPE
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73
Roger (K8RI)
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