[TowerTalk] Yagis and Receive Strength

[George Fremin III]

Richard Thorne writes:
> 
> Well things are good and I feel like an alligator.  On 15 the other day
> I had a good pileup going, but I couldn't hear most of the stations
> calling.  I'm not sure if thats due to the power and antenna types of
> those stations, or if I need to continue improvements on my end.


The answer is .....Yes.

It is both of those things and maybe a few more.

I find there are several factors that come into play.

How quiet is your location?  It is amazing how diffrent
it is to operate from a VERY quiet location.  If your 
station is in a town you will not hear as well as 
as station that is out in the sticks with miles of 
empty land in front of the antennas.  (And behind them too.)
   
Poor antennas on the other end.  It is amazing how many 
people have very poor antennas.  They use things that 
are not efficent - yes they can hear you but you are 
weak on their end too.


> So heres my ignorant question (kind of embarrassing too), does a larger
> yagi, i.e. going from 2 elements to say 4 elements improve receiving as
> well as transmitting? 

Yes.

> While I'm only stacking 2 Force 12 C3's (which
> gives me 2 elements on each band times two) it seems to me that I'm
> improving my receive capability better than I would with a single
> antenna with 4 elements on each band.

Having a stack might improve your receive capability but it
can also often make things worse.  Often stacks of antnnas
will have poorer patterns than the single antennas.

Your 2 ele yagis do not have a very high F/B to start with so
they pick up more noise from unwanted directions that would
a larger well designed yagi.

> I would love to stack a pair of C31XR's but I would have to get a 40
> meter beam and I'm sure this exceed the limits of my 25g tower.

That would make a diffrence. 

> Whats the multitude think?

I think you have hit upon one of the major limiting factors 
in most stations - how many really weak stations can they
hear. 

-- 

George Fremin III                 
Johnson City, Texas             "Experiment trumps theory." 
K5TR (ex.WB5VZL)                            -- Dave Leeson W6NL
geoiii@kkn.net                             
830-868-2510                      
http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr                   


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