> "I DO remember all those Gotham ads. But, curiously, I never actually
talked
to anybody who actually was using one. Even in the 1950s, Gotham prices
seemed impossibly low. I always wondered if they worked and how well they
were constructed? And if nobody bought them, how did the company pay for all
those QST and CQ magazine ads?"
At the ripe age of 13, I purchased a 3-element 15M mono-bander from Gotham.
The antenna worked exceptionally well atop a 40-foot Rohn 25 tower. I
remember the unpacking and installation process as if it occurred yesterday.
Gotham shipped their Yagi antennas motor freight collect. My OM was not too
happy about paying for a motor freight bill that exceeded the cost of the
antenna.
The antenna package consisted of an aluminum boom, three elements, a few
saddle clamps and several Aero-Seal compression clamps. The instruction set
was simple, but complete. The owner was responsible for providing the gamma
matching section and a series compression cap. That was perhaps the
trickiest part for this 13 year old student. Finding the right gamma match
point wasn't easy, but when found, the antenna had a near perfect match and
a very good F/B ratio.
The antenna lasted about 12 months until one windy March afternoon when I
was playing baseball with friends on a nearby lot, the antenna came down in
several pieces. Over time, vibration had fatigued the aluminum elements. I
should have known this would have been an issue because the antenna would
turn into a loud, acoustic tuning fork when the wind would strike the
elements at just the right angle. Either the benefit of gradually tapering
the elements was unknown to Gotham at the time, or they simply didn't care.
A Moseley TA-33 replaced the Gotham beam but I believe the 15m performance
was better with the Gotham. The TA-33 lasted for many years and showed no
signs of stress when the entire system was later dismantled and sold help
pay for my college tuition.
Paul, W9AC
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