[TowerTalk] TA-33 HELP

[Mark .]

Al wrote:

<< This talk on the TA33 has me wondering about Mosley beam antennas and 
traps.
I plan to put up at least two towers in the
near future and am contemplating monobanders vs trapped
tribanders such as the Mosley pro57,67,96.  I think that Force
claims a monobander beam will  outperform any tribander.
I hope that those with actual experience will comment.

BTW, the only beam  in my stable of antennas was a TA33
that I purchased used in 1971 and sold in 1997 and never had
to repair it.  For half of that time I ran an Argonaut 505 barefoot
(two or three watts) so the TA33 probably helped a lot. >>

Hello Al,
The TA-33 that I helped repair had been up for about 20 years or so before 
my friend bought it as part of a second-hand tower package.
The time we spent to refurbish it didn't seem so bad compared to how long it 
was up and it seemed to have plenty of life left. Unfortunately, hurricanes 
Bonnie and Floyd and the now infamous ice storm of '98 (Southeast Virginia) 
took their toll afterward, launching nearby tree limbs into the antenna with 
disastrous results.

A single tribander is quite cost efficient compared to raising multiple 
monobanders (consider windloading and tower capacity, too) and can still 
bring home a lot of DX joy. We all have to evaluate the estimated 
performance VS cost and effort and arrive at a solution that is comfortable.

>From a maintenance standpoint, I'm convinced that a trapless tribander will 
require less attention and be more reliable electrically over time, as 
compared to a trapped tribander, especially if all the hardware is stainless 
steel. Element count aside, it just has fewer parts and less complexity 
without traps. Critters and moisture always seem to find their way into 
traps.

>From a performance standpoint, I believe in full size elements over 
shortened ones as well, regardless of published gain figures.

--...MARK_N1LO...--
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm