[TowerTalk] Gap Vertical

[Rick Wells]

Martin,

You may want to consider the HyGain DX-88 vertical.  I have had one now for about 3 years.  It is ground mounted.  The ground system consists of two 8 ft ground rods and 32 radials 1/4 wave on 40 m.  It is in the clear in the back yard about 70 ft from the house.

Compared to my wire dipoles it works quite well, occasionally, better with long skip and DX.  The only exception is on 75 m where is works "OK", maybe within 6-10 dB of my full size dipole.  But then again, I have only 35 ft radials.

Construction is very solid.  Goes together per the manual no problem.  VSWR is as good or better than specified (I use the optional 75 m inductor indicated in the manual).  I just finished doing some work on mine, straightening out the mounting plate from 70 mph winter storm and replacing the SO239 connector with a silver plated teflon one as it had started to corrode a bit.  It's pricy at nearly $400 but I wanted another antenna to trade off with for conditions with the dipoles.

Certainly have no problem working stations.  With 1200 w on 20 m, I got about 90% first call responses during IARU contest couple of weeks ago.  I also do quite well into the neighbor's telephones.  Hopefully running a tribander at 70 ft on my soon to be Rohn 45G will help with that.

73,
Rick, W2RW

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From: 	Martin Gary[SMTP:n3hrt@eagle1.eaglenet.com]
Sent: 	Friday, August 01, 1997 10:10 PM
To: 	towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: 	[TowerTalk] Gap Vertical

Hi all,

I'm afraid that I'm going to start a big thread with this one... I'm
sure this has been talked to death, and in my defense I DID look in the
archives before posting this. 

Here's the deal. I have about $300.00 to spend and I want to buy an
antenna that will cover 40-10 meters. I considered a tri-band beam, but
then I would still be looking for something for the WARC bands. Besides,
getting a beam is just the tip of the iceberg. You still have to buy a
rotor, and everyone knows how expensive they are. So, after looking thru
all of my catalogs, I decided that one of the Gap verticals might be a
good choice. I think the Titan DX is the one that  would work best for
my needs. I have a 40ft. telephone pole that I could mount it on. 

So, after making that decision, I starting asking around about them,
trying to find someone who actually had one to see how they perform,
Everyone I talked to either hates them or loves them..(none of these
poeple have actually owned one)
I KNOW that they fall way short of the performance of a beam, but how do
they compare with other verticals, dipoles, etc.... Whats the real story
with them? Are they worth  messing with or what???

Any comments, suggestions, or alternative ideas would be greatly
appreciated.

Martin, N3HRT.

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