[CQ-Contest] TH7 Replacement

[Jim Brown]

If you don't need to tri-plex it to two radios, it's hard to beat a 
SteppIR.  My neighbor K6XX has wrangled my straight 3-el at the top of 
my 120 ft tower without difficulty.  Standard procedure is to assemble 
and test it on the ground, then remove the elements, pull both elements 
and boom up the tower, and reassemble.  That straight 3-el is light 
enough for one strong guy to handle pretty easily, and it's gain is 
comparable to any high-efficiency 3-el Yagi (meaning full-size elements, 
without traps). If you doubt that, I suggest that you read N6BT's 
self-published "Array of Light" book, wherein he debunks some of the 
phony claims and "physics from another universe" used in advertising for 
some of these products. Some of these ads, for example, claimed greater 
gain than an ideal monoband Yagi with the same number of elements and 
boom length.

If you do need to tri-plex, I'd look at the new products from G0KSC.

73, Jim K9YC

On 8/6/2017 2:48 PM, K9MA wrote:
> My 28 year old TH7 needs to come down for maintenance, and I'm told the trap end caps MFJ now sells don't last long.  I also may be just a matter of luck that no bugs have moved into any of the traps. So, I'd really like to replace it with a trapless antenna.  The TH7 has served me well, having last been put up in 1993. It needs to be replaced before I'm too old to climb the tower!
>
> Here are the requirements:
>
> Performance comparable to TH7
> Boom length 24 feet or less
> No traps or fragile linear loading
> Can be assembled on the tower (as was the TH7 in 1993.)
>
> At this point, the Skyhawk appears to be my best option, at least of the tribanders available in this country.  Any experience with the Skyhawk, or other suggestions?
>
> 73,
>
> Scott K9MA
>
> ----------
>
> Scott Ellington
>
>   --- via iPad
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