[CQ-Contest] Does size matter?

[Mike McCarthy, W1NR]

Good points.  My 5 el HyGain 205BA at 110' will generally punch through ANY
pileup with only a handful of calls (usually one is enough).  I have noticed
that it will regularly beat out other stations that I know are running
stacks.  However, they can run better because they have a bigger footprint.
A stack will spread the energy out over a greater area and more angles of
radiation than a single antenna.  One favorite technique I used at one of
the multi's with a stack is to point the top beam at JA and a lower one at
EU when the bands are open both ways.  Stacks also hear better because of
the larger capture area.

I also have a remote tuned inverted V on 80M up at 110'.  Now this will beat
out 4 squares into EU.  But the 4 square will hear better and work JA's that
I can't.

Another thing to factor in with stacks and arrays is that you will loose
energy with the matching networks and additional lengths of coax feeds.  The
greater the number of feed points in the array, the more significant these
losses become.

Mike, W1NR

-----Original Message-----
From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bill Coleman
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 1:37 PM
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Does size matter?

All these accounts of monstrous antenna arrays are very impressive. My
question is - are they truly necessary? What is the advantage they convey?
Does the advantage justify the cost over some smaller array?

At home, I can demonstrate the difference even a small tribander at 15m (50
feet) has over a multi-band vertical or a low dipole. Yet when I travel to
NQ4I's M/M, I don't see as big a difference with his excellent antenna farm
and my modest tribander. Surely it is there, and is reflected in the scores,
but it doesn't have as big an impact psycologically as you'd think.

During the CQ WW Phone, NQ4I's 10m stations consisted of a three-high 5/5/5,
with the top rotatable, and the middle steerable between EU and JA. The
other station had 6/6 to JA, 8/6 to EU with the top steerable and a 6 ele
fixed on VK/ZL, and another antenna on the carribean / south america.

You'd think we'd use the bigger stack to run, right? Actually, the second
station was far superior. The three-high stack to EU was ineffective, but
the 2-high stack worked great. In fact, the 8 element at 125' was the best
antenna of the bunch.

So, isn't one antenna that is just right better than a huge stack of
mediocre antennas?


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901

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