[TowerTalk] Sommer antennas

[Wes Cosand]

I used a Sommer XP-807 beam for eight years although it hasn't been up for 
the last two years due to relocation.  It is an twelve element beam on a 26 
foot boom designed to cover 40, 30, 20, 17,  15, 12, and 10 meter 
bands.  It was mounted at 66' on a Trylon self supporting tower.  Although 
contesters tell me I should replace it with a more modern design on my next 
installation, I was satisfied with many aspects for a number of 
years.  This model number is no longer in the price list.

It never performed as well on 40 meters in my installation as the specs 
would have led me to believe.  DJ2UT has since replaced the wire cable 
catenary with a non-metallic material and says the performance is improved.

I was trying to design a station for dx rag-chewing, not for contesting.  I 
combined this beam with a 40m four-square array and a 80M inverted V for a 
simple, but capable station.  A high priority was very limited maintenance 
and robust construction that would always be ready to use, despite high 
winds or icing.  I wanted directional antennas on as many bands as 
practical.  The WARC bands were quite important.  I was on a 2/3 acre 
suburban lot and my xyl had strong opinions about the appearance of the 
antennas.  The DJ2UT beam was my way of approaching these priorities.

Some items to consider:

         1)  It is a very well constructed, fairly heavy antenna.  The boom 
design is especially impressive with two rectangular aluminum tubes clamped 
together.  It is simply impossible for an element to twist around the 
boom.  The antenna was never damaged in all of its years of service despite 
a dangerous windstorm which destroyed the wind gauge mounted on the tower 
and which brought a large maple tree down at the foot of the tower.  The 
only repair was due to my own stupidity when I tightened down the mounting 
screws too tight and cracked the plastic case of the balun.  When I took it 
apart after nine years of service it looked essentially brand new.
         2)  The antenna is simple to use.  There is one feed line for all 
the bands.
         3)  It was quite broad banded.  The 20 meter section is a log 
periodic cell resulting in unusual band breadth.
         4)  DJ2UT was a kind and helpful gentleman in all my dealings with 
him.

I had a Russian ham in my home for three weeks who used the antenna 
regularly.  He was an experienced contester and a professional rf 
engineer.  He was fairly impressed with the 20m performance.  His 
colleagues were quite intrigued by the antenna.

So is this an appropriate antenna for your station?  Not if you are a 
building a contest station.  But if you want a station that is capable of 
putting out a respectable signal on a number of bands and you don't want to 
have to spend time maintaining antennas, you might seriously consider 
DJ2UT's products.

Wes, WZ7I



At 20:37 00/11/24 , you wrote:
>Anyone have experience with Sommer beams or antennas in general?
>
>Tony W4SX  tony.seaton@turner.com
>
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