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Re: [CQ-Contest] antenna setup question

To: <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] antenna setup question
From: "Edward Sawyer" <SawyerEd@Earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 10:10:06 -0400
List-post: <cq-contest@contesting.com">mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>
In my opinion, you should decide whether the primary goal is SO2R, M/S, or
M2.  They would not likely point to the same set up.  In SO2R, you are never
transmitting at the same time and there is only so much other stuff you can
listen to while running.  With both M/S and M2, you have dedicated separate
station spots with independent ops working the same band as the run station
as well as constantly running a second band.  Listening antennas are key,
and that's not facilitated by 4 towers that are at 40M square corners.
Other places on the lot of land will therefore also be key.

 

The problem with rotating the towers are that they are only 83 ft high.
That means that you are going to have guy wire interference with long boom
yagis as you rotate the tower.  Draw out the guy wires and the turning
radius of long boom yagis and you will see the problem.  

 

Personally, if it was me, I would not rotate such short towers.  I would
have them fixed.  And put LARGE monoband yagis at the optimum heights for
W/VE and EU and JA.  Stacks, maybe, but maybe not, depends on the modelling
of the HFTA from your spot to the desired paths.  You might very well end up
with Tower 1 being 15/20 W/VE, Tower 2 being 15/20 EU, Tower 3 being 10/40
W/VE and Tower 4 being 10/40 EU.  And then have all top antennas rotate to
point at JA and also break away from the stack as a mult to AF or SA or
Carib.

 

You will quickly learn as I did (with 70 ft towers), that a choice needs to
be made between turning radius and gain.  I choose gain and only turn the
top antennas.

 

Ed N1UR

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