Topband: 60' or 70' spacing on Hi-Z 4/8 element RX array

[StellarCAT]

Hi Lee,

Alright - I'm convinced then. I'll do the 60'!

Thanks

Gary



-----Original Message----- 
From: Lee STRAHAN
Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2016 8:39 PM
To: StellarCAT ; topband at contesting.com
Subject: RE: Topband: 60' or 70' spacing on Hi-Z 4/8 element RX array

   Gary and others,
   As I said losing 6 dB + on the 4-8 Pro by going to the smaller diameter 
array down to 84.84 feet in diameter will be no problem whatsoever. There 
are still many users using the arrays with the original Hi-Z amps which had 
a loss of 6 dB. You are using amps with 6 dB more gain than those.  In 
addition there are several systems operating that use my dual band dual 
direction system. This system loses another 3 dB of signal by splitting the 
signals to two combiners.  So, there are proven stations using the same 
combining system with much less available system gain. I know for a fact 
they are hearing very well into the noise. Especially on the system with the 
dual directions. He is a contester and always on top of the heap. This user 
is still using the older style of amp with 6 dB of loss and the dual 
direction system with another 3 dB loss.
   113.12 feet diameter or 80 feet on a 4 square side  and 84.84 feet 
diameter or 60 feet on a 4-square side are the only two stocked by DX 
Engineering.
  Any other size systems would need a different set of delay cables.
   Fear not Gary, Just cut your element cables for the widest spacing you 
think you could ever use and then all you would have to do is move the 
elements and change delay cables if you were still curious.
You will not be able to tell the difference between your ears.
   The 84.84  foot system greatly improves 40 meters with only approximately 
a 0.2 dB loss in RDF on 160 meters. My original design goal was based on 
maximum RDF on 160 meters period. Then the narrow spacing came later. I 
originally did not expect I could get system accuracy good enough for the 
narrower arrays. It paid off to pick the fly poop out of the pepper ( an 
engineering term) during the original design as it ended up easily having 
the accuracy to implement that.

Lee  K7TJR



-----Original Message-----
From: Topband [mailto:topband-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of 
StellarCAT
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2016 10:26 AM
To: n6bk at yahoo.com; topband at contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: 60' or 70' spacing on Hi-Z 4/8 element RX array

Thanks Bob,

70’ is what Lee use to offer ... I had a 4 sq with those dimensions (it was 
stolen out of a self storage unit however). I believe Lee would do cabling 
for either 70’ or 60’. My main focus is still 160 with 80 as the second ... 
but I don’t want to neglect 40 as spring/summer/fall static can be 
horrendous. So the total power isn’t an issue?.... please explain to me what 
exactly it means! So ALL signals – noise and signal are reduced by this same 
amount – 6.6 db? And assuming the preamp doesn’t add any noise then it would 
be – the same?

or put another way – say I have 2 of these – an 80’ on a side and a 60’ on a 
side ... at the same location (but not interacting, or I can magically swap 
them out)... what if any change is there in the headphones?! That to me is 
the bottom line and what I’ve just not had an answer on yet.

g.