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Re: [TowerTalk] DX Engineering 66-Foot Vertical?

Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] DX Engineering 66-Foot Vertical?
From: "Roger (K8RI)" <K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net>
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:50:31 -0400
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>

Ray Benny wrote:
> K8RI,
>
> Most everything is free choice. What has the price of gas and Saginaw have
> to do with this discussion?
>   
One whale of a lot.  I'd have to add the price of driving over to pick 
up the material to the cost of the material if I wanted to compare it 
with the DX Engineering vertical or the tubing from Texas Towers.  
Driving over to pick it up is often less trivial than shipping. In my 
case it adds between $20 and $30 to the overall cost. So if I deduct the 
that from TT's price on tubing am I ahead or not?
>  
> Any we don't need to know that: "Vista Ultimate ate most of the programs on
> the computer and it took less than 30 seconds to do it. Oh, and the fan
> impeller for the top end video card fell off the motor shaft, which then
> over heated and shut down another computer." 
>
>   
Sure you do.  <:-)) Well, again you may not care, but it is quite 
relevant to purchasing tubing and building the vertical Versus 
purchasing.  That refers to the time I have left for calculating, 
cutting, driving over to pick up the material and building an antenna..
> Please keep you ramblings to yourself.
>
>   
I do when they are not relevant to the discussion.

You just need to look at the broader picture.  As all antennas are 
compromises, so is the decision (and cost) between building and purchasing.

73

Roger (K8RI)
> Thanks,
>
> Ray,
> N6VR
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Roger (K8RI)
> Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 5:46 PM
> Cc: TowerTalk
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] DX Engineering 66-Foot Vertical?
>
>
>
> Jim Brown wrote:
>   
>>> It would be interesting to see a printout of all the diameters, 
>>> lengths wall thicknesses and any other relevant info for each of 
>>> the aluminum tubing pieces that comprise one of these 66' vertical
>>> antennas.
>>>     
>>>       
>> Yes, it certainly would. But DXEngineering PAID an engineer to 
>> design that antenna, and they deserve to sell that product to 
>> recover their costs. It's what's called free enterprise. 
>>
>>   
>>     
> And purchasing the tubing is free choice.  Almost any one on here could 
> design an antenna like that in just a few minutes if they had a list of 
> tubing sizes.  OTOH all they'd have to do is call the local aluminum 
> tubing distributor (we have a large one in Saginaw about 20 miles from 
> here), Ask what they had that would slip together to make something like 
> that and they'd even do the work for you and it'd be cheaper still..  
> For the base you get a piece of PVC conduit and U-bolts.  This is about 
> as minimal an antenna you can get with the exception of a dipole and as 
> easy to design. Of course there are many "manufactured" dipoles in use 
> out there too. <:-))
>
> You can't drive a car for less than 50 cents a mile unless it's old AND 
> paid for.  People make the mistake of thinking it's only the cost of gas 
> when driving. That was with gas cheaper than we have now, but what we 
> have now isn't going to stay cheap. At-any-rate, it'd cost me a minimum 
> of $20 to drive my old car to Saginaw and back so maybe I'd get enough 
> to build three or four and take a couple hams with me.
>
> If some one wants to purchase one from either company that is fine. OTOH 
> it's fine if they want to build one as well.  That too is free enterprise.
>
> I'd normally build one, but if time were of the essence I'd probably 
> purchase one.  After all we aren't talking about amounts that would 
> break most of us. OTOH in this economy I'd not want to neglect saving 
> where I can.
>
> Now it's back to the shop where my supposedly stable Vista Ultimate ate 
> most of the programs on the computer and it took less than 30 seconds to 
> do it. Oh, and the fan impeller for the top end video card fell off the 
> motor shaft, which then over heated and shut down another computer.  
> <sigh> There are drawbacks to "doing it yourself"<:-))  But I have to 
> admit computers are easier to work on than plumbing and take fewer trips 
> into town. OTOH with all the  Hard Drives running on the network 
> failures are not uncommon.
>
> 73
>
> Roger (K8RI)
>
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