Rick,
As an avid builder of past 80M four squares, I often had the chance to
compare mine with two operators along my grayline with 80M Yagi's. I agree
with
your conclusions 98% with the exception of K0RF. Chuck lives on a high hill
about 300 feet above the immediate topography +- and his Yagi I think is up
about
120 feet. While there were many times I heard weak DX stations better in
comparison, he often was up on my signal on the other side by an S unit plus.
But
he has perhaps the most ideal situated 80M yagi site in the world. He just
blasted away many W0's, 6's and 7's when I was on VK9L working grayline DX
stateside and in 2 CQWW's in France, he was the only 80M station west of the
Mississippi I ever heard-
All things considered, I believe the money is well spent for the extra S unit
when considering a Yagi vs the 4SQR if you have the right location. But if
your talking about a 50 foot tower and a 3 element 80M yagi, skip it and go
with the 4 SQR. You really need the height for the Yagi to make sense on the
budget and contest scores. I think anything less thatn 100 foot tower and your
wasting your time vs a 4 sqr of moderate design.
And 4SQR's are not tough to build in many cases, ie: My 1/2 wave dipole 40M 4
SQR of a 65 foot tower was a killer. They 1/4 wave top loaded 80 meter 4SQR
made out of aluminum was a bit trickier (the radial system from heck) but what
a performer- From Wyoming, in 1999/00, I was able to work 156 countries and
all 40 CQ zones during "The Low Band Monitor's" 6 month contest for lowband
activities-
For those interested, I spent about $1,600 in construction of my 80M 4 SQR
and you can reference on it's design and performance in CQ Contest Magazine
September 2000, TT archives Aug 99, Sept 99, May 2000, and Feb 2001. Price out
what that cost vs putting up an 80M yagi on a 120 foot
tower.....................................................and oh yeah, if you
go with the 4SQR, throw
out the beverages- Keep a yagi, and have fun with the rain static and keep your
beverage lines handy- Four squares, while a vertical array, are very, very
quiet compared to a free standing vertical-
I love 80 meters. You get hooked on it quickly and it will teach you more
about ham radio the more time you spend with it- Grayline surges, skewed
propagation, LP, SP, God knows what path, it has it all- I can see why yagi's
for
the band are becoming more popular because you want more as you get more
hooked...but relax man, a good four square will put you in the right DX zone
every
time- And when the Yagi operator is out checking his coax to see why he can't
hear what you are, it's just a great feeling- hi
BTW, I have relocated from our ranch in Wyoming to the suburbs of Denver. I
expect all my 80M friends to help me work a few JA's with my Gap Titan this
season- blah-
73 Paul N0AH
_______________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|