[TowerTalk] Cushraft XM240 vs. M2 and 3 ele lin loaded (w0mu)

[Michael White W5NIG]

  Hey Mike,

  Oddly enough I went through the same round of questions with a lot of
guys off list.  I wound up buying the M2 3ele, mostly because of a great
cost vs performance and excellent customer service.

I've exchanged many emails with Bob K8IA on the antenna who was very
patient with me (grin) and he is running a steppir and the m2 40m3l on a
72' tower.  If your interested in this antenna later let me know and I'll
ask him if he minds me fowarding the batch of emails.  My only regret (and
it's not really a regret, more of a wish) was that I had gone with the 4
ele for better bandwidth.

...anyway that's a side note, the purpose was to post this snippet of good
information that Mike Zak (your gonna love his call) W1MU (told you!) sent
me!  Anyway here it is:
<begin snip>
  In the last 15 months I have used the M2 40M3L, the Optibeam OB2-40,
and the Cushcraft XM240. They have all been mounted between 70 - 85 feet.

If I were in your shoes I would seriously look at the Optibeam.
The Cushcraft is well built but the coils are very lossy.  The M2 was
a very effective antenna but up at the QTH where I use it, on the coast
of Maine, the linear loading truss got beat up by the wind and caused the
antenna to be detuned in high wind.

I did like the M2 and when the wind isn't blowing it's probably the
best of the three, beating out the OB2-40 by a hair.  But I gotta say that
I've been happy with the OB.

mz   (Mike Zak W1MU)
<end snip>

  Good luck,
     Michael W5NIG


>
> Is the Cushcraft XM240 still the best bang for the buck.
>
> Setup will be a AN tower 70ft self supporting.  40m beam on the top at
> about 85ft.  SteppIR 4ele under it.
>
> I have an older 40-2CD that could be stacked below fixed east.  It needs
> to be refurbed badly.
>
> The 3 ele M2 looks interesting but is it worth the extra bucks.
>
> Mike W0MU
>
>  ------------------------------