[TowerTalk] KLM-34XA insulator problems ?

[David O Hachadorian]

On Sun, 4 May 1997 15:51:31 +0300 Morel Grunberg
<morel.grunberg@telrad.co.il> writes:
>My friend Moni, 4X6ZK is interested to buy a KLM-34XA
>six elements beam. He heard some rumors that the plastic
>insulators used are not UV stabilized and protected and
>they cracks after few years. It's that true ? 
>
>By the way is this antenna still manufactured ? If I good
>remember from previous reports, this antenna is heavy and
>difficult to assembly but has a good reputations for the 
>radiation performance and large bandwith. What's your
>experience with this item ?
>
>73 de Morel, 4X1AD


I have a KT-34XA in Yuma, Arizona, the UV capital of the world.
Early versions of the XA did have plastic caps that deteriorated
in 2-3 years due to UV. KLM solved that problem at least five
years ago with a different formulation of plastic. The antenna
is still being manufactured.

The XA performs very well, as long as front-to-back ratio is
not one of your critical requirements. I like the poor f/b ratio.
It's nice to run JA and work the Carribbean at the same time on
one antenna! The antenna definitely has good gain in the
forward direction. In a dx pileup, you just know that it will
never take more than two or three calls to get through.
  
You can stack a Cushcraft 40-2CD six or more feet above an XA,
with the booms aligned. They can be turned with a Tailtwister.
It would take a LOT of money and effort to get a dB or two
gain over this setup.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
k6ll@juno.com

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