[TowerTalk] CC 402CD - a great antenna

[john at kk9a.com]

In order to be the best two element shorty forty, it would have to use the best type of loading.  I'm no expert in this area, however I do know that linear loading efficiency can vary with the design of the loading wires and the loading wires also radiate which may distort the beam pattern.  I agree that a loading coil is a simpler design.  I needed such an antenna for my P40A station and I wanted the best.  I compared the Cushcraft XM240 and OptiBeam OB2-40.  I had previously owned a Cushcraft 402CD and I too had good results with it.  I believe that the XM240 is similar in design, except stronger.  I'm not sure if they solved some of the reported problems with their loading coils in the new antenna model.  It is reported that Cushcraft has good customer service.  The Cushcraft boom is about 3 1/2 ' longer and the Optibeam weighs about 7 pounds more.   The high Q air loading coils on the Optibeam are significantly larger that the Cushcraft and likely much more efficient.  The OB2-40 also has detuning stubs to help avoid interaction on other ham bands.   I chose the OptiBeam and I installed it in March 2006.  The OB2-40 arrived pre-measured and it was a snap to put together. It is well made, hopefully it's strong enough to survive Aruba's constant wind.   All of the hardware was stainless steel and they even supplied u-bolts to fit my 2 1/2" diameter mast.  OptiBeam's customer services is outstanding.  Tom (DF2BO) answered all of my pre-purchase questions promptly and he even modeled the OB2-40 along with my homebrew 4 element 20m 7' below it to check for interaction problems.

John KK9A



----- Original Message ----- 
From: K7LXC at aol.com 
To: towertalk at contesting.com ; john at kk9a.com 
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: CC 402CD - a great antenna


In a message dated 9/14/2006 7:15:07 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:
  >  What makes the Cushcraft 402CD the best shorty forty ever made?
      Well, it was the first reasonably priced 40M yagi and it provided decent 40M performance to the masses.

      So it was reasonably priced, a simple design (no linear loading) and had 250 kHz of bandwidth. None of the competitors can make those statements. 

  Cheers,
  Steve     K7LXC
  TOWER TECH