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Re: [TowerTalk] Please Help Me Decide on a Tribander or Monobanders

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Please Help Me Decide on a Tribander or Monobanders
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:41:18 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 4/18/2013 2:06 PM, Wayne Willenberg wrote:
I am now in ham nirvana because I have to start making up my mind on which
antenna(s) to put on the 15’ mast.  Here is my first dilemma.  Should I put
up a tribander (10, 15 and 20M) or 3 monobanders.  My intuition said there
was no way a tribander with the same 20M boom length could beat 3
monobanders having a 20M antenna with the same boom length.

Your intuition is right on. :) There's another fine option to consider, it's in your price range, it offers the best of both worlds, AND it works just as well on the WARC bands and 6M. I'm talking about a SteppIR. I have the small 3-el (no trombones) with the added 6M element that covers 20M-6M. It's an optimized monobander on every band, 4-elements on 6M. It's also light enough that a strong guy on the tower can handle it by himself. And it's modular, so it can be built and tested on the ground, then you take off the elements, pull it up, and put it back together. That way you don't have to weave the elements through the guy wires as you bring it up.

You can, of course, go for one of the larger SteppIRs if your tower, your neighbors, and your budget allow it. I am VERY happy with mine. The DB-series antennas get you 40 and 30 with gain, but they're a LOT bigger and heavier, there's more to go wrong, and they are a lot more work to install. SteppIR is not great for customer service, you'll wait a while to get it, but they're very good antennas.

Another major advantage of the SteppIR Yagis is that you can reverse them in about 5 seconds, or set them bi-directional in that same time. That's VERY handy when the band is open to JA and South America at the same time (which often happens in Calfornia), or to EU and VK at the same time.

73, Jim K9YC

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