RE: [TowerTalk] Force12 420/240 or Cushcraft 40

[Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com>]

At 07:14 AM 2/19/04 -0600, Bill wrote:
> Look no further. I have had both antennas up.  The EF420 is a fragile
> antenna, prone to mechanical failure. It is hard to tune, I never got mine
> to work right. After three efforts at repair with a 115 foot crane I gave up
> and junked it.
>
> The Cushcraft XM420 is an excellent antenna. I have had it up in the same
> basic configuration as the old EF420. It is well constructed and works like
> a bomb. It is of course a little heavier that the EF420. Force 12 has
> another version of the 2 ele 40 with longer elements. This antenna may be
> fine but I haven't seen one.


I think Bill means the EF-240, as that's the wire-loaded 40m antenna.  I 
had some mechanical reservations about mine, but after 6 years, it took a 
direct lightning strike to sever a loading wire and put it out of service.


> One proviso: If you are going to stack the XM420 near a tribander, expect
> interaction. I have the C3E and the XM420 13' apart and they interacted so
> much that I had to turn them at right angles to correct the problem.

One advantage of the new F12 N series of 40m yagis is that they are 
designed to avoid interactions, but they are big (elements 85 percent of 
full size).  I have also heard that the older Cushcraft 402CD is less prone 
to interaction than the new one.  I think that if I had to do it over again 
I would probably opt for the latter instead of the EF-240S.

73, Pete N4ZR
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