[Antennaware] Force 12 Sigma-5

[Rex Lint]

Hi Warren,

I'd wondered where the heck you disappeared to!

Here's what I did with a hustler on top an RV and it worked great - I cut
some "radials," in my case only 1 for each band, that was a quarter wave
long, and attached them to the part of the antenna that would be "grounded"
to the auto frame - specifically the braid of the coax.  In my case, I just
operated 20, 15, and 10 so I cut 3 pieces of wire 16.5, 11, and 8.25 feet
long, hooked 'em to the ground connection at the foot of the hustler, and
draped 'em across the roof of the RV.  In your case,  I'd do 4 wires of each
length and make them run at right angles (or whatever) to each other, and do
that for every band that you'll operate.  The principle is "raised radials,"
AKA ground plane, and is used a lot by dx'ers. If it were me, I'd use full
size elements, not hustler coils, for all bands above 10 MH.  That's
starting to creep up on a trap vertical, isn't it...

Force 12 makes a flagpole that you could "donate" to the "community," then
sneak a run of 213 under the grass to it and see if you can make it glow at
night... see http://force12inc.com/F12-flagpole-ants-002.htm. Prettier to
the other residents than the sigma...

Regards from 8 miles SSW MHT.

Rex


Rex Lint
K1HI
26 Brek Drive
Merrimack, NH 03054

H: 603-889-7650
W: 603-860-7651


-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 15:14:35 -0400
From: "Warren Rothberg" <w4wr at bellsouth.net>
To: "Antenna" <antennaware at contesting.com>
Subject: [Antennaware] Force 12 Sigma-5
Message-ID: <000701c395ac$149330d0$230110ac at CPQ17>
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="us-ascii"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Precedence: list
Message: 1

OK, I'm a newbie to the group. I did search the archives first, tho.

I am CC&R'ed to death here in my gated condo community with no outside
ground I can call my own (EVERYTHING outside my walls is common element).

My directors have agreed to let me have a "small" antenna as long as it
is not a "permanent fixture". Thus I now have a Hustler Mag-mount on my
roof air conditioner. This has been SO effective, I have been off the
air for more than 2 years. (I watch the DX Clusters with such envy!)

Both Force 12 and the QST review of the Sigma 5 recommend operation at
ground level for optimum effectiveness. My only choice is a corner of my
roof at 15 feet AGL. At that point it would be 10 feet away from my A/C
unit.

So here's the question: Does anyone have experience with this antenna
at 10 to 20 feet off the ground and can you compare it with ground
operation?

Thanks,

Warren, W4WR

W4WR: Feb 26, 1998 - Present
K4VP: Feb 07, 1997 - Feb 26, 1998
WB1HBB: Mar 28, 1978 - Feb 07, 1997

PJ7/WB1HBB: Oct 21, 1994 - Oct 29, 1994
VP2E/WB1HBB: Aug 15, 1994 - Dec 31, 1994
PJ8/W4WR: Oct 17, 1998 - Dec 21, 1999

NB Contest Club, Trustee:
WB1HBB: May 31, 2002 - Present
KB1BOO: Mar 05, 1995 - May 30, 2002