[TowerTalk] Experience with phased verticals on 40m?

[Adrian Rees]

Hi all
I have recently built a 4 Square, completely home brew, including phase 
unit. In terms of construction it was pretty straight foreword, using 
ON4UN's book and the TK5EP Website (4 Square page).

The phase unit is identical to the Comtek unit, and uses the "Collins 
method". This method is very forgiving and a very reproducible design.

In comparison to a sloping dipole, a single quarter wave vertical, a 
full size diamond loop and the 40 2 CD I once had, it has some 
advantages and disadvantages.

Located in Europe, the ability to reduce Eu noise by 10 - 20dB at night 
is excellent, and a big improvement over the other antennas. In terms of 
DX working it really gets going when stations are 2,000 miles plus away. 
The reason for both of these features is simply radiation angle.  The 
radiation angle of a 4 Square can be much better than a 2 element Yagi 
at times. The better each & radial system you put in, the better the 4 
Square works. But you need to be careful, as I found that the 4 Square 
has a narrow bandwidth offering maximum gain, so whilst you think its 
working great, it isn't. Move 20KHz up the band, and it will really 
sing. This is the effects of ground & radials.

The 402CD I had, was up at 50 feet, and put a huge signal into the rest 
of Europe from here in Wales, but it was poor on DX. The reason is again 
take off angle.

So I think the situation can be summed up by considering what sort of 
ground you have, the  position & terrain of your site, out to say 10 
maybe 20 wavelengths away, and then model the take off angles.Try a 
quarter wave vertical with say 4 elevated radials, then lower the 
radials to the ground, and you'll see the effects of ground & radials 
upon bandwidth & take off angles. You'll then figure out if a 4 Square 
will work at your location.

A 2 Element beam at my location didn't cut it,for a number of reasons, 
apart from performance (maintenance, high winds, getting it high enough 
etc).

Happy to discuss further, or if you want details on how to build the 
phase unit.

73

Adrian

MW1LCR / GW9X







On 29/09/2012 20:42, John Frazier wrote:
> Anyone have real-world experience with phased verticals on 40m?  Actual comparisons to high dipole, etc would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Bottom line...was it worth the effort?
>
> 73 John W4II
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
>