[SCCC] Quad vs. OWA on 6m??

[Tree]

Steve -

Interesting question.

I remember the old saying about quads opening the band earlier.  Not sure
that has been proven as a fact.

I once used a six element quad on HF (the boom was 50 feet or so).  It was
a very temperamental antenna - either it was very good or about average.

Once we could model antennas - most people gave up on multi element quads.
A 2 element quad works pretty well.  After that - likely half wave
parasitics are better as directors.

Having said all of that - I think 6M scatter is pretty high angle stuff.  I
think that antenna height will likely be a bigger factor than what type of
antenna you have.

A 3 element at the right height will dominate a 6L OWA or Quad at the wrong
height.

The right height depends on your topology.  You may also find a stack of
two smaller beams will dominate compared to one large beam.  I once had two
5 elements stacked at around 70 and 30 feet and it was an excellent
performer in most Sporadic E openings.

Tree N6TR





On Fri, May 30, 2025 at 8:22 AM Steve Harrison <k0xp at k0xp.com> wrote:

> At the risk of being accused of asking dumb questions:
>
> For we Southern Californians, a 4 or 5L quad is well-known to often
> "open the band earlier" and "close the band later" on the upper HF
> bands, where F2 propagation dominates. Does the same happen with
> sporadic Es on 6m?? How about 6m F2? 6m meteor scatter? Which would be
> more likely to dominate in such circumstances: a 6L quad, or a 6L OWA yagi?
>
> TNX,
>
> Steve K0XP
>
>
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