[TowerTalk] Mid-sized beam and 80M vertical suggestions

[Peter Dougherty (W2IRT)]

Hi guys,

I'm about a month or two away from my first tower and beam. While I have 
some questions on grounding that I will ask in another thread, I'm looking 
for ideas on antennas.

For the higher bands (20 and up) I think I've found a good compromise 
between good DX performance and sleeping in the dog-house <g>. The Force12 
C-19 looks pretty good on paper but I've never talked to anybody who's had 
one. Can anybody give me a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on this antenna?

My original thought was a 4 element SteppIR, then a C-31XR, but neither of 
those got past the War Department, so I'm down to something a little more 
modest. Other than the C-19, what others should I consider?

Long-haul DX from Northern NJ is my primary goal here (I'm sitting at 267 
worked, so it's Southest Asia and the Indian Ocean that I need the most). I 
need something that will get through, as loudly as possible, within the 
constraints of the boom and element length described above. Can this be 
accomplished with the C-19 (or something equivalent)? I'm on about 1/3 of 
an acre in a residential neighbourhood.

Also, 80M DXing is rapidly becoming a favourite winter's passion. I've had 
good luck (and an 80M DXCC) with a flat-top dipole at 35', fed with 45' of 
cheap RG-8X and 500W but I'd like to go a little better in the new QTH. 
Should I consider a vertical instead of a dipole or vee, and if so, what 
are your recommendations? I've heard some OK things about the Butternut 
HF2V, some bad things about the Force12 Sigma 80 and a friend who raves 
about the massively-priced Titanex verticals.

Thanks in advance.



73 de Peter (W2IRT)
w2irt at arrl.net

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