[TowerTalk] Multi-band antennas
L. L. Lamb
W4NL-KA4S@worldnet.att.net
Sun, 16 Nov 1997 16:51:50 -0500
Bob, your comments on the Pro-67 are well taken, as was those of K7LXC. I
learn from everyone, and I did from you all.
....and I have a few comments!
Agree the FRC has some of the greatest ops and otherwise fine folks, as
does my PVRC.
My dear and late friend Lenny, W3GRF, once answered a young lad many years
ago when this lad said "my new 80 meter antenna is the very best......".
He responded as only Lenny could do..."compared to what?". This lad has
used this phrase many times on many subjects since! The "compared to what"
is extremely important when talking about antennas, but I feel Lenny would
agree that many can't do the "compare" and are left to mercy of the makers
and just how good the antenna makes them feel. I suggest we could do more
to make multi-band antennas feel better.
The Mosley Pro series antennas (have had several) are good antennas, built
well to stay up most of the time. They could be better, but in my
judgement we have never demanded any multi-band antennas be better. We
just buy them, put them up, use them and tell ourself we are happy with
them. This is not to say some of us are not happy with them. Many of them
suffer from lack of gain, F/B, mechanical problems, matching which nudges
up next to a dummy load, etc. The Pro-57/67 is one of the best of this
type antenna on this boom length, not to be compared to large mono-banders
nor in many cases to the trusty 204BA! It holds it's own and has a
respectable place in the wonderful world of compromise antennas.
The KT-34XA is a very good antenna, but in my experience needs help to keep
them up in a harsh environment. The old CL-36/TA-36 tri-banders are still
an excellent choice as are the TH-7/TH-6 series some may forget about. A
pair of these correctly phased work great on EU during high spots placed
modestly above the ground...and not expensive either! The TH-11, a less
understood (and used) antenna along with some of the Force 12 antennas are
good choices.
Back to Mosley for a moment. I have the Pro-96 3" boom at 100' on an
AB-105x. I've heard of one fellow who purchased one who had a Rohn 25 to
put it on..it's still on the ground. It's heavy. Mine was put up as a 3
ele 30 vice 3 ele 40 and has done better on most of the bands when compared
to the 57/67 (does not compare to the large mono-banders of the past). It
is no better than a 204 on 20 although it has a 36' boom. Jim, W2PV told
me once he didn't like 1/2 wave length booms! The Pro 96 is on 20 meters
and a weak sister, again in my judgement. I received little help from
Mosley and pinned a piece on it band by band some time ago. With this
said, it is the best "compromised" antenna (6 bands) I know of.
My last point and a challenge. Multi-band antennas can be designed and
made better. Think about it, the mono-banders are better today in part
because of us (mostly contesters and dxers). We have good computers
programs to judge and make better single band antennas, be it from scratch
or from some of the popular manufactures. They have picked up on this and
are in fact making better antennas. The same could be said for trap/multi
band antennas if we were to force the issue. I may fail in my attempt, but
an effort is being made on the '96 (a 3 year project) and will be
implemented this next summer. The same logic could be applied to any trap
antenna. I will share it with anyone if it works out and sing out the
failure if it doesn't. What I want to do here Bob is get some of the
interested folks thinking of doing something with these various multi-band
antennas and then force some of the manufactures to do better. This is not
hitting on any of them, as some are doing well, and they do offer us here
in the States a better choice than many enjoy. I appreciate it, but let's
work to make them better since most of us MUST use these antennas in order
to get on all the bands and play contest and chase the DX!
Flames okay to my e-mail, but let's rise above a bit and do something about
it if unhappy. If happy already, wonderful, hi
Thanks Bob for the anchor point!
73, Lynn W4NL
W4NL-KA4S@worldnet.att.net
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