[TowerTalk] A3S Question

[Bill Coleman]

On 9/19/03 12:47 PM, Gene Bigham at jbigham2 at kc.rr.com wrote:

>Anyone have experience with the Cushcraft A3S and to what extent a 
>director or reflector getting out of tune might have on the SWR of the 
>driven element?

Actually, yes.

When I first put up my A3S, I musta been in a hurry or something. The 
director outermost elements (eg 20m) were far too short. For some reason, 
I measured them wrong and they were about 8 inches short, each side.

I never noticed any problem with the SWR. I had it up for 6 years, then 
took it down when I moved. Later, when W7OT put it up at his station in 
GA, he noticed the marks on the aluminum tube that indicated the wrong 
positioning.

So, I don't think the director or reflectory mispositioning has much 
affect on the SWR. It will certainly alter the pattern.

When I finally put the A3S back up at my QTH 2 years ago, I carefully 
measured and selected K7LXC-style positions for the elements -- half-way 
between the CW and MID settings. This is what Steve recommends for the 
40-2CD, but I found it yeilds good SWR curves for the A3S as well.

At 15m high, and fed with 85 feet of RG-213 through a bead balun, my A3S 
shows SWR curves straight out of the specs. 

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901