[TowerTalk] Your opinion on 40 mtr antenna

[Pete Smith]

At 01:52 PM 9/25/00 EDT, KF0FN@aol.com wrote:
>   One option would be one of the Force 12 C4XL. Looks good on 40 but the 
>gain figures show only slightly better gain than a 2 element on 10-15-20 and 
>I am not sure that I want to spend about $1K on an antenna with gain figures 
>that low on the higher  bands.

More wires off the tower are more likely to produce harmful interactions
with your existing antennas, IMO, than to produce good results.  A 4-square
is a good but expensive alternative.  If  I were you, I would either put 2
elements above the TH-6, turned 90 degrees if required to minimize
interaction on 15M, or go with the Force 12.  Don't be misled by the 20-10m
gain claims -- Force 12's are substantiated by independent testing (viz the
K7LXC/N0AX tests) and most tribander claims are hogwash.  

Another option is to go with the C-4, which is the same antenna except only
a dipole on 40.  It is expandable by factory kit to the C-4XL if you decide
you need the reflector, but I think you'll find, as I did, that the
directivity of the dipole alone is a big help on both transmitting and
receiving. 

I'm not associated with F12, other than as a happy customer and owner of 3
of their antennas -- two C3Es (stacked) and an EF-240S (40m shortened
yagi).  Before the EF-240S I had a C-4.


73, Pete Smith N4ZR

Contesting is ... Extreme Radio

The World Contest Station Database 
is back up and running at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 



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