[CQ-Contest] Are beams needed for competitive contesting from the Caribbean?

[Jose Vicens, DMD]

Hi Rudy
A beam will certainly help you aim the signal where you want. Remember that there will also be QRM and noise to deal with.
Salt corrosion is a bastard!. Make sure to use protective spray ( the one sold at Boat stores) to help improve the survival. Even the clamps on the antenna will corrode. Put some money aside for replacement and maintanance.  If you plan on using exterior antena switching, also consider enclosing the unit in some sort of plastic container.
Good luck!
73OtisNp4G 

    On Monday, June 26, 2017 10:00 AM, Rudy Bakalov via CQ-Contest <cq-contest at contesting.com> wrote:
 

 I am about 500 yards from the beach and 120' ASL.

Looking at the 3 year old aluminum boxes of the AC units it is pretty scary that everything rusts, even aluminum. I can't imagine a rotator lasting too long.

Plan B is to attach to palm trees 2 x A4S yagis fixed on NA (330) and EU (30 degrees); they won't be very high though.

Rudy N2WQ

Sent using a tiny keyboard.  Please excuse brevity, typos, or inappropriate autocorrect.


> On Jun 25, 2017, at 8:09 PM, Ria Jairam <rjairam at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Rudy,
> 
> They aren't needed if you're close to the water. Many have used verticals on the beach with great success. Especially since we are headed for solar minimum low bands will be more easily done with verticals. 
> 
> For beams and towers, salt water air could be a problem, especially if you're on the east coast since the trade wind blows from the Northeast. I remember in NE Trinidad even the telephone lines were always noisy due to corroded connections. But it's not an insurmountable problem and if you're inland it's not too much of an issue. 
> 
> Ria
> N2RJ
>> On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 9:55 PM Rudy Bakalov via CQ-Contest <cq-contest at contesting.com> wrote:
>> The subject says it all. I was wondering what the experience of those of you who have contested from the Caribbean is. Assuming running full 1500W power, is a beam really required? Is it more important to hear well than to be heard (my assumption)?
>> So, here's the big picture- we have a vacation rental property on HR9 and I'd like to make it available to hams/contesters as well. On the flip side, I am very concerned about the appearance of towers, beams, etc.
>> From HR9, I really need to directions- 330 for NA and 30 for EU. I can do them easily with two OCF dipoles. The dipoles will be about 30' up, the property is on a hill and the elevation drops by about 20' about 30 yards from the house and a total of 130' about 500 yards from the house. Further, I plan on building full size verticals for 40 and 80 and some sort of a full size sloping vertical for 160. 4SQ RX plus beverages in the two directions I mentioned already.
>> Is this setup enough for competitive SOAB effort/score? Do I need to include a tower, rotator, and a beam? The maintenance of anything in the Caribbean scares the heck out of me.
>> Rudy N2WQ
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