Hi all....I am sure that most of you know that I have had a 2 el KLM 80m
yagi past 5 years or so...when I built the new qth down the street on 13
acres, it gave me the possibility of some additional antenna
configurations...the easiest antenna system was a 80m 4 sq...I purchased a
complete pkg consisting of 240 ft or R-20 tower , 4 insulated bases, and a
DXEngineering controller....the plan was to get the 4 sq operating and then
add the yagi at 180+ ft when time permitted...I have had the yagi up now
about 3 weeks and have been doing some real a/b testing on long haul and
short haul DX...it has been really interesting to have the two antennas to
switch between..they are approximately 500 ft apart and I have the switch
box in the shack...
Now for the really interesting stuff....the yagi wins the horse-race about
60% of the time, and the rest of the time its a flat out tie....some times
the yagi is better into a geographical region and sometimes the 4 sq is the
winner..on the rxing end the 4sq wins each time...it is just that much
quieter than the yagi....
Conclusions:
1. the 4 sq is better than I ever would have thought...mine only has 16
radials...
2. The yagi is not that cost effective compared to a decent 4 sq...
3. There are some heights for the yagi that are better than others...mine is
at 186 ft and I now think it is too high...look at the angles of radiation
for a 2 el 80 yagi at 125 ft vs 185 ft and there is a vertical lobe that is
power in the wrong direction...
4. My 4 sq covers the whole band less than 1.5:1...think its the use of r-20
tower that gives so much bandwidth...
We all have wondered what the comparison between the two antennas would be,
and having them both on the same site makes for a pretty good comparison...I
have a 3 el KLM 80m on the ground...I am going to think long and hard this
winter before I will swap it out for the 2 el...is it really worth the
effort??
Just thought inquiring minds would like to know...de Rick nq4i
4. The most bang for the buck($) is the 4 sq...
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See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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