Concur without question.
Have the 2-ele, 5-band Lightning Bolt quad on a 45 foot crank-up
Aluma-tower. One of the advantages of a quad is high performance at
relatively low heights. Another is low weight. The quad uses a single
coax line to feed all bands through a transformer (supplied with the
quad). This antenna outperforms my previous tri-band yagi
hands-down, and I can turn it with a light-duty rotator. I use it heavily for
contesting, where lots of F/B rejection is a minus (can work stations off
the back of the quad quite well). Very good quality with the Lightning
Bolt -- uses aluminum-titanium welding wire for the loops, all SS
hardware and fiberglass spreaders. The very high cost of shipping the
GEM quad from Canada decided me against it.
Jim W4LC
>>> Ron St. Laurent <at949@detroit.freenet.org> 12/28/96 11:09am >>>
Hi Bob,
Go with the Quad. I have owned both a KLM KT34 and the Lightning
Bolt Quad. I enjoyed the way both played. When I owned the yagi I did
not have anyone nearby with a quad to perform comparisons.
I went with the quad to gain the additional 2 WARC bands at a minimal
investment. I have the HDBX48 and the combination of quad and tower
is well suited. My initial motivation was financial but if I were to choose
today for even money I would go with the quad hands down. I have
heard and worked DX that my friends with higher and much larger yagi
just can't hear. The receive capture area is great (full wavelength). Yes
the front to back is not terrific but there are instances (contests) where
you may not want as much rear rejection. The side to side appears to be
very good when rotating the antenna. BTW the Gem Quad will set you
back about $150 for a shipping as it must come via common carrier. The
arms are one piece and cannot be shipped any other way. I have been
actively seeking DX these past 20 months and I now have 281 countries
worked and 269 confirmed. I have been
VERY pleased with my antenna. Ron ND5S at949@detroit.freenet.org
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