[RTTY] Antenna Question

[Mike Brown]

Our club just put up a TH5 donated by a now sk. It replaced a PRO 67 that 
had the mounting u-bolts to the boom break, and there were some parts 
missing and elements damaged. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but with 
the dual driven elements, the swr, checked with an MFJ analyzer was close to 
1:1 on the low end of the band, and was 2:1 or less at the high end of the 
phone band, on every band. I was given a TH3 8 years ago and have helped on 
a couple of A3 and A4 installations. The HyGain antennas do seem a bit more 
heavy duty. Performance wise I would imagine there isn't much difference in 
the A3 and TH3. With another element, the A4 should have an edge over a TH3.

73, Mike K9MI

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Hall" <k4dsp.doug at gmail.com>
To: "RTTY" <rtty at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 02 43
Subject: Re: [RTTY] Antenna Question


>I agree with AA4LR on this. I had an A4S up at 70 feet for several
> years before losing the antenna and tower to Hurricane Fran. (Huge
> pine tree fell across the guy wires and brought the whole works down.)
> I have never used the TH5, but I have compared the A4S to a TH3 and I
> think the Cushcraft is the better antenna. At one time I did some
> research on trap losses in trapped tribanders and found that the traps
> in my A4S had less loss than the TH3 I tested. Now granted, this
> wasn't the most scientific test in the world, because the TH3 traps
> were about 10 years older than the ones from the A4S, so take it with
> a grain of salt. In any case I found the A4S to be a good antenna and
> I worked a lot of DX with it.
>
> Regards,
> Doug, K4DSP
>
> On 7/3/06, Bill Coleman <aa4lr at arrl.net> wrote:
>>
>> On Jul 1, 2006, at 12:19 PM, Professional Home Inspections wrote:
>>
>> > If you had the choice, which antenna would you mount on a crank-up
>> > tower,
>> > about 60 feet to the antenna?
>> >
>> > A Hygain TH5-MK2
>> > A Cushcraft A4S
>> >
>> > And WHY ??
>>
>> Practically speaking, there's not a whole lot of difference between
>> these two antennas. They are both trapped tribanders with similar
>> boom lengths 19 and 18.5 feet, respectively.
>>
>> I would favor the A4S myself. A couple of reasons. First, I happen to
>> like Cushcraft antennas. The A4S has been installed by a large number
>> of hams, and it is a proven performer. While perhaps not as efficient
>> as some of the modern computer-optimized designs, it will hold its own.
>>
>> The TH5-Mk2 isn't quite as popular. The Hy-gain probably has slightly
>> better mechanical construction, but is heavier. The extra driven
>> element probably doesn't buy much in the way of performance, but
>> contributes to extra weight and wind load.
>>
>> I tend to like the lightweight element design of the Cushcraft. It
>> might not be so appropriate if you live in an area that gets frequent
>> icing. (Although my A3S survived an ice storm with about 1/2" of ice
>> on top of the elements)
>>
>> It would be the A4S for me, choosing between these two. If you are
>> trying to pick the best tribander with a 19-foot boom, the Force-12
>> C19 series would probably outshine most.
>>
>>
>> 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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