All the comments made by K7LXC about crank ups are correct except that I
disagree with the point about stacking a KT-34XA and a 40-CD Cushcraft. I
have an old Tristao crank up bought from Lou Tristao in 1969 (The current US
Tower would be TX 472) except mine is designed to be guyed . Un guyed it is
rated 15Sq feet in 50MPH and guyed it is rated 26sq in 50MPH. The 85MPH
calculations turned out to be 5 and 11.8 sq feet. The tower went thru
Camille and the recent storm that blew thru Atlanta Metro (I logged wind
gusts to 83MPH). A number of hams lost towers and beams.
I found that after wrapping the Cushcraft coils with black electrical tape
and sealing them with a sealant used on bamboo Quad spreaders and finally
securing the capacitive hats better( so they don't flop) that the cushcraft
takes far less maintenance than the KT-34XA. The XA was bought in 1980 or
81 as the KT-34X and kitted in 1986 to the XA. The elements and perhaps the
balun again need to be replaced as my SWR jumps on high power on 20 and 10
and 15 meters has lost F/B again (reflector caps go bad). The elements on
the XA are prone to twist in heavy wind and ice..right now the reflector has
swung under the boom from first the hurricane and next the ice and snow of
early January.
The 40 plays better 10' above the XA and I can reach the XA from my roof
when I crank the tower down. I did get a WD9IIX ladder mast several years
ago so I can easily reach both the 40 boom center and the bottom of an 2
meter ISO-POLE 3 feet above that if repairs are needed. I last worked on
the 40 7 years ago!
The KT-34XA and Cushcraft 40 make a great pair for those of us on 1/2 acre
lots. When I first moved into this QTH I had 5el 20, 6el 15, and homebrew 7
el 10 and except for 10 you can't tell much difference and my neighbors at
least speak to me now! The cushcraft plays better than the old 2el Mosley,
too. Now if someone can get me a killer XMIT Contset antenna for 80 and 160...
Plus for those who don't know the Cushcraft 40 plays well on 17!
Dave K4JRB
(now where is that guy on the boatanchor net with the 114 foot motorized
tower????)
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