Ted - In response to your question;
"I have not heard of the 14AVQ. Is it sill made and if so, who makes it?"
The 14AVQ is a Hy-Gain product. It is a 40, 20, 15, and 10M vertical, using
traps to provide "quarter wave" resonance. It is about 22 feet high with a
capacity hat and is a good performer over a good ground system. I think
Hy-Gain still makes them as I think I saw them listed in the last Radio
Shack Catalog. You can check their web page to be sure.
These "quarter wave" trap verticals; Hustler made the 4BTV and Cushcraft
the AP-xx(?), were popular in the 60s and 70s as beginning antennas. They
have now been supplanted as beginning antennas by the more popular "half
wave" resonant verticals such as the R-7000. The quarter wave verticals
fell out of vogue with the arrival of the WARC bands, which they did not
cover, and antennas such as the R-5 which provided all band coverage with
the promise of "no additional ground" which the quarter wave antennas do
require. Also Moxon's book became popular and he and others tended to mark
down the trap vertical as not using the whole length of the antenna,
although L. B. Cebik and others have shown that there can be some current
beyond the trap even in a conventional trapped antenna.
The 14AVQ antenna and others of its ilk are good performers if mounted over
a good ground. A single ground rod won't cut it. Good performance can be
had by elevating the antenna, and when mounted on the roof of a single
story home with 4 resonant radials per band they will provide good
performance.
These antennas are underutilized today, and can make a good second antenna
for a two radio contest station if properly installed. - Duffey KK6MC/5
James R. Duffey KK6MC/5 DM65 <jamesd1@flash.net>
30 Casa Loma Road
Cedar Crest NM 87008
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